Why does Textiles have such a fluffy reputation? 「テキスタイル」はなぜダサい傾向がある の？

Studying the techniques of Katazome and Yuzen in Japan opened my eyes not only to the unique and culturally-ingrained processes and materials of these techniques, but also to the mind-set surrounding them.; the way the finished textiles are categorised, presented and discussed.

Since returning to Australia, it's been no real surprise to see that Textiles here (with a capital T) is an entirely different kettle of fish.

　
日本に4年間も住んで、型染と友禅を勉強したら、日本に独特な材料、長い歴史のある道具や工程などについてだけではなく、それ以上に勉強できたのがあの染織作品は「どうのように思われている・発表されている・論じ合われている」ということだった。

オーストラリアへ帰国してから気づいたのは、驚くことではないけれど、ここの「テキスタイル」は日本とは全く違うものなのだ。

TEXTILES TODAY: black and red. cardigans. berets and wine. apparently.
テキスタイルの現状なのか。服は赤と黒で決まっているみたい。もちろんワインも登場しないと。

Earlier this year I was accepted for inclusion in the Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award Exhibition for 2015. I didn't win the prize (of course, the 10K prize went to an artist already rolling in recognition and opportunities... sorry, still a little bitter...) but my work ("Canberra Blues") was displayed in a beautiful historic building along with that of 48 others!

Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award Exhibition 2015

my work displayed beside beautiful wooden doors and stained glass

The exhibition really had a bit of everything

I was unable to attend the opening (Wangaratta is over 400km away from Canberra...if only Australia had Bullet-trains!) but went down later to see the show on display. I was really impressed with the breadth of textiles included. There were a few pieces that I wasn't too sure about, like miniature origami units of patterned envelope insides forming a large wall piece (how is that a Textile?) and a ceramic Budgie with a pair of "budgie smugglers"(speedo's) tossed on it's head (Yes, I can understand the Textile in that one but not the point...)

Anyway, I thought the selection committee and organisers had done a really good job of representing the many facets of what it means to make Textile Art. There was a bit of everything; and all of a really high standard. It felt like each piece had something to say. But contemporary Textiles is not always so well represented or carefully curated...

Wangaratta市美術館。煉瓦の本館は元々教会だったらしい
The Wangaratta Art Gallery heritgae building with lovely
red-brick, stained glass, high ceilings and polished wooden
floors. Apparently it used to be a Presbyterian Church.

6月に2015年度の「Wangaratta市現代テキスタイル賞展」に出品させていただきました。毎回ヴィクトリア州のかなり小さい都市であるWangaratta市の美術館で行われていますが、国内のテキスタイル世界では人気なイベントになっています。美術館自体も素敵な煉瓦のビルです！

日本の素晴らしい新幹線や特急電車が存在しないオーストラリアでは、4２０KMも離れているWangaratta市美術館でのオープニングには行きにくかったが、開催中に見に行きました。（車で京都から神奈川までぐらいの距離！）

今までにオーストラリアで見たテキスタイル展の中で、一番キュレーションがよかったかもしれないです。
「現代テキスタイル」という範囲に限られたのに、作家さんや作品の幅が広かったです。刺繍の作品、インスタレーションの作品、染めの作品、織りの作品、編み物の作品も展示されていました。どんな作品も個性や技術があって面白かったけど、一番いい所は、全部の作品は何かを言おうとしていたことでした。

I may be about to offend people...but I need to say it anyway.
What's with the way that Textiles is a Naff-magnet? (naff is such a great word...)

Other genres of Art, let's take Painting as an easy example, may attract masses of mediocre artists or uninteresting paintings. There may be plenty of ordinary Print-makers or average Sculptors, or maybe uninspired Photograhers. But Textiles, unlike the others, seems to have this unrivaled ability to generate the Naff. The Tacky. The just...not quite right.

This is probably in part because of the way that Textiles teeters on the cusp of "Art" and "Craft" (whatever they are anyway) and seems to encompass such a huge breadth of things.  I'm all for diversity in Art, and in Textile Art. I'm all for using whatever medium or technique allows you to express yourself best. But I can't be the only one who is sick of the fluffy reputation hanging round Textiles. What's the deal?!

でもテキスタイルって、よくダサい勝ちじゃないですか？？

日本の「染織」もその傾向があるでしょうが、オーストラリアやアメリカでの「テキスタイル」は得にダサいがちだと思います。

テキスタイル以外の美術をちょっと考えてみましょう。例えば絵画。絵画では確かに、技術が低くて、なにも個性がない作家というのは時々居ますよね。版画の世界にも居るでしょう。なにも感動させない写真家も居るはず。面白くない彫刻家も絶対どこかに居ます。

しかし、テキスタイルの場合はちょっと違う気がします。
面白くないや個性がないだけじゃなくて、
フワフワな、女性っぽい雰囲気がなんとなくあります。

これはテキスタイルって美術と工芸の峠に存在するからだろうし、ジャンルとして幅が広いのもあるでしょう（染め、織り、編み物、レース、裁縫、シルクスクリーン、綴れ織り、絞り、インスタレーション、等々も含んでいます！）テキスタイルの多様性は祝うべき物だと思いながら、フワフワな名声が嫌になっています。

What spurred this rant was when I made an attempt to connect with the Textiles scene outside of Japan by joining some moderated groups on Facebook. One is called "Textile Arts" which purports to showcase Textile ART, to the point of declaring this mission statement,

"Our mission: To elevate textile fine art beyond the craft arena into the realm of conventional galleries. View the latest works from both well known and emerging artists.

 and they even show this visual guideline for prospective posters. And yet....

...I am constantly awed by the, shall we say "variety", of posts to the group.

Textile "art" posted to the group

I'm sorry but WHAT THE?
Don't misunderstand me. I'm not trying to make an arrogant proclamation that MY TEXTILES IS THE ONLY WAY or DOWN WITH CRAFT!

But I think the way Textile Art is spoken about is confused.

To put a Textile in the Art basket, I think it needs to be addressing an idea; trying to say something of value. I think this is why I was so impressed by the Wangaratta exhibition, the artists all had something unique and interesting to say with their work, and that made it interesting! 

この問題について考えるきっかけは、FBで「テキスタイル・アート」というグループに参加したときです。このグループの目標は次のように書いてありました。

「私たちの目標:

工芸の枠を超えて、テキスタイルをギャラリーのレベルまで上げること。

よく知られている作家の作品も、新鋭作家の作品を見せること。」

にもかかわらず、右のようなものが載っていました。毎日こんな物はグループに追加されています。何なんだ！

テキスタイルはこうだよ！とか、工芸はダメだ！とかを言おうとしていませんよ。ただ、テキスタイルのジャンルは理解されていなくて、もっとアートに近づきたいグループとしては成功していないと思います。

テキスタイル・アートにしたいなら、メッセージがないといけないと思うようになりました。技法は面白くても、手の仕事がいくら丁寧であっても、作品のメッセージ（テーマじゃなくて、個人の考えや気持ち）が欠けているととアートとはいえないと思います。

View Denise Ferris' website here →　http://www.deniseferris.com/

Denise Ferris, an Australian artist, Photography Lecturer and current Head of the ANU School of Arｔ comments in a recent article about focusing on technique versus saying something with that technique.

Denise.."specialises in nineteenth century photographic techniques, but says it’s important not to get too caught up in the technical aspects of photography. 

“For us （Canberra School of Art practitioners) it’s never just about the skills, it’s about the body of work that talks about concepts through materials,” says Ferris.

“I practice these old world techniques, but I’ve never practised this for the skill itself. I’m only interested when it’s parlayed to a concept or an idea, and is about pushing those ideas further. 

“That might not seem so revolutionary, but I think...this research and practice mentality is something different for [other Art Schools]”

Red Window - Photograph by Denise Ferris

オーストラリア国立大学美術学の学長・写真家のデニース・フェリッス氏は、１９世紀の写真技術を用いています。しかし、自分は技法そのものではなく、技法を通して表現する、と最近の記事で書きました。

「技法ばかりのではなく、技法を通して作る作品のコンセプトは大事だと思います。古い技法を用いってるのですが、技法だけで面白くない。この技法はコンセプトか、何かのアイディアを探る場合にしか興味をもっていないです。 」

With this way of thinking, quilts, knitting or felting could be quite welcome on "Textile Art"s Facebook page - but only if they are exploring or untangling some kind of idea.

こういう風に考えるならば、キルト、編み物、フェルトなども上述したFBページにも載せれるけど、コンセプトがある物に限られます。

下の作家さん、ルーク・ヘインズ（米国）は現代的なキルトを作っています。こういうのだったら、Textile Artとは言えると思いますが、フワフワな雰囲気がないのは男性なのだからかもしれない。

This Artist Luke Haynes might be onto something. I still have reservations but at least he is pushing the envelope and creating quilts that are more like contemporary art. Maybe it's something he can get away with because he's not a woman. Also, he graduated from Cooper Union, which is supposed to give him instant hipster Art street-cred.　Youtube Link

Or perhaps this quilt of a $10,000 note by Nina Paley is on the right track. It ticks the conceptual box... but I disagree with her opinon about high art being a price tag issue.

またこういうキルトもアートなのでしょうか。１万ドル札のキルトで、キルトの売る値段は材料・作る時給のお金より安いという皮肉なメッセージも含んでいます。

Having said all this, I'm not sure an exclusive mindset is beneficial for Textiles practice. It doesn't leave room for the talented makers with amazing skills. Nor does it leave room for Textile-ans who are still finding their voice.

But it sure would be nice for a change if Textile Art could lose it's fluffy reputation.

結局なの結論になったか分からないですが、

テキスタイルアートはこれからフワフワ、B級、ダサい雰囲気を無くしていけば、いいなあと思っています。テキスタイルでアートを目指しているなら、アートのように自分には大事なメッセージを表現しましょう。

きっと、最新鋭のジャンルになれるので。

Autumn Grasses and Cultural Glasses 秋草と異文化

　"The Culture of Dyeing"
by Fukumoto Shigeki

Recently I've been slogging my way through reading "Somé no bunka", literally titled, "The Culture of Dyeing". It's a relatively long book in Japanese (hence the slog) by Fukumoto Shigeki, a Dyeing Artist and author who trained at the somewhat conservative Kyoto City University of Arts in the late 1960's. The book is a philosophical look at the cultural history and relevance of dyeing in Japan. Fukumoto has some strong opinions regarding dyeing, which is making it an interesting read (e.g "frame a textile?! What are you, an idiot?"or "Japan is surely the only country who can boast such an accomplished Dye culture!"*translated with some creative licence...).

最近、「染めの文化」という本を読もうとしています。染色作家の福本繁樹氏が書いた内容は興味深いですから、漢字を辞書で調べたり、面白い文章をノートに写したりして頑張っています！「染めの文化」は（読んだ所までにはといえば）、染めという物・行為は日本においてどの意味を持つのか、どのように進展してきたのか、を色々な角度から考察する本です。日本の染めをより深く理解できるように、アメリカでの染織の歴史・現状なども取り上げられていて、面白いです。

Back to Fukumoto and his strong opinions in a moment....but now for something completely different!!

Autumn Grasses in Moonlight　by Shibata Zenshin
月に秋草図屏風、柴田是真

What do you make of this painting above Is it a nice painting of a pretty bunch of weeds? Or perhaps a wistful ode to the passage of life? (...how insightful of you!)

福本の話は後述の部分に戻るのですが、ここで違う話をしましょう。

上の絵を見ると感想はどうですか？ただ、綺麗に描いてある雑草に見える？それとも、秋のモチーフによって世の哀れを感じさせる？（まさかの玄人じゃないですか？！）答は、個人の文化的な背景によるのでしょう。

Perhaps that all depends what cultural glasses you are looking through!

つまり、どの文化の眼鏡をかけて見ているかによると思います。

（←豊原周延の真美人が格好いいでしょう！和服と眼鏡の組み合わせで違和感を感じますけどね。この真美人も面白い！）

In Japanese there is the term "akikusa"秋草. It literally means "the grasses of Autumn"and refers to a stylized motif that can be seen in traditional Japanese paintings (as above!) and designs. It's a popular motif in contemporary Japan too, appearing on everything from Kimono to notepaper. 

日本語の「秋草」が上の絵のように、秋に生える雑草を描写するモチーフです。琳派などの絵や伝統工芸において人気なモチーフでしたが、今も着物やレターセットなどにも多く使われています。

尾形光琳の秋草図屏風 'Autumn Grasses Folding screen" by Rinpa School Master artist Ogata Kourin.

In it's most traditional conception, Akikusa tends to depict the so called, "Seven plants of Autumn"(seven being an auspicious number). These 7 are usually:

Pampas Grass - Chinese Bellflower - Maidenflower - Bushclover - Wild Carnations - Arrowroot - Boneset

These are often partnered with other set Autumn motifs such as the Moon, Rabbits, Red Autumn Leaves, or Chrysanthemums. 

But why go to all the trouble of painting 'a bunch of weeds' anyway??

秋草のモチーフはよく「秋の七草」を描写しています。その七つは萩・薄・藤袴・桔梗・葛・女郎花・撫子だそうです。秋草はよく、ウサギ、月、紅葉、菊などの秋モチーフと一緒に描いてあるですね。

さて、なぜ草というごく日常的な物をそんな綺麗に描こうとしていたなのでしょうか？

Here's where Fukumoto's book comes back into the equation.

Something he suggests is that, unlike "the West", people in Japan have a tendency to appreciate the value of age and patina, as well as favour imagery that suggests ageing, decay and the cycle of nature. 

I think a wonderful example of this Japanese taste for the wistful is the akikusa motif. It is intended to evoke a feeling of melancholy and an appreciation of the passing seasons and impermanence. My Japanese friend described it like, "Akikusa is one of those "Withered Expressions" that Japanese people really love. Japanese people have long loved the cycle of the seasons and the cycle of life: to sprout, grow, bloom, make seeds and then die". 

ここで福本氏の話に戻ります。「染めの文化」に、いわゆる「欧米人」と違って、日本人は哀れの表現を好んで、季節の循環やほろびに深く感動される傾向がある、と書かれました。秋草はこの好みの例としてちょうどいいでしょう？

跡見花蹊の秋草図屏風 "Autumn Grasses Folding Screen" by Atomi Kakei

(Can I just say though, I get a bit annoyed when authors like Fukumoto make broad claims like "Unlike in the West where They think X, We Japanese think Y"? For starters, I really dislike the use of the term "the West". The two Kanji in this Japanese word (欧米）refer to the whole of Europe and America, and presumably in today's consciousness it has also come to include Australia. You can hardly make a sweeping generalisation about what "the whole of Japan" thinks, let alone put words in the mouth of a collective "West", comprised of at least 70 different countries, all with different cultures!! If Japanese authors are going to contrast the philosophy of their country to that of anywhere else, I wish they would at least be specific, rather than just throw them in contrast to some contradictory "other".)

話がちょっと変わりますが、日本人の筆者の「欧米人はこう思っていますが、日本人はこう思っています」というような文章はとても嫌です。「欧米」って最低70ヵ国からできている地域なので、全体的にそこに住む人の意見って簡単に説明できないのです。日本人も様々で、「日本人の考え方はこうだ」と言うのも無理でしょう？海外の思想などと比較したい時に、具体的にどの国と比べているかとか、もっと詳しく考慮してほしいだけです。

I do tend to agree with Fukumoto that, especially in the past, Japanese culture has respected and revered the wistful passage of time but I don't think that an appreciation of the fading and melancholy is exclusively a Japanese past-time, as some would have you believe.

And don't forget modern Japan is notoriously fickle in her appreciation of the weathered and worn (Think, tearing down old machiya houses to build cookie cutter apartment blocks)...

福本氏が言う日本人は物の哀れを深く感じる傾向に同感しますが、自然の循環や物の哀れをきつく感じるのは日本人に限られていると思わないです。現在の日本社会と言ったら、古いものに対してそんなに優しくないしね。（町屋の代わりに全く味がないアパートを建つとかを例にできる）

Cootamundra Wattle, an Australian Native but notoriously spreads outside it's natural range = a WEED

All this talk of Autumn Grasses led me to wondering whether I could come up with some kind of Australian equivalent. We certainly have plenty of weeds...which, if you were wondering, differ from a "plant" in that they are malicious and unwanted; a species in the wrong habitat and trying to dominate it. Seems like another case of the right glasses, does it not?

I had seen a lot of different native and weedy grasses in the nature reserve near our house and set out to document some of them. Whilst it's actually Spring in Australia at the moment, vegetation dries out in the sudden heat and there is actually quite a lot of "autumn-esque" foliage around. Strange how the seasons are opposite to Japan but not really.

grasses and weeds as far as the eye can see!

秋草について調べたりしたら、オーストラリア風の秋草もできるのではないかと思いました。家の近くにある山々の所は雑草が多くて、カメラを持って見に行きました。沢山の種類を見つけたのですが、秋の七草のような7つにこだわるなら、次の７を提案します！

I found plenty of weeds to choose from but I think I'd like to limit my "7 Canberra grasses" to the following:

Salvation Jane. A farmer's nightmare
but pretty when it forms a purple carpet over fields of grass.　シャゼンムラサキ

Lambs Ear. Looks like a cabbage, feels like a...lamb's ear.
「ラムの耳」と呼ぶ雑草。手触りはフワフワ

Wild blackberries:
Prickly wild bushes that were supposed to have been
helpful for lost bushwalkers but are now a noxious pest.
野生のブラックベリー。いばらが多いから美味しそうけど
採るのが凄く痛い！

Random dry grasses -
which Australia has in ABUNDANCE
乾いた草。乾燥しているオーストラリアの
どこにもあるもの。

Something which I don't know the name of,
but they are everywhere around Canberra
名前が分からない雑草ですが、
形は力があって、面白い。

Another mystery weed- how cool are the floaty tendrils?
もう一つの分からないやつ。
でもリボンのような葉っぱはとても気に入る。

And finally, twisty vines of Hardenbergia,
with cute purple flowers.
最後に、小さい紫の花が沢山咲くハーデンベルギア

Technically I suppose these are Spring Grasses but in future artworks, I hope they will carry the meaning of Japan's akikusa. Australians too, are capable of an appreciation for the wilting, the fading and the impermanent.

Finally, in an interesting plot-twist, I just found out that the Australian Bourke Parrot, all little and pink and grass-loving, is translated in Japanese as the Akikusa-Inko, the Autumn Grasses Parrot! What a way to bring everything back full circle :)

最後にもう一つ！ずっと秋草を検索していたのに、このオーストラリア原産BourkeParrotの和名は「アキクサインコ」だと昨日まで知らなかった！いいね！話はなんかうまいことに染めで始まったけど好きな鳥で終わりました！

Bourke Parrots, a.k.a Akikusa Parrots!

The Mismatch, The Spaces Between.

At a review meeting I had two weeks ago at school, my head Professor saw my draft design and declared, "It's like an Australian Sōtatsu!" (Sōtatsu Tawaraya is a very famous founding member of the Rinpa school of Japanese painting and is most famous for his bold designs and folding screen paintings which are a staple in Japanese school textbooks) It was a laughable comparison but essentially, my Professor was suggesting that my artwork looked pretty Japanese.

VERY Famous pair of screen paintings by Sotatsu. Reproductions are on permanent display at Kennin-ji in Kyoto.

Another teacher then asked me whether I'm "conscious of that mismatch between the Japanese and Australian". Yes, of course and I feel like I still haven't managed to tread that fine line with sufficient finesse. Perhaps my artwork still does look too Japanese.

But let's think about what that means; to "look Japanese". Maybe my compositions or colours are heavily influenced by Japanese painters. But isn't any artist inspired by someone, or by some art that came before he did? It just happens to be that what I am inspired by is "outside my own culture" or has a history attached that was borne in another country. I'm not trying to appropriate or parody Japanese paintings or Japanese traditions, rather I am impressed and moved by them. So perhaps the questions should be more about where the line is between Parody and Homage. 

It comes back to the very crux of what is "creation". All we are ever doing is recycling. Grabbing all those little skerricks of things we love, things that excite us, things that make us go "ohhhh" and bundling them up together cleverly and beautifully in a way that becomes us. 

Where we grab those strands of inspiration from will influence the whole but the sum of them will be unique.

I can be influenced by Japanese painting or scrolls or Abstract Impressionism but if I am a talented artist, if I am engaging in creation, then the artwork that I create won't be an imitation of those or a parody but rather an artwork that rings of a certain taste, certain familiar qualities, certain influences that are important but not all-defining. 

I happen to love art that makes you look twice because it's a special play on imagery or tradition. How about this list for starters? Australian Danie Mellor, Ceramicist Ah Xian, Sculptor Ricky Swallow, Painter Yamaguchi Akira, 

Yokohama-e Prints from the 1860's, Edo-era Bird scrolls, Japanese painter Takeuchi Seiho.......

Quirky scrolls depicting imported bird species from the early 1800's

Ah Xian "China Bust 15" 1999. Porcelain

Akira Yamaguchi 『演説電柱』2012

Takeuchi Seiho "Painting of Rome" 1903

These are artworks and artists inspired by tradition, inspired by certain tastes or cultures but they turn those influences into something else entirely. 

In my own work, I feel the same push and pull. The technique gives the work a certain look, and I push it towards something else; as a result it can be neither here nor there. And why not be both? If we did the same thing as everyone else, we could expect the same results, and we know from the definition of "creation" that every recycling produces a new combination.

I have now officially spent half of my art education in Australia and half in Japan so the images and artworks that I've been exposed to are from both backgrounds. Perhaps if I was doing katazome purely within an Australian art school, my work would tend more towards design or abstraction or experimental textiles. But with the things around me like Nihonga (Japanese painting) and contemporary pictorial textiles, this is what I have gravitated towards. Also I'm really interested in the ideas behind Japanese painting about compositions and seasonal imagery and flow, it's not purely just that those paintings are around.

Instead of feeling odd or uneasy about the mismatched things and the spaces between, why don't we celebrate them? 

A course in Nihonga - Japanese Painting. OR, "How to paint Broccoli" 「日本画体験」。または「ブロッコリーの描き方」

We just finished our summer break at Kyoto Seika University. During the break, various departments run short courses as part of the "Summer School" program open to the public offering things like printmaking, papermaking and ceramics. This year was my last chance to participate so I signed up for the 5 day course in Nihonga - Japanese style painting. It turned out to be great fun, and the longest I've EVER spent observing broccoli.
先週、京都精華大学の夏休みはやっと終わりました。夏の間に精華で「サマースクール」が開催され、ロクロ体験、木版画体験とかの短期コースが提供されています。今年は最後の京都の夏なので、五日間の日本画講座に参加することにしました。とてもいい経験でした。しかも、ブロッコリーを眺めるにはこんな長い時間を掛けるのは人生初めてだったと思います。

Kyoto Seika's 2014 Summer School courses.

A good friend finished her Master's degree in Nihonga last year so I had the chance to peek inside the Japanese Painting studios at Seika and see some of the materials and processes they use. She also came to see me working in Textiles and it struck us both how many similarities there were between Nihonga and Senshoku (textile dyeing). I've also read a little about Japanese Painting and the movement of Kacho-ga ("The Art of Birds-and-Flowers") so I had been keen to try out working with the mineral pigments for myself.
去年、日本画の大学院から卒業した友達がいます。彼女の作業スペースへお邪魔しに行って、日本画の素材ややり方をちょっとだけ見えました。テキスタイルの院部屋へ遊びに来た彼女も、日本画と染色には共通点が多いと気づきました。前に日本画やその中の「花鳥画」に興味を持って少し研究したので、今回、岩絵の具を実際に使って見るのを楽しみにしていました。

When I say "Japanese-style painting", I don't mean paintings of Mt Fuji or Geisha or ink-work scrolls or gold-leafed panels, or kneeling in kimono to paint (although all of these may be part of it!),

it's a term that has come to refer broadly to the traditional Japanese way of painting with mineral and powdered pigments, animal-based glue, gold leaf, Japanese paper, silk, and more.

Just a small selection of the Nihonga pigments we were let loose with.

The name Nihonga just means Japan (Nihon) Paintings (ga). Speaking with Murabayashi Sensei who led the course, he explained how the term Nihonga never existed before the Meiji Period. It came into usage as a way to differentiate it from the new, introduced form of Western Oil Painting/Youga, abura-e. Prior to that, Nihonga was defined more by the movements and schools of painting, such as Rimpa, Kano or Tosa.
日本画っていう言葉は、明治時代に輸入された油絵・洋画と区別できるように使われて来ました。その前に「日本画」というジャンルではなく、何々派（狩野派、琳派など）というふうに呼ばれました。

Nihonga is still taught in Universities and it tends to be categorised as this very traditional, nature-worshipping, almost spiritual study. Just see the English description of the course at Kyoto Seika here to see what I mean! I first saw Nihonga paintings in 2008 when I was an exchange student at Kyoto Seika University. My first reaction was that they appeared so pale and chalky. As someone who was scarred by my primary school teachers telling me "It's too pale! Use darker colours!!", I was inclined to think that a sign of poor workmanship. See below some examples of the kinds of paintings I first saw.
日本画は大学で学べます。自然、伝統、精神を重視しているコースというイメージが強い気がします。初めて日本画の作品を見たのが交換留学生の時でした。小学校で美術先生によく「薄すぎ！もっと濃い色を使ってごらん」と言われた私には、色が薄い日本画が分かりにくかったです。その時下のような絵を見ました。

Works from the Kyoto Seika Japanese Painting department

But I think that judgement was due to the fact that I didn't know what I was looking at (and also, they were works by 2nd year uni students..so, you know).
Now that I've experienced the layering of pigments and texture that comes from these, I have a better appreciation for the texture and colour quality of these paintings. Let's have a look at the process we went through in the short course.
でも、その時は日本画のこと全然知らなかったし、学際の展示だったから１、2年生の作品はずでした（１，２年生に失礼かもしれないですが）。５日間はとても短いけれども、日本画の色合いや砂のような感触をちょっとでもわかるようになった気がします。さて、講座で習った工程を見てみましょう。

Our main focus in the 5 days was to get a feel for using powdered pigments so the subject matter was not of such great importance. Thus, we were to choose from an array of vegetables and spend a day sketching out our composition. I chose a big head of broccoli and a red onion.　
講座の目標は日本画に独特な岩絵の具を体験することだったから簡単な主題として野菜を描かせました。私は丸くて面白いブロッコリーと綺麗な紫のレッドオニオンを選びました。
After sketching our vegetables, we proceeded to paint the colours of our vegetables onto the sketch with watercolours. I was a bit confused as to why we would paint the image in one medium, only to trace it onto another surface and paint it again...but I went along with it.
野菜を丁寧にデッサンしてから、水彩絵の具で色を塗りました。岩絵の具を描いていく野菜を一回水彩絵の具で描くというやり方はちょっと面倒くさいと思っていたが、岩絵の具を選ぶ時に参考に水彩スケッチが参考になりました。

Clockwise from top left: My broccoli and red onion, sketching, watercolour on sketch, and tracing the watercolour. 上左より、主題のブロッコリーとレッドオニオン、デッサン、水彩スケッチ、それをトレース紙に写した後。

So once we had our colours down in watercolour, we traced the design onto a gold edged paper panel. Because the panels had flecks of gold and were a bit shiny, we applied a base coat of go-fun （white chalk powder) to the areas where we would paint our vegetables. After that dried, it was finally down to the fun part of applying colour!
彩色してから金箔っぽいのパネルに移しました。パネルがつるつるだったから、一回胡粉（白い粉）を野菜のところだけに塗りました。それでやっと絵の具の楽しい段階へ行きました。

Gold panel with a base coat of go-fun chalk painted on. 胡粉を野菜のところに塗った後

Murabayashi Sensei brought in a huge array of Nihonga pigments for us to look at and have a go with. He showed us this amazing tray of bits and pieces of minerals and creatures that are the very base form of the most expensive tennnen iwaenogu Natural Pigments.
先生が色々な岩絵の具を見せてくれました。その中、こういうめちゃくちゃ高い天然磐絵の具の素材の鉱物もありました。綺麗でしょう！

they just LOOK expensive don't they? lapis lazuli, malachite, cinnabar... 貴重な天然岩絵の具の素材：朱、孔雀石、ラピスラズリ．．．

These materials are mechanically washed, filtered and ground to various particle sizes, used to obtain　different effects. The larger the number (11-13 etc) the finer the particles, and the lighter the colour. Coarser particles like 5 or 6 produce a darker colour. This effect was strikingly obvious with the box of shinsha : natural cinnabar (isn't this stuff toxic?!) . The deepest colour is a crimson and the lighter shades appear closer to orange.
この鉱物は機械で細かく砕いて、色んな細かさの粒子に分級されます。5番から13番で粒子の細かさを表示します。低い番号（５，６番）は粗くて色が濃い、高い番号の11，13番は細かくて色が薄いです。辰砂の天然岩絵の具を見たら、同じ素材なのに色調が異なるだとすぐに分かります。

Cinnabar Mineral pigments. Coarser and darker on left ranging to finer and paler at right, all from the same base mineral material. These could set you back $20 per 15grams. 辰砂の岩絵の具。細かい粒子（11-13番）はオレンジ色なのに、同じ素材が大きい粒子（6番とか）だと濃いピンクになります。

To actually apply the powdered pigments to your painting surface, they are mixed by hand with an extracted animal collagen called nikawa. This mostly clear liquid is a little thick (depending on individual preference) and it's got a bit of an animal smell, though not overwhelming. Using your finger you work the powder into a smooth liquid with an appropriate amount of nikawa.
岩絵の具を塗るために、指で「膠」を使って溶けます。膠がちょっと動物の匂いがするけど、慣れてきたら気にならないです。

getting into it, mixing pigments with "nikawa" 膠で溶けた新岩絵の具

The next step down from the Natural mineral pigments is Man-made mineral pigments. That is, mineral bases that have been chemically altered to give a broader range of colours than are naturally occuring. Apparently these only really took off after Western Oil Painting became more prevalent in Japan because artists working in Nihonga wanted a broader range of colours to rival the strong and colourful expressions of Oil Painting. These offer a really beautiful range of colours. They are cheaper than the all-natural pigments and they have awesome names too! "Back-of-leaf Green", "Red-bean", "Japanese Nightingale"...
次の種類は「人造岩絵の具」。つまり、鉱物などを化学的に変化させたものです。色は天然岩絵の具より多彩です。先生の話によると、明治時代に油絵が日本へ入って来たとき、日本画家は油絵の色や強さに印象を受けました。それで、同じような強さを表現したかったから色数を増やして欲しかったらしいです。色が並んでいるとすごい綺麗ですね！色名も面白かったです。「鶯」、「あづき」、「裏葉緑青」というような名前を読んだら、どういう色かはすぐに頭に浮かびますね。

So-called Manufactured Mineral Pigments. AMAZING colours. And all with great names too. 新岩絵の具。素晴らしい色だけじゃなくて、色名も面白い！

And next down the rungs in the nihonga pigment hierachy are the ones we were actually allowed to go nuts with, suihi enogu. These are what beginners usually start with and are also used for underpainting (shitanuri). Some of these were quite beautiful and others were just...argh! They reminded me of some of the really acrid chemical dye colours in textiles, especially the horrible yellows and pinks. Which makes sense because the cheap nasty ones like these are just go-fun chalk white that has been chemically DYED!  Apparently students are advised not to use these because they tend to bleed and stain if used in the underpainting!
次に来るのは水干絵の具です。講座で下塗りにこれを使いました。綺麗な色多かったけれども、下のような生っぽいの色もありました。安い染料のような色だと思ったら、化学染料で染められた胡粉らしいです！やっぱり。下塗りにこの水干絵の具を使うと表まで滲んで来るから使わなように学生に教えっているそうです。

EEEW! Nasty Chemical-looking suihi enogu dyed pigments.　生っぽい水干絵の具．．．

slowly adding layers of suihi enogu  

copying colours from the watercolours we had painted. 水干絵の具を塗っていく途中。水彩スケッチは役に立ちました。

下塗りが完成。base layers of suihi enogu complete

Once we had painted the vegetables in with the basic suihi-enogu we moved on to adding layers of the iwaenogu, with their coarser particles to add brilliant full colour and highlights. The iwaenogu layers remain see-through and the base colours show through. Of course, there are many ways to use the various pigments of nihonga and this is just the order we were taught over the 5 days.
水干絵の具で下塗りを完成したら、上に光に綺麗に発色する岩絵の具を塗りました。何回も塗って、粒子の粗いものも塗りながら完成に近付きました。

very coarse iwaenogu applied to my red onion in the final stages. 最後に塗った粗い岩絵の具。

完成したオニオンのクロースアップdetail of the onion with coarse iwaenogu in areas

Broccoli details. I was SO OVER BROCCOLI by this point! ブロッコリーのディテール。五日間目になったらもうブロッコリーを見たくないになった！

I was interested in the way Murabayashi Sensei was guiding us to use colour and describe form. He told us that it was probably hard for us to stop trying to add highlights and shadows but that in nihonga, its all about describing the weight of the object; it's fullness and presence. This is also acheived by leaving the background empty. Well, empty space in nihonga is not thought of as empty but as endless imagined space. We were also encouraged to use not only the colours we could see but colours that we wanted the viewer to feel.
先生の色や野菜の形についての説明も面白かったです。日本画では、物の説明より、重さや空間の方が大事だと説明されました。空間の使い方、色の濃さで存在感を描写する作業になります。それと、見える色を使うだけじゃなくて、「感じたい色」も入れたらいいと言われました。水彩絵の具が一番馴染がある私にはこういうのが難しかったですが、それこそいい経験でした。

"Broccoli & Red Onion" Melinda Heal 2014, haha. 完成！

In closing, I was talking to my friend about how nihonga is starting to be less popular in Japan or is tending towards Pop-art/manga. Then I realised that there is this long history of things that Japan adopted voraciously to the detriment of what was perfectly adequate before that. For example, chemical dyes almost completely replaced natural dyes, suits and western dress overtook kimono, vinyl floors are replacing tatami etc etc. And yet it is these original things about Japan that the world is so intrigued by and in love with. If nihonga gets swept aside too that's a real tragedy for Japanese art and culture.