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Hey..

I was wondering if it would be alright to make this thread? And other threads about materials,

I'd like to know if anyone here has used ink stones and ink sticks. People often suggest them for calligraphy because you can control the viscosity of the ink. Rather than buying ink straight in liquid form...
I've been told lesser grade sticks can ruin a high quality ink stone.. And that good ink sticks can be wasted if ground on a low grade stone.. It hasn't been explained to me why this is so. Maybe someone here has some insight.

I'm still new to this. I recently ordered some nibs to draw with. I have student-grade ink for now. Hopefully they'll arrive next week.

Here's a picture

The stick is that rectangular black bar with the gold writing on it. It is pure ink or pigment. Concentrated.
The stone is the round object.

You grind the stick into the stone.. Depending how much water you mix in, you can make a thick ink or paste like in the picture or something more like the liquid kind you can easily buy at the store.
Actually I heard there is an ink called Higgins 'Eternal' and you can make it thicker just by leaving the cap off the bottle for a few hours. The Chinese ink I have is also thick. I like it better because it's so dark, but I don't like the smell.

I have never worked with ink stones and ink sticks before, I've worked with liquid ink before and its rather unruly, tends to run.
My sister uses actual feathers..but her art technique rather requires it to run a bit.

Roger 3nodding Thanks for the responses! Maybe we could talk about ink in general too..

Psychopompic Rabbits, do you have a sample of the unruliness of this ink you're using?


Sumi yes whee I'm glad to hear you like them!
Do you remember the brand you were using?
Do you line your paintings with a brush?

Today I used a (liquid) ink called Chung Hwa. I bought it so many years ago. I'm not really happy with it. It's actually not that thick after all, and also not dark enough. It seems to be (95%) permanent, and dries almost as soon as I put it down on the paper.

I will have to order a new bottle ninja

No problem 3nodding

Thanks so much for taking a photo. It's a beautiful set! I like the little porcelain dishes xd So I'm guessing the ink stick doesn't make permanent ink then? I'm glad to hear that.
There's so much to choose from, maybe I'll just take a gamble and choose whatever. I'm just trying to find a very opaque black, maybe they can all make that. I could just use less water and grind more.

I did some samples using the Chung Hwa here.
http://i56.tinypic.com/1eb0d3.jpg
This is applied to a business card at 100%. The card on the right, the ink is on a dry brush. After I rinsed the brush, I made the sample on the left.. so you can see it is not evenly black, some parts are darker than the others. I also rubbed a damp kleenex over it once dry, so you can see how little it smudges.
The bottle I'm using is the same as the one here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TCXXm4X_OQ It's pretty big and will probably last a long time. I remember it was cheap to buy and may be 2nd rate or student grade as you said. Its ink is not as dark as I'd like it to be... It also has a somewhat strong smell. But I often see it used for Chinese calligraphy, there are many videos of it online

I've heard that if you let a bottle of india ink sit without its lid a bit a lot of the water that makes it more transparent eventually evaporates - at some point between it turning into jelly there's a sweet spot where you'll get the blackest blacks you could ever want from an ink. It may apply to non permanent ink as well.

re: stones, I think those stones get better over time. My mom gave me her old one and that one produces really rich ink because so much has been ground on it over time. So I'm honestly not sure if there's a big difference between quality - I'll see if I can find my old sticks, plates and brushes and do some tests for you.