Liquid Ink
In addition to brushes, you will need ink. The traditional method involves grinding your own ink using an ink stick on an ink stone. You may be tempted to buy one of the forms of liquid ink currently on the market, but, unless you are doing a large painting with a large, thirsty brush, this ink is not desirable. It is thinner than the ink you can grind on your stone and it can be too shiny when it dries. On very thin papers, it does not hold a line as well as regular ground ink.
Although it is very convenient not to have to grind your own ink, in using prepared ink you have deprived yourself of the five minutes of quiet centering in preparation for the discipline of the soft martial art of painting. During the ink grinding process, you can quiet your mind, plan the composition, review the strokes to be used, become one with the subject, and thus become better able to depict the essence of the subject rather than simply its pictorial outlines. All of this, besides getting rid of distractions, is part of the process and discipline of painting and should not be passed over lightly.
Ink Stones
The graininess of the ink is determined by the coarseness of the grain in the surface of the stone. Very fine textured ink is ground on a very fine-surfaced stone. As a beginner, you will probably use a grainier synthetic ink stone made from ground minerals and molded into the desired form with a grinding surface and a well to hold the ground ink. Some ink stones have large round wells, which can hold a large quantity of ink. Some round stones have lids to keep the ink from evaporating during the day and in hot weather. When you are painting large areas and washes, you need an ink stone with a larger well. For landscapes, you use dilution dishes to dilute and create several values of gray. Most landscapes are linear with many brush strokes and small areas of graded washes.
The best ink stones are made of the fine-grained Duan stone that come from Duanxi (Tuan-chi) in Guangdong province. Collectors are constantly looking for sources of desirable ink stones. North China has several sources of fine-grained stones with beautiful hues or very subtle colors. When chosen, such stones are usually carved by an artisan into the shape of a leaf, a frog, a bug, or a water lily. These ink stones are truly the precious treasures of the literati scholar. They are kept in wooden boxes to protect them from breakage. They are made of fine-grained stone, but they are brittle and will break if dropped.
Ink Sticks
Ink is produced by grinding an ink stick with a few drops of water on the surface of the ink stone. Later, the ink can be diluted with small amounts of water to lighten the shade.
Ink sticks are normally made from ground charcoal or soot collected from burning charcoal. The soot is mixed with scented oils and glue and poured into a mold to dry. The combination of ingredients determines the smoothness of the ink on paper, the tint of the ink when diluted, and the smell of the ink during use. Ink sticks made from charcoal mixed with pine resin and glues make coarser-grained inks. Ink sticks made from soot mixed with glue and fragrant oil from fir and/or pine resins make finer-grained inks. The best ink sticks have very fine particles. There are different grades of fine particles depending on how the wood is burned and collected. Ultimately, the quality of the ink on the paper is determined by how long you manually grind the ink. Some glues are made from deer horns, cows, and fish, each of which lends a different quality to the ink. Some inks leave a very shiny, smooth finish, while others are absorbed into the paper and leave a matte finish. Some combinations of ingredients, such as lamp black or soot, produce a brownish tint when diluted into washes. Others, such as soot and red pine, produce a bluish cast when diluted. Some artists use colored ink sticks, each of which needs its own stone for grinding so the colors do not mix. One of the desirable colors is called Ming green.
The type of wood used to make a charcoal base imparts an inherent fragrance to the ink stick. The most pleasing ink sticks to work with are made from soot and fragrant oils, as the perfume of the oils escapes while grinding the ink stick on the stone. Each family that makes ink sticks uses their own distinctive fragrance.
Ink sticks vary in their outer appearances as well as in their ingredients. In addition to collecting beautifully carved ink stones, true appreciators of the artist’s treasures enjoy acquiring ink sticks of various sizes and shapes. The ink sticks are usually pressed into a mold containing impressions and designs, some of which tell stories of heroes and myths from Chinese history. In most cases, even the cheapest small stick used by beginners has touches of gold or silver foil and some calligraphy. Larger ink sticks may have scenes of historic events with colors applied in addition to the usual gold and silver. Some of the sticks are as large as three inches by eight inches. Most of the large, fancy ink sticks never get used, and some are put in display cases for all to view.
Calligraphers prefer fine-grained natural stones and ink sticks that grind into a fine, powdery ink. This ink produces a clear, decisive line when stroking small characters. When ink is not used, it tends to evaporate and changes its consistency. It is said that old ink is used to restore old paintings, while new, freshly ground inks work best on new, fresh paintings. In most cases, you should not try to rehydrate and use old ink that has evaporated. The ink becomes very grainy and makes streaks. The essence and fragrance of the ink only comes out when it is freshly ground.
White Watercolor Paint
To paint white plum blossoms on tea-tinted paper and white chrysanthemums on colored rice paper, you can use Chinese opaque white watercolor paint.
Paper
Now that you have learned about the brushes and the ink stones on which to grind the ink stick, you are ready to select the substrate for the ink.
Paper vs. Silk
In ancient times, people used leaves, split bamboo sticks, or silk made with early weaving techniques. Early silk was not very absorbent, so the ink and paint had to be painted on both the front and back. Then paper was invented from vegetable sources in l05 BC. The invention of paper was most important, as paper was more absorbent than silk and thus was much easier to paint on. Later, the silk weavers treated the silk so that it was a little easier to use, but paper became the choice even as far back as the Tang dynasty. Many still painted on silk, however, even though it was coarse and harder to paint on.
Types of Paper
The process of making paper evolved from the use of different materials and the mechanical process of collecting the pulp on the screens to dry. Depending on the mix and quantity of materials and the type of screen, different kinds and thicknesses of paper are produced. You may be impressed by the variety of Oriental papers and their feel to the fingers.
Sizes
Some artists have particular goals and need different sizes of paper. For instance, scrolls require long pieces of paper while album sheets are much smaller. Hand scrolls, although narrow, may be 60 feet long. Fans require only small sizes of paper.
Specialty Papers
Hand-made, specialty papers may contain embedded objects, such as leaves, bugs, shiny foils, and strands of colored fibers, or may have a color or bands of color. Some may be thick and textured and embossed. These papers are used for special paintings, decorative purposes, and letters. They are collected by those who appreciate fine hand-made papers and one-of-a-kind sheets.
Colored Papers— Some papers are bleached white as they are dried in the sun on the screens. Other papers have a creamier color depending on the process and materials used. Some papers are tinted with pastel colors and are quite effective when using intense black ink. Colored papers tend to be very absorbent because dying the paper makes it wet for the second time. All papers become more absorbent each time they are wetted and allowed to dry. Some papers take the rich black ink and leave a velvety black or shiny surface. Some people choose papers because of the ink quality on that type of paper. Depending on the project at hand, you choose the proper paper, brush, and the dark or pale ink to be used, knowing there can be l6 different values