How to make gelatine solution for traditional chinese and japanese Painting Styles, like Nihonga and Gong Bi

Nikawa is the japanese word for the gelatine solution that is used in certain old chinese and japanese painting styles, namely nihonga and gong bi style. The gelatine solution is used as a binder for pigments, as well as for preparation ( sizing ) of the paper, to reduce its absorbancy. In this video I used 20 g of good quality gelatine, and 200 ml of water.

You can see the process in the video below…

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New inspiration – Eyvind Earle

I recently bought an artbook of one of the artist I really admire – Eyvind Earl.
Even though my personal style in drawing and painting is very different, and of course, not as developed in skill jet, I really love the paintings of Eyvind Earl.
There are a lot of things I can learn from them, even though its not my particular style. For example when it comes to the clarity and beauty of his shapes and compositions.
I also love the more graphical style approach, that jet is still highly detailed.
Here are some impressions…

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Working with No-Tan´s – value-scetches

I just found an old blog-entry of mine from 2013…

The words “No-Tan” come from the traditional japanese art and mean the general, and most often the tone-value structure of a picture. 

“No” has the meaning of dark, saturated ink ( traditional japanese painting is mostly done in black-white ), while “Tan” has the meaning of more diluted, and brighter ink.

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