Japonisme, the influence of the Japanese arts on Western arts, mostly during the late 19th century.

I never realised Japanese art had such a great influence on European masters, such as Monet, Manet and Whistler to name a few. It is interesting to think that artists in the West, whose academia stems from Grego-Roman classicism would embrace the arts of Japanese then, where perspective can be grossly erroneous, figures can be grotesque looking and landscapes can be unapologetically two dimensional.

Such is the beauty of art and the exchange of ideas and concepts. This is not to say the Japanese are inferior, but rather, a set of goals that differ from different cultures. While the West would pursue realistic portrayal of the natural world, the Japanese are evidently more concerned with the spiritual and the simple. Why make a hundred different strokes when a mere ten is sufficient to convey an idea? And in so doing, such vitality and richness in the economical use of lines.

As much as i detest reading on academic stuff, studying Japonisme really opened my eyes and helped me fashion a new sense of direction in art. I guess the lesson here to learn is that as an artist or an art student, one shouldn't be too pre-occupied with the strict rules of drawing. Once in a while, or rather, always keep in mind that rules can be broken.

Nothing is absolute in art, so no point being dogmatic about things.

Recently with Ignite, I have been exposed to a lot of techicalities, such as panelling rules, gutter distances, consistency etc. These things are good, but i'm beginning to feel that these man-made rules are somewhat restrictive and hinders creative development. I can understand why the masters turn to Japonisme in their attempts to break free of artistic conventions.

So what does it mean? Does it mean there's no point studying perspective, figure drawing, composition etc? I suppose not. If one wants to break rules, he or she must first know the rules. Only then can the rules be broken with intelligence and provoke a response in the viewer, be it good or bad.