Tag: hitomaro

bookmark_borderHitomaro Kakejiku

Posted on by Elliott Evans

I did a third portrait of Hitomaro while doing the ones described in Poetic Brushwork. I did this one on larger paper, with the intention of mounting it as a kakejiku hanging scroll. There was a lot of work involved in that, but I’m happy to say that this is now complete.

kakejiku-hitomaro.jpg

In addition to mounting the painting on more paper, the fabric all had to be backed with paper and attached around the outside of the painting. Then, the oak rod and half-rod had to be cut and added. Following that, I had to braid the suspensory cords and figure out how to mount them to the upper rod. I made the weighted ends for the lower rod and finished them with tinted shellac.

When I started doing research on kakejiku, the advice from most sites was to leave it to professionals. You can see pretty clearly that this advice was sound. I never really did get the painting flat, and there are a host of other minor problems with this. Now I have a portrait of Hitomaro that I am not afraid to take camping, though!

bookmark_borderPoetic Brushwork

Posted on by Elliott Evans

This might be the last painting for a little while. I have some sewing to do, but I wanted to get to this portrait before I took a break.

hitomaro01-01

This is a copy of a portrait of Hitomaro, one of the most famous and revered poets of Japanese history. He is so revered, that he was eventually made a Kami (divinity) of poetry. Essentially, he is a Patron Saint of poetry.

The above version was colored to match the original portrait I was imitating, which we saw in the Kyoto National Museum when we went to see the exhibition of panels from the Satake family version of the “36 Immortal Poets” scroll. I did a second copy of this image, but I colored his robe red for Aethelmearc and changed the “medallions” on the fabric to escarbuncles.

hitomaro01-02

I have a third copy of the image that I did on larger calligraphy paper that I am attempting to mount as a kakejiku hanging scroll. Apparently it is the practice to hang a portrait of Hitomaro to oversee your poetic endeavors, so I wanted to have one of those handy for future use.