Bamboo

I've said before that Sumi-e, Japanese ink painting, is something that I enjoy doing but thatI never expect to master.

It's said by many sumi-e artists that if one can paint correctly 'the four gentlemen' (wild orchid, plumb, bamboo and chrysanthemum), one has mastered sumi-e in so far as the using the strokes, tonal values, etc., necessary to paint those correctly, one can paint any subject.

However…

One American that studied sumi-e extensively notes -just concerning the bamboo:

"…Nothing is more difficult to paint correctly than this plant. Plate LIII shows the bamboo with its essentially
component parts and forms indicated as follows: The upright stalk is in five subdivisions (1 to 5), each
differing in length but all suggesting the Chinese character for one (ICHI) painted upright. These are separated
from each other by strokes reproducing the Chinese characters for positively (22), for heart (23), for second
(24), for one (25), and for eight (26). The stem (6 to 10) is composed of rats' tails. The manner of painting and
combining the leaves of the bamboo is called take no ha no kumitata and is minutely described and illustrated
in Ransai's great work, Gwa Fu. The essentials are: The five-leaf arrangement (GO YO) (11 to 15) with the
ornament (16), called kazari. The three-leaf arrangement (17 to 19) called KO JI, from its resemblance to the
Chinese character KO (32). The two-leaf arrangement (20 and 21) called JIN JI, from its resemblance to the
character JIN (33), a man. In further development of the plant the following imitative arrangements of the leaves
are used: The fish tail (GYO BI) (27), the goldfish triple tail (KINGYO BI) (28), the swallow tail (EN BI) (29), the
Chinese character for bamboo (CHIKU JI) (30), and the seven-leaf arrangement (SHICHI YO) (31). It will be
observed how the odd or positive numbers (YO) are favored. The foregoing method is used by the Okyo
painters.
The Kano artists have another system for combining and elaborating the leaf growth, but it does not differ
radically from that here given. The leaf of the bamboo reproduces the shape of a carp's body (34). It also
resembles the tail feathers of the phoenix. …"

From: "On the Laws of Japanese Painting:
By: Henry P. Bowie
Published 1911 by Paul Elder and Company Publishers

The above painting: Sumi-e on 'rice' paper, unmounted. 8 by 24 inches.