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 When I am sketching, I usually draw with the yatate (a portable brush and ink holder). When I first started to study under the master, Shinsui Ito, I used to sketch using pencils or colored pencils. Then one day, Shinsui Ito handed me a yatate and a roll of Japanese paper, telling me, “Use these like you would a diary; paint anything you like, anything at all, just as you see it.” Then every three days I would receive his appraisal of my attempts.
When using ink to sketch, once you have made a mark on the paper it cannot be erased. I was taught by Shinsui Ito the importance of moving your brush rhythmically over the paper, although at first I found this extremely difficult to do. When he was sketching, I would carefully watch the way that his brush moved and studied the lines.
Using a yatate to sketch is not only a good exercise in capturing an image, but the speed of the lines, and the way they bleed together, imparts a unique quality. The sketches are then finished with colors. As I sketch, I enter a world inhabited only by myself and the subject, and I feel exhilarated and privileged. I intend to continue sketching with the yatate.
Goyoh
Top right: Sketching outdoors with Shinsui Ito. Note the yatate in his hand.
Top left: Goyoh Ohtake’s favorite yatate.
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Yatate
This is a portable brush that has been in use since the Kamakura period (1185-1333), it contains the ink holder and brush in one tool. Moxa (dried mugwort leaves) is added to the ink holder to absorb ink and prevent spilling. During the Edo period (1603-1867) the ink holder evolved to the round shape still used today.
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View works painted with a yatate here
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