Art-Making Activity: Hometown Scenery
Inspired by Miwako Nishizawa’s work featuring landscapes around Virginia, create a scene of your hometown.
TWELVE VIEWS OF VIRGINIA, by Miwako Nishizawa
Japanese American artist Miwako Nishizawa created twelve images of Virginia including images from Floyd County, Cape Henry Lighthouses and Colonial Williamsburg! Nishiwaza used an artistic technique known as shin-hanga–or Japanese woodblock printing–because she felt that the colors of the Virginia landscape were very similar to traditional Japanese prints. This series was on view at the museum in 2015 in the exhibition, Miwako Nishizawa: Twelve Views of Virginia, and even though the works are off view currently, you can explore the full series below!
College of William and Mary (Translation)
Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond (Translation)
Monticello (Translation)
Manassas National Battlefield (Translation)
Natural Bridge (Translation)
University of Virginia (Translation)
Jamestown (Translation)
Skyline Drive, Virginia (Translation)
The Priest, Blue Ridge (Translation)
The Floyd Country Store (Translation)
Cape Henry Lighthouses (Translation)
Colonial Williamsburg (Translation)
Nishizawa begins with a sketch of the location, then carves that design out of a woodblock–essentially creating a large stamp. She then coats the block in ink and applies the design to paper by pressing it against the block with a flat tool.
Learn more from the artist about this series and her process in this video of Miwako Nishizawa.
Below are images of Nishizawa’s sketchbooks and carving tools.
Feeling inspired by Nishiwaza’s images of the Virginia landscape? Can you think of a place you have been to that you want to capture? Follow the steps below to create a landscape in the style of a woodblock printer but using pencil and paper.
CREATE
Materials
- Paper
- Colored Pencils
- Pencil
Instructions
Step 1: On scrap paper, try out the colored pencil techniques shown below. Add more marks close together to make a darker value; add less marks spaced farther apart to make a light value. You can also play around with the pressure, or how hard or soft you push your pencil down to the paper. Choose a different color for each technique and think about how each one might be used to create the parts of a landscape. Scroll through some examples of drawing techniques below.
Step 2: Once you have finished experimenting with different drawing techniques, lightly sketch a landscape, cityscape, or scene in pencil on a sheet of paper using basic lines and shapes. Use your hometown or a place your family is from for inspiration – you can draw a forest, mountains, beach, or even your backyard!
Step 3: Using one or more of the colored pencil drawing techniques you learned, add color into your sketch.
Explore works by other Asian American artists in VMFA's collection
Chrysalis Four (Primary Title)
Buddha Watching TV (Translation)
Disloyal Devotion (Primary Title)
Monsters Within
Nevadaville (Primary Title)
14th Street (Primary Title)
Hydrangea Blossoms (Translation)
Wine Pitcher (Translation)
Luxation I (Primary Title)
Silence (Translation)
Site (Primary Title)
N. Y. Skyline (Primary Title)
Three-Legged Cylinder Lamp (Primary Title)
Fly High (Primary Title)
Skippers (Kneedeep) (Primary Title)
Between (Translation)
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