Sumi-e(?) Supplies

[Jadedgn]

All,

 

My daughter wants to try out what I think is called Sumi-e It appears to be both calligraphy and watercolor painting all in one. Her birthday is coming up and I'm looking gor advise on what to get her. Maybe a nice kit or a list of what a decent beginners kit should contain.

 

She will be 12, but she's already very gifted with acrylic paint and mixed media. She's even had a piece in an exhibit at the local arts museum (The Frist) so I want to make sure she has the things that will get her off to a good start.

 

Thanks!

[Tsujigiri]

Sumi-e is the ink painting alone, it literally means "ink picture." Shodo or Shuji is the Japanese calligraphy that's sometimes paired with Sumi-e. The best option for either art is to use a traditional dip brush with carbon ink sold expressly for that purpose (ideally, you'd be grinding your own from an ink stick, but they also sell ink in bottles. My calligraphy class isn't too long, so everyone uses bottled ink to save time). You'll also want an ink stone, the cheap rectangular ones with a sloped indentation work well. For real Sumi-e, she'll need to use both ink and water on the brush (by inking just the tip darker, for an example, you can create some variation in shading during a stroke). But there are also some fountain pen equivalents of the old brushes, by Sailor, Kuretake, and Akashiya (more for calligraphy than sumi-e). Pentel also makes a cheap, semi disposable one if you want to just try it out.

[zenshrink]

Search the net for Shodo supplies. There are some good online sites. My teacher brings stuff back from Japan so I don't use them.

 

Your daughter will need a brush for about $40-$50 dollars; anything less expensive will not be good and will hinder her. She will need a stone to hold the ink, a paperweight to hold the paper, and perhaps a brush rest. Get her liquid ink. She can wait to learn how to make her own ink. Even masters use bottled ink with their students. Get her a package of practice paper because you have to practice, and heavy weight calligraphy paper is expensive.

 

Hope this helps.

[Tsujigiri]

Your daughter will need a brush for about $40-$50 dollars; anything less expensive will not be good and will hinder her.

 

Which brushes are you talking about? Or do you mean it costs that much in the states? There are 3 general brush sizes; a small for hiragana or writing your name and rank, a medium for general use, and a large for scrolls. $40-$50 is definitely the minimum for a decent large brush, but I think she'll only need a small and medium one. They cost about $10 for the small and $25 for the medium in Japan (although some have rarer animal hair bristles and bamboo handles and can cost $100). I'm not sure how much they are in the states, is the price difference really that much?

[ANM]

This is the set I have had for several years now. http://www.amazon.com/Sumi-Japanese-Calligraphy-Brush-SWS181/dp/B000B5HDAE/ref=pd_sbs_op_1

 

I loaned it to a Chinese lady to do some calligraphy blessings for friends. She said they were very good quality. (I know Sumi-e is Japanese, not Chinese but that is what she said)

 

You can get a couple three bamboo brushes and india ink (which can be watered down) at an art supply store for a lot less though. No need- in my opinion- to get good paper at first.

 

I personally prefer a couple of sable brushes but good ones are expensive.

[Jadedgn]

Thanks for all the great advice! I think I'm going to get her that kit and maybe some water colors or an ink sampler to play with as well. I'll try to post some of her creations after her birthday

[singer]

Thought it might be nice to revive this thread.. I'm interested in this too.

 

Members mention ink sticks and stones here near the end.

 

I personally prefer a couple of sable brushes but good ones are expensive.

I've often heard not to use those because the ink will stain them. That hasn't been the case with you?

[jBeckett]

maybe some water colors or an ink sampler to play with as well. I'll try to post some of her creations after her birthday

 

Just a heads up, Daniel Smith (.com) has samplers for their watercolors by way of "dot cards." They're small but really fun, the 220+ color one is about the same price as a student's (i.e. cheap) starter kit of primary colors. Though the full-sized tubes are at a premium price.

[Akishira]

Thought it might be nice to revive this thread.. I'm interested in this too.

 

Members mention ink sticks and stones here near the end.

 

I personally prefer a couple of sable brushes but good ones are expensive.

I've often heard not to use those because the ink will stain them. That hasn't been the case with you?

 

In my experience, using any brush for long enough will end up staining the hairs (eg pale hairs may go grey or black, and dark hairs may just darken), and it's not really anything more serious than a cosmetic change. As long as the brush is still supple and the staining of the hairs is waterfast (eg does not affect the color of the ink it's carrying) then it's okay in my books.

 

Of course, purists may disagree. YMMV.

[ANM]

My three favorite sable brushes. All are over 30 years old. The one on the right is around 40 years old. It was VERY expensive (to me) at the time I got it... $80 or possibly more, I think. The paint is chipping off the handle and the ferrel is dented but I don't think there is any discoloration. I take a lot of care to keeping them clean. I use a reconcitioning brush cleaner on them just about every time I use them. Edit I note in the link you provided that there appears to be a sable brush in one of those pictures -along with a vintage Esterbrook italic dip pen.

 

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii101/matthewsno/DSCF2635.jpg

Edited February 18, 2011 by ANM

[singer]

Thanks for the response!

 

I just realize I do have two 'ruined' brushes, that I bought when I was a teenager. I must have assumed the ink was not permanent because I could wash drips of it off the plastic bottle and my other things. But anyway they do still work. They are just stiff at the ferrule.

 

Ink I used was Chung-Hwa. I've seen this in several videos online for Chinese brush calligraphy. It dries almost right away as I set it on the paper. So I would recommend making a test sample before starting.

I've tried it on manila and cardstock (business cards).. usually straight from the bottle, w/o any water added.

 

 

Also I think it was here that I read that ink sticks vary that some are made for sumi-e while others for ex. (Western) calligraphy. So first one allows you to create a wide greyscale but sacrificing a very dark black. And the other creates the black while sacrificing the greys.

[akugluk]

I took a Sumi-e class in Japan as part of an overseas program in college. We each paid the equivalent of about $100 for supplies, most of which apparently went for paper. The teacher was adamant that the paper was the most important thing for getting good results. Our total supply list was: 2 brushes (1 small, one medium) at around $5-7 each, 1 ink stick $5, 1 grinding stone $5 or $10, three small ceramic dishes for mixing ink tones (cost unknown), one ceramic water trough with two sides for first rinse and second rinse (cost unknown), 1 bamboo ink stick holder for when the stick gets too short to hold (<$5), and one plastic spoon for ladling ink and water to and from the various containers. Everything else went to paper. Unfortunately I never did think to ask what kind it was, apart from the fact that it was rice paper. Toward the end of the semester we added some Holbein watercolors (which were fairly inexpensive in Japan but super expensive in the US, as i discovered while attempting to expand my collection).

In my experience, imported Japanese things tend to be about twice what they'd cost in Japan. The only essentials are one medium brush (you can make a fine line with it with some practice), ink, water, and paper. I do like the stick ink with the stone for a number of reasons, but mostly because it smells beautiful.

[akugluk]

This is the set I have had for several years now. http://www.amazon.com/Sumi-Japanese-Calligraphy-Brush-SWS181/dp/B000B5HDAE/ref=pd_sbs_op_1

 

I loaned it to a Chinese lady to do some calligraphy blessings for friends. She said they were very good quality. (I know Sumi-e is Japanese, not Chinese but that is what she said)

 

You can get a couple three bamboo brushes and india ink (which can be watered down) at an art supply store for a lot less though. No need- in my opinion- to get good paper at first.

 

I personally prefer a couple of sable brushes but good ones are expensive.

 

 

That looks very much like what we used, and the wood container looks very convenient. Probably a great starter kit