❤ Lucky Packet Design: Sumi-e and other surprises

I have a whole bunch of project's in the works.  Today I'll talk about just one.

Last year, while in Boston, I attended a few Sumi-e classes, just for fun.

This week, I felt the need to paint something, so I dug out my brushes and my ink stick, ground up some ink and tried to paint something, anything, if I could just remember how.

My ink stick and grinding stone :)

I struggled, made a huge mess on my kitchen table, but eventually came up with this...

Bamboo Sumi-e painting

It's supposed to be a Bamboo plant.  Terrible, I know, but maybe with a bit of practice, I can actually make something lovely!

Sumi-e is the art of Chinese Brush painting which the Japanese added their own twist too.  The artist grinds an inkstick into a grinding stone with some water to create ink which one would then use to paint.  It's very minimalist, doesn't require much detail and can sometimes use colour, or maybe not.

One day, just maybe I could become as talented as this piece of work by Haji Noor Deen:

Haji Noor Deen is a Master Calligrapher and sometimes uses Sumi-e to portray his work in Islamic and Chinese calligraphy.  I had the pleasure of meeting him in Canada and buying some of his beautiful work.

I ❤ Art: Islamic Art - Haji Noor Deen

Over the Chrismas period of 2009, I was in Toronto, Canada attending the Reviving the Islamic Spirit Conference, I came across the artwork of Haji Noor Deen, a Master Calligrapher.  He combines Arabic calligraphy with Chinese calligraphy and creates amazing works of art.  I love the fusion of the different styles of artwork, don't you?

Arabic: "Asalaamu Alaikum".
Translation:  "Peace be unto you".

Arabic: "La ilaha ill-Allah muhammadar rasulullah".
Translation: "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger"