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Artist’s notes about this painting:
“This is a painting of a Japanese fox mask (273 x 220 mm) on F3 panel board. It was done in part under tutelage from traditional Japanese painters teaching in Tokyo and has been displayed at the Gallery Kunitachi, Tokyo. It was painted with iwanogu (rock paints) and embellished with pearlescent gold paint and silver leaf.
Rock paints are, as the name suggests, paint made from rocks. The paint isn’t premade, so artists have to hand mix before applying. Various mediums can be used as an adhesive, but traditionally, and in this case, animal glue was used. Modern substitutes can be used, but I haven’t experimented with them yet. I have seen some people use gum arabic, but I was taught the more traditional way.
The white of the fox mask was made with the same paint as used for the paper preparation- ‘gofun‘, a white paint made from seashells. Mixing the gofun is different from mixing the rock paints, as it needs to be blended to the consistency of a putty rubber first, before being diluted down to the desired thickness. It’s a lot heavier than the paint and is useful for repainting large areas. For example, in this case I painted the background first and didn’t need to worry about the black paint bleeding over the edges of the mask area, as the gofun could cover it well later. It does leave a bit of extra texture behind, but I felt it worked well for the subject. Because of the delicacy of the paints, a very steady and careful hand is needed to paint. It forces you into a mental state of calm. It was my first time applying metal leaf too, and I found I had some difficulty in keeping the shapes consistent.”
