Describing Japanese screens and scrolls through images

The second part of a larger unit on talking and writing about, as well as creating, Japanese screen and scroll paintings. The purpose of this unit plan is to introduce descriptive aspects of art criticism, while teaching the art and culture of Japan. Students create illustrations of classmates' descriptions of Japanese screens or scrolls.

A lesson plan for grades 9–12 Visual Arts Education

By Michelle Harrell

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• Describing Japanese screens and scrolls through words: The first part of a unit on talking and writing about, as well as creating, Japanese screen and scroll paintings. The purpose of this unit plan is to introduce descriptive aspects of art criticism, while teaching appreciation for the art and culture of Japan. Students use observation and descriptive writing to discover richly detailed Japanese screen and scroll paintings so that another student can illustrate it in the next lesson.
• Asian action I: Character details: Students will use drawing and writing to study characters in Asian art, focusing on the potential stories hinted at by the many details depicted in the art examples. This lesson draws on the richly detailed and expressive human and animal characters depicted in the arts of Asia. Is there a reason why Durga has so many arms? What about Ganesha and that elephant head?
• In the spirit of... (museum post-visit): This is an integrated unit that focuses on masks in cultures as reflections of individual spirits. In the post-visit lesson, students will create plaster masks and write a brief description.

Related topics

• Learn more about Asia, Japan, arts, fine art, hands-on, paintings, reading, screen paintings, scroll paintings, and world cultures.

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• develop reading comprehension skills needed to illustrate someone else’s description without looking at the image.
• study and experiment with ancient Japanese ink painting techniques in order to illustrate these descriptions.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

2–3 days

Materials/resources

• A classroom with a sink where ink spills and splatters could be easily cleaned up is necessary.
• Paintbrushes for every student, India ink (or watered-down black tempera paint), newsprint, white paper (preferably rice paper but any thin paper will do).

Enlist students to help set up at the beginning of class. Have plenty of newspaper to cover the tables, and also have paper towels and cups of water at each table.

Technology resources

Optional: If you plan to use the attached PowerPoint presentation to introduce Japanese art, you will need an LCD projector, a computer, and a screen.

Pre-activities

Because this is the second lesson in a unit (see Describing Japanese screens and scrolls through words), students should have already had an introduction to Japanese Art. They should have also already completed a two-page written description of a Japanese screen or scroll.

If you plan to use this individual lesson without teaching the other lessons in the unit, give students an introduction to the religion, culture, and history of Asian Art. I’ve provided a PowerPoint presentation that you can download on your computer. Although I’ve included all of my lecture notes, I suggest using the presentation as a springboard for discussions on Asian art. The presentation provides an overview of Asian art and how the religion and geography affects the culture. The presentation ends with a more in-depth study of Japanese screen and scroll paintings and the design aesthetics of Japanese art. If you’re not doing the descriptive writing exercise in the first lesson, you could possibly choose a story from Ancient Japan for students to illustrate.

The teacher should experiment with the brushstrokes students will learn in order to anticipate students’ problems during the lesson. I’ve quoted some resources and websites that were helpful for me. See the teacher notes.

I think it’s also important that students have also begun a sketchbook earlier in the semester so they feel comfortable in developing studies of what they visualize from the description.

Activities

Demonstrate ancient Japanese ink painting

1. First, write the vocabulary on the board or overhead so that students see the vocabulary as they watch you demonstrate the techniques.
2. Demonstrate how to create a light ink wash. Try loading the brush with a light wash (a little ink and lots of wash) for soft objects like feathers or mist.
3. Demonstrate how to create fluid elegant lines seen in Japanese paintings using a little more ink and less water. Several styles of Japanese painting (such as Sumi-e) require that you hold the brush very vertically and pull the brush across the paper.
4. Demonstrate “dry brush.” Completely dry the paintbrush so that the bristles separate. Dip the tips of the bristles in ink and drag across the paper. This is excellent for grass and animal fur.
5. Demonstrate various brush strokes in ink painting. Emphasize the very basic techniques (wash, dry brush, etc.) but encourage students to experiment to create more sophisticated brushstrokes as in the Sumi-e style of painting.

Hands-on experimentation

1. Begin with guided practice using the techniques from the demonstration. Begin by having students create a light wash and then move through the other techniques.
2. Allow students to experiment with creating various marks and splatters. Have examples of ink paintings (other than those students will illustrate) so that students can begin to look for brushstrokes. I set out several pieces of newsprint paper and let students “play” because it may take an entire day before they begin to create marks they will want to keep.
3. When students are a little more comfortable with the media, they can begin practicing on white copy paper. It’s still cheap thin paper but it’s better quality than the newsprint for when they have something they want to keep. Remind students of the fresh and permanent qualities of ink. Practice in a way that will lead to a finished composition, not just sporadic details.

Reading for details and developing images

1. Have students read the text they will illustrate all the way through very carefully, visualizing a scene in their heads.
2. Then, have students read the text again. Stop and make notes or thumbnail sketches this time as you read details about the painting.
3. Continue to study the particular setting and subjects through a series of sketches. These reading skills are very important for the artist. Whether it is for reading an artist magazine to understand how to do something new or to understanding what the customer wants when they commission you to create an artwork for money, artists must be able to visualize details and spatial relationships from text.

Create the finished product

1. Have students cut the paper for their painting based on the proportions stated in the written descriptions. You may want to allow students to experiment with different kinds of paper to determine what kind of effect they want. I prefer student-grade rice paper. Absorbent watercolor paper will have a completely different effect and will hold more layers of washes.
2. Tape edges in place on the table or to a drawing board. This will keep the paper from moving as well as keep it from warping with the moisture of the water.
3. The purpose of the preliminary sketches are to develop the picture (of the scene described in the text) in students’ minds. Some students may want to even put the sketches aside while they create the real ink painting. Others may want to have all of their drawings displayed while they work along with other reproductions of Japanese paintings. They may want to refer to the written description as they work.
4. For the actual process of painting, I would only allow 30–45 minutes. Too much time may frustrate students and make them go back and try to correct mistakes (which will scrub the paper or ruin the “now” effect of ink).

Assessment

While I give students a rubric with set criteria for evaluating their painting, the process is more important than the product they end up with. Individual discussions with students while monitoring the activity should focus on students’ thinking process and the sensitivity they develop with the paintbrush. In this short lesson, students will not be able to completely master this ancient art. The focus should be on experimentation and looking for details in art and writing.

Supplemental information

I have included some resources at the end of the PowerPoint presentation that helped me create the introduction to Japanese Art.

• Student notes
• Teacher notes

Comments

I have taught myself Sumi-e ink painting over the past couple of years to help me develop a vocabulary of brushstrokes in my watercolor painting. Students enjoy it, but it can be very difficult to master. I’ve found that teaching this lesson before watercolor techniques discourages students from just painting areas of the the page different colors like painting a house.

Comments after teaching the lesson: Once we began the lesson, the students really wanted more practice with the techniques. We even bought some bamboo brushes to make it feel more authentic. We also spent a little over a week rather than the 2–3 days I estimated on the lesson. Students amazed me at how intensely they worked at trying to master the graceful brushstrokes described in the book. After the lesson, students commented that they wanted more individualized instruction and practice with the traditional Japanese brushstrokes. It was difficult to demonstrate to thirty students at a time and time-consuming to go around to small groups. But, overall the lesson was very successful.