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Welcome to ArtBrush library This library is designed to support and enhance your learning journey with ink. It has an extensive writing about tools and materials you would use, and an essay about how to mount your final piece in the traditional way. It includes a selection of writing about the mindset of the ink artist practitioner to inspire and deepen your practice. Ink painting, is the most ancient form of drawing known to exist, and is well rooted in the history of China and Japan. And so, I have chosen to include in the library a section dedicated to the history of this art-form. It includes looking at Japanese art aesthetics, traditional tools and materials, fundamental notions and ways of how to consider viewing Japanese art and artwork highlights of Japanese masters of ink. Finally there is an introductory section to calligraphy, which is a fundamental practice for the ink artist. Feel free to download, print and bind it in booklet format, so you can use it along your studio practice. I hope you will enjoy the library content, that it brings depth and wonderment to your journey with ink. Talia

Japanese ink - 墨 sumi — an introduction Overview Japanese ink, known as sumi or boku, is an organic, natural material, that has been used in Japan for over a thousand years for writing and painting. Originated in China, its usage goes even further back into ancient history. It is one of the oldest painting material known in human history. Because of its unique quality, painting with sumi ink can creates beautiful variance shades of black and translucency that range from soft greys to deep black, making ink painting so powerfully spirited and sublime at the same time. What is sumi made of? Sumi ink traditionally comes in the form of a solid ink stick in various sizes and qualities. Made of compressed soot or coal dust, mixed with essence oils and natural glue to form the solid stick. Soot was collected either from burnt wood, like pine, making coal dust. Or soot collected from vegetable oil lamps burning, usually in caves, after which, the soot forming on the rocks surface of the cave would be carefully scratched and collected. When sumi is made of pine soot, it will produce a more matte, cold, lighter, bluish black, where when it is made of oil soot, it will be more glossy, brighter, deeper black. The quality of the ink depends on the type and age of the wood used for coal dust, or the quality of the vegetable oil. Higher quality sumi, has good weight about it, as there is no air formed between the soot and glue. It would have a smooth surface texture, as all the materials are well bonded. And it will carry a quality fragrance to it, especially when grinding it for painting. How to make ink Traditionally, artists and calligrapher always made fresh ink for their work. Its quality is always superior to any ready made ink coming from bottles these days. When making ink, high quality ink stick will produce a smooth, ink with a quality luminous ink. You would need your ink stone (suzuri) for this. Pour few water drops into your ink stone well area. The amount of water you have in the well, is the amount of ink you will have to work with. Place the stone in front of you, preferably even distance from your heart. Hold the ink stick with your writing hand, making sure the base of the ink stick touches, or aim to, the base of the palm. Hold the stick with your fingers, as if the stick is an extension of your hand, an extension of your heart. Deep the stick in the well’s water, and gently begin to grind it on the clear surface of the stone. You will see how the ink particle begins to colour the water. Keep going, firmly and consistently, with even pressure and rhythm, for 5 - 10 minutes, until the water become dark black ink. You can check how black your ink is, by dipping a brush in the well of the stone, and making a line on a piece paper. You will be surprise at the range of shades of black that appears. You do not want the ink to be too diluted, or too thick. Depending on the painting subject, or wether you are writing calligraphy, you will decide the thickness of the ink. Another factor to consider, is the paper that you will be using, as some papers absorb ink more then others. Care for your ink Ink sticks can last for many years, if taken care of. Make sure to not leave the stick in water or liquid ink, as they can crack and crumble. Once used, leave it to dry completely or dry it with a cloth or piece of absorbent paper. Only put back in the box once completely dry. Because sumi ink is an organic material it would react with the environment, so be mindful to keep it in its original wooden box where possible, or wrapped in paper to protect it from humidity and heat. You are invited to download and/or printout for ease of use. Enjoy the read. Get your own Japanese ink painting tools and materials - Choose from three sets carefully curated by Talia

You are invited to download and/or printout for ease of use. Enjoy the read. Get your own Japanese ink painting tools and materials - Choose from three sets carefully curated by Talia

What makes an ink painting original? We live in a world of apparent dualities. In this world ink paintings are born. Black ink verses light paper; clear, transparent water verses dark, thick ink; a momentary movement of a brush, verses a thousand years old practice. The ink itself, is an ancient material, made of coal or soot residues, mixing elements of fire, earth and air. Touching few drops of fresh water, the ink comes to life from its dormant state in the hand of the artist’s brush. Somewhere, between the old and the new, the moment and the eternal, the blackness of ink and the transparent water; somewhere along this way, a line is born. A breathing line, that reveal to us, on paper, secrets of the heart. What are we doing when we paint with ink? Ink painting is an art form of suggestions. An insight into the rhythm and pattern of living things. That which words will not suffice. A powerful suggestion that can be made with a single brush stroke. This brush stroke does not seek to be original, but to declare and point the way of nature’s patterns. The way you see it, feel it, know it. And that makes it original. You are welcome to download and/or print this writing and enjoy the read.

How to make a simple line? Not everything that is simple is easy to do, not everything the is complex is difficult. The reason being, that we, humans, are just so full, diverse, intense, able, multifaceted, that when we try to be simple, try to act, or even make a line that is simple, there is so much that happens with it. And so the line is not just a line, it carries our hope, our wish to make it, our fears, to get it wrong. Our knowing of all the lines we have done before, and all the lines we have seen before. It carries all that we were told about the lines of living, and all the we understood from what we were told. And we are so full of all this, that we bring all this onto the paper. And so the line cannot be alive rotating with the NOW energy, because we bring so much debris onto it from the history of our lives. Letting go of all that is there, the complexity and the fullness of our lives. Learning to be simple, empty, lively with what is, in the moment. That is where we begin to enjoy the line that is fresh and simple. That is when the bamboo stroke, is alive, and when the heron can really fly.

The Visual Language of Ink Dragons in Japanese Art of the Edo period