Nihonga or Japanese style paintings require a high level of artistic skill and concentration. Until modern times, the Japanese even wrote with brushes and thus have developed the aesthetics of brush strokes to high levels. Once painted, the brush strokes cannot be reversed or erased.
Nihonga paintings mostly deal with subjects of nature such as birds, mountains and trees. Painting it is considered to be a spiritual experience as the artist concentrates deeply and bonds with the nature around him before painting. Some of that spiritual ecstasy is conveyed to the viewer, who can see the majesty, beauty or tranquility of nature conveyed on the canvas.
Now Lankans can view this beautiful form of paintings at an exhibition, titled 'Expressions' in Kandy from September 5-12. The artist, Dr. Pradeep Ruwanpura, a dental surgeon who did his PhD in Japan, studied Nihonga under one of the masters there as he had always been interested in water colour painting.
"Japanese art is very simple and tries to leave as much as possible to the imagination. The use of brush strokes is kept to the minimum, to maximize the understanding of the viewer," says Dr. Ruwanpura.
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