MATERIALS FOR SHODOU AND SUMIE
JAPANESE CALLIGRAPHY ART AND SUMI-E
Bunbōshihō ‘the four treasures for study’ the whashi paper, the ink,the suzuri and the brush
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MATERIAS FOR SUMIE AND CALLIGRAPHY
We use similar tools for Japanese Calligraphy and sumi-e drawing. In Japanese this four elements are called bunbōshihō which translation would be “the four treasures for study”.
There are special papers and brushes for sumi-e. The paper is very important to create with the desired effect with the ink for the drawing. The paper has different type of absorptions. There are some drawing effects that can only be achieved with a certain type of paper. The ink I use for calligraphy and sumi-e painting is the same type.
The ink comes from charcoal, there are sticks are dissolved by rubbing them with a special stone container called “suzuri“. For the sumi-e technique , more water is added to reach different shades of gray that appear in the painting; In contrast, for calligraphy is usually used the darkest ink.
Calligraphy brush
CALLIGRAPHY BRUSHES
Brushes are made from bamboo and other natural fibers; the size of those depends on the drawing that you want to create.
the sumi
THE SUMI INK AND SUZURI
The Sumi ink is obtained from a solid ink bar. To obtain the ink it is necessary to rub the solid ink into a stone ‘suzuri’ with a little water on it until it reaches the necessary density to paint or write.
The paper
The Japanese Washi Paper
I paint on traditional washi paper, also called ‘rice paper, in different Japanese sizes and types depending on the painting.
The Japanese washi paper was declared intangible Cultural heritage for Unesco in 2004, It is made of natural fibers of the mulberry plant which is a type of bush
.
Other types of paper
SHIKISHI BOARD
Shikishi are some traditional painting boards that are used for Sumi-e, calligraphy and painting, Shikishi has a gold foil flecks embedded. There are many measures but the typical is 24X27cm.
the seal
Rakkanin
The seal is engraved on a stone or wood . It is a unique signature of the artist.
Other process
THE 'URAUCHI'
The washi paper is very resistant but at the same time very thin and gets shirked by the ink. Therefore when we finish the painting we do a process called ‘Urauchi’. It consist on ironing the painting with another special glued paper on the reverse of the painting. All my paintings on Washi paper have this process done.