tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3540266278914019686.post8197767742045934358..comments2023-10-21T00:01:10.980-07:00Comments on dosankodebbie's etegami notebook: lessons from the tomato exhibitdosankodebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04357411708254011194noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3540266278914019686.post-2673454410925980662015-12-27T10:41:51.540-08:002015-12-27T10:41:51.540-08:00I remember reading this a couple of years ago, and...I remember reading this a couple of years ago, and it's just as instructive and enlightening now as it was then. I had forgotten about the 3-color rule! Are differing shades of the same color ok?<br />When I read these blog posts, it makes me feel more hopeful about painting again. The simplicity of it makes it less daunting-- pick up something fresh and paint it...<br /><br />When I "teach" adults etegami at the library where I work, several of them invariably want do scrap the rules. I explain about not having good control over the brush, and how you paint the outline first, then color it in. The outline really adds to the colors & is also more arresting visually. But only a few people actually stay to what I show and tell them. I try not to let it bother me, lol.<br />Thank you for this post!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12745467657387075353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3540266278914019686.post-49055212487398489492010-06-18T20:50:28.784-07:002010-06-18T20:50:28.784-07:00Momo, thank you for visiting this blog. I'm gl...Momo, thank you for visiting this blog. I'm glad you thought the post was insightful. Please feel free to participate in the various etegami and mailart calls that I regularly announce. The next one for Etegami is Hydrangea blossoms. I will post a mini-exhibit here next month.dosankodebbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04357411708254011194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3540266278914019686.post-23920284448898634142010-06-18T20:45:30.526-07:002010-06-18T20:45:30.526-07:00I especially enjoyed this post. Very insightful ab...I especially enjoyed this post. Very insightful about the spirit of traditional Etegami.<br /><br />Thank you so much for sharing. Without your translating, this would not have been as accessible.Momohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12890062947263654959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3540266278914019686.post-14916861790578448592010-04-27T13:59:45.216-07:002010-04-27T13:59:45.216-07:00Yun! Thank you for the compliment, but I don't...Yun! Thank you for the compliment, but I don't think Etegami has to be correct or beautiful. It should be enjoyable, for both the sender and the receiver. I aim for etegami that are thoughtful or thought-provoking. But you can aim for other things too.<br /><br />Since discovering the world of Western mailart, I have been experimenting with etegami and making non-traditional etegami-collage hybrids. You've seen some of them. It is so much fun to experiment, but it feels good to go back to traditional etegami once in a while. Traditional etegami feels peaceful to me.<br /><br />Anyway, if you aim for correct and beautiful, you end up trying to control the etegami. And that is not such a good thing.dosankodebbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04357411708254011194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3540266278914019686.post-69114658303035010932010-04-27T08:02:04.300-07:002010-04-27T08:02:04.300-07:00I would love to join the others to thank you for t...I would love to join the others to thank you for this very interesting and enriching post + comments about Etegami. I'll try to remember all the traditional rules to be able to do it correctly and beautifully like yours, Debbie!Yunnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3540266278914019686.post-5454122222923185772010-04-24T17:41:47.276-07:002010-04-24T17:41:47.276-07:00I do hope you give it a try, Helen. Combining Eteg...I do hope you give it a try, Helen. Combining Etegami with one of your other interests (cooking is another passion of mine-- and maybe yours?) is a fun way to go about it.dosankodebbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04357411708254011194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3540266278914019686.post-33129538126410328152010-04-24T17:36:58.799-07:002010-04-24T17:36:58.799-07:00Thanks Debbie, this post and comments have taken a...Thanks Debbie, this post and comments have taken away some of the mystery I had in my mind about Etegami. Maybe I should give it a try! The recipe etegami idea appeals to me.<br />Cheers, Helen.hp88noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3540266278914019686.post-5075410611470345422010-04-24T17:24:47.648-07:002010-04-24T17:24:47.648-07:00Linda, I agree that "art based on etegami&quo...Linda, I agree that "art based on etegami" would be a safe way to describe most of the submissions. But in my opinion, there's no real problem in calling most of them "etegami." Maybe non-traditional etegami?<br /><br />Etegami does have some traditions, but the only real *rule* is that it be a combination of a simple drawing and words. The name of the art encapsulates the only real rule. E=picture Tegami=letter (written message). And since it's a message to someone, it should be sent.<br /><br />Not all cards used by etegami artists are the coarse washi cards that make the ink spread, cause friction with the ink brush, and are recommended by the Japan Etegami Society. The smoother cards don't result in the irregularities that I find so interesting about etegami. But that's up to the artist's own sensibility, if you ask me.<br /><br />Not all etegami artists use ink brushes or gansai paints either. I've known etegami artists who use unusual materials. And I've seen plenty of etegami depicting scenes in styles common with watercolor paintings, but they are called "etegami" because they are done on postcards, and because words accompany the drawing.<br /><br />BUT, if you want to produce an etegami that isn't likely to be taken as being in the style of a still-life oil painting or a western-style watercolor painting, the traditions (as opposed to rules) of etegami will make your etegami stand out from other forms of art.<br /><br />--traditions such as the wobbly lines, choosing seasonal subjects, observing the subject as you draw rather than imagining it, leaving the background of the card clear of decoration, leaving uncolored spaces even within the border of the drawing, and other techniques that I've mentioned in my posts.<br /><br />So, although the conversation in the post contained a lot of food for thought, I don't think it should discourage anyone from producing non-traditional etegami. The post was meant to point out different characteristics of traditional etegami that might help someone who is trying to do it in the traditional way, and can't figure out that they have, or where they have, misunderstood the traditions.dosankodebbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04357411708254011194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3540266278914019686.post-12604133634599002472010-04-24T16:41:33.049-07:002010-04-24T16:41:33.049-07:00I would agree with your friends that many of the c...I would agree with your friends that many of the cards are not technically etegami, but art based on etegami. Apparently etegami is a certain style with rules, just as tanka poetry style is different from haiku style is different from free-style. Didn't the Impressionists have this problem, too?!Linda Austinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12440198392313322295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3540266278914019686.post-13615150122909294192010-04-24T04:36:17.359-07:002010-04-24T04:36:17.359-07:00I've been doing etegami for more than ten year...I've been doing etegami for more than ten years, and I still have to remind myself time and time again to slow down, and to resist trying to control the ink brush.dosankodebbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04357411708254011194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3540266278914019686.post-48506583583002828062010-04-24T02:43:45.732-07:002010-04-24T02:43:45.732-07:00Very interesting conversation. I am still comptemp...Very interesting conversation. I am still comptemplating what subject I want for my etegami, but after reading the above conversation I think it is more the fact I have a hard time relinquishing control to the etigami itself so to speak. This will be a exercise for me. Hope to send one soon.Marisa Lynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03348268211540980940noreply@blogger.com