Sue Peck • October 2006
A Study in Black and White
By Tara Roberts
Peck first began studying the sumi-e painting while living in the Washington D.C. area. Her instructor was Asian, and the other students were mainly from other Asian countries, such as Korea, Japan, Malaysia and India. Check out more Emerald Coast artists on the EmeraldCoast.com Local Artists page.
Sue Peck, of Destin, paints in the ancient Asian art technique of “suiboku-ga,” or sumi-e. Sumi-e (pronounced soo-me-A) is the Chinese technique of monochromatic ink painting. Traditionally considered a Japanese art form, the style was first documented in China during the Qin Period Dynasty in the first century and later brought to Japan by Zen Buddhists monks during the 14th century.
Peck, who has been studying and painting sumi-e since 1986 said in China, students first learn how to load their brushes with water and ink, and make basic strokes, but do not actually paint images for a full year.
Similar to the more common watercolor painting, sumi-e differs in the type of paper the artist uses. With watercolors the paper is heavy, very much like card stock. When painting sumi-e, the artist uses thin sheets of rice paper, almost like tissue paper.
Watercolorist often paint on an easel, however, sumi-e is painted on a flat surface with the paper lying on a large piece of felt to absorb the excess water. Peck’s brushes are also unique. They are not standard watercolor brushes that can be made of synthetic fibers. Peck uses imported tools made of animal hair.
The method of painting, she said, is very “minimalistic.” The goal is to tell a story with the least amount of strokes. The white spaces, she said, are just as important as the painting itself. This approach, Peck explained, comes from its Buddhist heritage.
“I think about what I want to tell and the story just kind of evolves,” she said.
Many times a sumi-e painting may only consist of a couple of lines of ink, but the image can show movement and emotion, and tell a complete story.
“You control how much (color) you get out of your brush by how much water is in your brush,” Peck said, laughing. “I can’t tell you how many pieces of rice paper I have wadded up and thrown away.”
It is that high level of control that appeals to Peck. “It is a discipline,” she said.
The time it takes to not only learn the art techniques, but also the control it takes to master the strokes and put the ink to paper, Peck said, can be frustrating for someone who wants instant gratification. It is that painstaking dedication to detail that she was drawn to.
“We want to paint something right now,” she said. “You have to have a confidence about you and be at ease with yourself to do (sumi-e painting).”
“The class itself was like a world tour,” she recalls.
Peck’s first painting was of a horse. A single figure in full gallop that she entitled “Freedom.” This majestic animal has since become a favorite theme in her paintings.
She also enjoys painting goldfish, or Japanese carp. Through a technique that layers colored ink into her brush, Peck can, in one stroke, paint a single line that contains as many as three colors, giving her artwork an almost three-dimensional appearance. The gold and black so recognizable to carp also gives it a sense of movement, seeing each layer separately, but also as a whole image.
Peck’s work is displayed at Beau Esprit Gallery in the Destin Commons and Three Dog Framing in Santa Rosa Beach Village on Highway 98 near the intersection of County Road 30A.
Check out more Emerald Coast artists on the EmeraldCoast.com Local Artists page.
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