History of Ink Wash painting

Ink wash painting started in China during during the Tang Dynasty around the years 618–907. Ink wash paintings are usually monochromatic (only use 1 color), and typically use black ink that is thinned with water.

Over the centuries this art form evolved, but it was still important to use black ink and no color. Painters would often depict plants, flowers, or deserted mountains and streams.

“Chinese painting is different from that of the West. Western artists stress likeness to reality in painting. But their Chinese counterparts wish to portray their impressions of reality. Chinese painting is closely related, in spirit and technique, to Chinese calligraphy. The Tang master painter Wang Wei stressed the use of black ink in painting. China is a land of plenty. It invented paper and the writing brush. The earliest Chinese paintings were all done in ink and wash,” said Professor Zhang Ding.

In the middle of the 14th century Zen Buddhist monks brought chinese ink wash painting techniques to Japan. In Japan ink wash paintings are called Sumi-e or Suibokuga, and like their Chinese counterparts their goal is not to capture a perfect recreation of the subject, but it's spirit, impression, or feeling.

Using various shades of ink the artist removes all unnecessary details, leaving only the essential information needed to communicate the spirit of what they are painting.

The idea of capturing the impression of a scene would be used later in the 1800's by Western artists like van Gogh, Monet, and Gauguin. These artists, known as the Impressionists, were inspired by an influx of art from Japan during the 1850s.