4. Finally the entire brush has been loosened. Next, dip the brush in water and swish it around to wash out the starch. The water will turn milky. Repeat, changing the water several times. Each time you take the brush out of the water, remove as much water as you can by pressing the bristles on a cloth or paper towel. Your new brush is now ready to use.
Brush Hangers
Many different types of brush hangers are available in art supply shops. Depending upon their style, they hold various sizes and lengths of brushes. They are an ideal way to store brushes because moisture on the bristles will drip down and evaporate.
The example below is a standard brush hanger. These have either hooks or pegs on both sides for hanging brushes. Some brushes have a string loop already attached to the end of the handle; if the brush does not come with a string loop for hanging, you can easily put one on yourself.
A. This large brush is composed of coarse white horse hairs, and its springy and flexible traits make it well suited for writing large calligraphy.
B. This brush has a bamboo handle with joints, and its head is composed of bird feathers, preferred by some contemporary calligraphers.
C. The white hairs of this brush have a springy effect that can be used for many different purposes.
D. The long sheep hairs make this brush good for semi-formal to informal calligraphy.
E. This brush is composed of long horse hairs.
F. This red lacquer brush of sheep hair has whiskers in the center; therefore, it is used for large ideograms but also works well for semi-formal calligraphy.
G. This brush has a long handle and the thick short white hair of sheep. It is convenient for painting flower petals, for example.
H. The versatile choryu brush.
I. A mountain horse hair brush, for which there are many uses.
J. The three beautiful brushes on the far right were purchased during a visit to China. The red cloisonné probably has weasel type hair. The one with the green stone handle is most likely raccoon hair. (That the green is jade is just wishful thinking!)
PAPER: THE FOUNDATION
Sometime around 2,000 years ago, archaelogical evidence has shown, hemp and linen fibers from old rags and the plants themselves were used to make paper in China. Before that time silk had been used as the writing surface; silk served the purpose well because in its original state, it is very stiff due to the glue-like substance the worm puts on the threads. Thin slats of bamboo strung together were also used to write upon. Before the time of paper and silk, archaeological findings show that clay tablets were used for writing and keeping documents. A wet cloth was placed upon the tablet to keep the clay moistened until the writing was completed. The tablet was then dried and fired. The earliest writing was words chiseled on stone or bone. Of course, far from China, in ancient Egypt, it is well known that Egyptians developed papyrus more than 5,000 years ago.
The hemp fiber paper produced in ancient China was exported on the Silk Road to the Middle East. Around the Persian Gulf, hemp and fibers from mulberry trees were made into paper. The first known paper factory was established in Baghdad in 793 A.D. Until then, Europeans had been dependent upon parchment which was made from animal skins. Papermaking was introduced and transported to Europe from the Middle East.
By this time, the papermaking process had been brought by Buddhist monks to Korea and Japan. By 780 A.D. the Japanese had perfected the system of papermaking and it is recorded that they produced 233 types of paper. Japanese paper is still handmade today using the traditional methods. A major difference between western papers and Japanese papers is in the length of the fibers. Western paper is generally made from plant fibers which have been crushed and ground into pulp. In Japanese paper, the natural strength of the fibers is honored and the fibers are blended and interwoven like felt. It is for this reason that even thin handmade paper maintains some durability when given moisture.
Japanese papers are mainly produced from kozo (a type of mulberry); mitsumata (Daphne genus); and gampi (another species of the Daphne genus). Gampi is said to be insect resistant. It also the most durable in terms of the time it will last, so it is one of the most popular types. Ink will not spread out on these smooth white papers, so they are considered the best papers for calligraphy and painting.
Among the many varieties of paper made in China, a very popular one for calligraphy and painting is made from fibers of rice straw. It is an absorbent type of paper, and the various wet to dry effects of the brush can be obtained easily. Toshi is another Chinese paper that has been produced since the Han Dynasty; it consists of bamboo fibers. Papers made from bamboo fibers are termed Shuan papers. Other papers commonly found in most Chinese art supply shops in the U.S. are Taiwan cotton and Taiwan linen. These papers are very durable when wet, as is Chinese pi paper (pi means “skin” or “leather”). Giao li is an inexpensive sized paper that is good for calligraphy or sumi-e. Jen ho paper is relatively thick and absorbent.
The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting is the sourcebook of sumi-e. It was first published in China in 1679, and it is still studied by learners today. This illustration is captioned: “To contrast movable water with immovable rock in painting a stream or waterfall in sumi-e, place emphasis on the darkness and harshness of rocks rather than on the surface and direction of water. Overemphasis will kill the spirit of the water.”
Among the specialized papers made for sumi-e, some have finely processed clay added into them to enhance the light ink tones. (Contemporary magazines which carry fine photographs in color, such as fashion magazines, also use paper which has clay in it.)
Handmade papers are expensive. But in Japan, Korea and China, the same materials are also treated in a similar process but via machine rather than by hand, so good manufactured papers are also an option. My suggestion is that you check the Internet, focusing on Asian papers, to begin to understand the range of papers available. In choosing paper, your main concern should be what goals you have in mind for your art. Then decide whether absorbent or sized paper will best serve your purposes.
Paper is absorbent (think of paper towels), and a drop of water will instantly be soaked up. Sized paper, in contrast, is treated to be more resistant and water does not permeate it as easily, which makes it similar to watercolor paper. (It is possible to create sized paper from absorbent paper by painting it with liquid “dosa” as a sizing agent. See “How to Size Paper,” page 189.) The major difference between the two is that sized sumi-e paper is much thinner than watercolor paper.
This thinness of paper is important to consider together with the manner in which you plan to display your sumi-e work. Most contemporary sumi-e artists will frame their work in a western-style picture frame, in which case the thickness of the paper really does not matter. But if the work is to be displayed in the traditional manner, that is, as a hanging scroll, it will be rolled rather tightly for storage, and therefore should be done on thin paper. If a painting on thick paper is mounted as a scroll, when it is unrolled, cracks may appear across the painting especially during the dry seasons.
If there are art supply stores which carry Chinese or Japanese papers within your traveling distance, when visiting them you can determine which papers are sized and unsized by simply adding a small amount of moisture to the corner of a sample of the paper. The result can be seen instantly: If the moisture leaves a gray mark, it is absorbent unsized paper. If the moisture does not leave a mark, it is sized paper.
My personal preference is to use the sized torinoko paper which is used for making fusuma (sliding doors) in Japan, because it comes in large sizes. It