Sumi-e. Shozo Sato

durable surface, and is slightly cream colored, an apt description for this paper. Torinoko is made from gampi fibers, thus it is strong and the smooth surface makes it easier to paint on. It is considered to be the “king of handmade paper.”

      Papers which work well for calligraphy and painting, both handmade and machine-made, are numerous, so it is impossible to comprehensively list company and brand names here. Once you have determined the type of work you wish to produce, you should select the type of paper that is appropriate to use: absorbent or non–absorbent (sized) paper; thin but strong paper; thick heavy paper, and so on. All varieties are available. Today, most art supplies stores carry various sizes of tablets with paper especially made for sumi-e. For practice purposes, inexpensive thin paper is sufficient. For good results I recommend thicker sumi-e paper and quality sumi ink.

      Characteristic of the plant fibers from which they are made, papers for sumi-e and calligraphy will expand when given moisture, and will shrink when dry. This uneven shrinkage causes an unwanted wavy and bumpy surface on your painting. Most professional frame shops do not have the knowledge and expertise to stretch the paper smooth again, but you can learn to do it yourself; the techniques to stretch and dry these wrinkled papers to smoothness again are taught in Chapter 7.

      BLACK INK: VARIATIONS IN TONE

      In ancient times China developed a method of making permanent ink out of soot. Sumi is an achromatic ink which neither reflects nor transmits light. It is so permanent that if you get it on your clothes by accident and do not notice it immediately, it is almost impossible to wash it out.

      Consider how, after many washings, an item of black clothing’s color fades. The faded black will now have either a brown tone or a bluish tone. Sumi ink shows the same characteristic: when the ink is thinned it will have a brownish or a bluish tone. The highest quality sumi ink will have a pure gray tone.

      The carbon for sumi ink comes from three sources. Rape-seed oil, when burned, produces soot that is so fine that it has in-depth blackness. Pine sap, when burned, produces soot which has a quality of transparency, and the tone of ink when thinned ranges from light black to bluish gray. Industrial oils are used to produce inexpensive sumi that has a brown tone.

      Companies that produce sumi have used the same process for many centuries. Many small chambers are built, each holding small receptacles for the oil or sap, each of which contains a wick. These are lit and smoke eventually deposits soot on the walls of the chambers. When a certain thickness accumulates, it is collected. The soot is then mixed with nikawa (animal skin glue) and kneaded until it reaches the consistency of bread dough and is shiny black like coal. Small pieces of this material are then pressed into molds of various forms and sizes, depending upon a company’s specifications. The sticks of sumi are then carefully removed from the molds and placed in ashes to dry slowly and naturally so that they will not crack or split. After the sumi sticks are completely dried, they are removed from the ashes and polished according to company standards. Then they may be gilded or decorated, and labeled. Along with the company’s name, each ink stick’s container will note the ink’s tone, such as blue.

      The ink may also be left to mature for years after it is made into a stick; it is believed that sumi ink improves with age. Consequently, old Chinese sumi ink sticks are quite expensive. Ink sticks which are very old, perhaps even several hundred years old, may begin to crumble as the adhesive becomes very old. The ink stick is simply pulverized again and reformed with fresh glue.