Ink and Sumi - The Spirit of Matter - Orbach and Galkin, 1997
- nonaorbach
- Feb 12
- 5 min read
Updated: Feb 18
Medium Characteristics
The Western black ink - Indian ink- comes in small bottles and is diluted in water. It can produce many rich shades of gray.
The Chinese and Japanese inks – Sumi – are very different from the western one.
"Sumi is made of a combination of soot [carbon] and animal glue, and camphor for fragrance. Soot is collected from the burning of different vegetable oils, or industrial carbons... Sumi can be bought in two forms - stick or liquid. The Sumi stick is ground on an inkstone with water to transform it to liquid."
Sumi Workbook, Christine Flint Sato.
Therapeutic and Spiritual Significance
Like in watercolor, the work process with ink and brush is associated with breathing, inhaling, and exhaling. Ink inspires calmness along with drama. Since it produces many shades of a single color, it defines limits that enable comfortable and safe conditions for deepening the work with one substance and one color. Thus, ink usually creates an experience of success and satisfaction. It calls for creativity in the movement to produce shades and tones through which the inner language expands. The black drop of ink taken out of the vial with a soft paintbrush and placed on a white palette is dramatic and powerful.
Unlike many other materials, here the participant meets the medium at its peak. From that moment on he can use it as is, or dilute it with water and lessen its intensity. The work is done step-by-step, requiring regulation through body actions, classification and gradation of the shades on the palette, and placement on the white sheet of paper. It is an enriching reduction process, recruiting self-regulation and increasing creativity and patience.
Working with Asian ink is special because it involves only natural materials and objects: ink, inkstone hewn from rock, bamboo, water, animal-hair paintbrushes and paper made from fibers. When the ink meets the paper, they unite. The experience of creating even the most basic forms with these materials is calming and relaxing, producing a characteristic odor. A process of reconciliation of opposites takes place both physically and metaphorically.
When Western creators first encounter Japanese-Chinese ink, along with all the materials and tools accompanying it, they enter a very deep state of concentration and relaxation. We attribute this to the deep containment ability of water and oil together, which creates a high spiritual alchemical integration. An iron nib that chisels a line on fine paper makes a special sound. Its line has a typical vibration, mirroring the artist's breathing. Dip the nib in the inkwell, draw lines until draining the ink from the slot, dip the nib again, and so on. A circular ritual of drawing in and emptying takes place, accompanied by the hand gesture, its pressing, and the body's breath. The iron nib and the ritual of its dipping associatively and inevitably relate to European cultures of beautiful calligraphy, outlines for sculptures and sketches, and a cultural expanse. Similarly, you can work with a reed nib. This nib line is a little different. It has a different sound and is associated with Far Eastern cultures, calligraphic and virtuoso sketching, speedy, precise, flowing and wonderful movement, from magical and distant lands. The associations that arise from the use of a writing nib are of neat handwriting, aesthetics and festiveness, flow, skill and acquired experience, knowledge accumulated from generation to generation. The pen calls for work that is centered and focused, yet flowing and easy. People with self-confidence and knowledge of sketching do well with this medium.
We observed adolescents with sketching skills who very much enjoyed working with this technique. They reaped great pleasure from the feeling that they are continuing a tradition of real painting, like Renaissance painters. They initiate working on the same painting for several sessions. For children, on the other hand, the use of the pen helped organize them and contributed to decorative works, which were created with calmness and much patience.
Surfaces and Tools
Paper 240 gr. or more. It is better to use fine watercolor paper.
A soft, round, sharp-edged paintbrush.
Nib work is very suitable for combining with diluted paint.
Work with paintbrushes of different thicknesses.
Colored ink – comes in a variety of shades.
Be sure to carefully wash the nib between use of different colors, or prepare a specific nib for every vial. The colors mix easily.
Working with Ink and Sumi
It is advisable to work with ink while standing at a table. The body is stable and flexible, responding softly to the hand motion on the paper. Standing enables a proper viewing distance from the work, approaching and retreating as needed. A paper format of up to 18.5x25 cm. is recommended. If using a paintbrush, dilute very little color with plenty of water in vials. You can make a rich variety of shades of gray, which enriches the work greatly. These paintings have a sense of volume, space and breathing.
About the ritual: Dip two-thirds of the nib in the vial. If a drop accumulates on the tip, return it to the inkwell, otherwise it will drop on the way or create a large spot on the paper. Different degrees of pressure on the nib while drawing will create lines of different widths. Thick lines will expend the ink in the nib faster. In order to create a patch of color, create nets in all different directions. A more intense density will create a darker area. At the end of the work it is recommended not to wash the nib in water, but wipe it with a cloth. Nibs that are washed in water get rusty. Nibs that are wiped accumulate a greasy patina, which protects them. When the patina gets too thick and blocks the hole, you can gently "sharpen" and clean it with a delicate blade.
Initial Encounters
Trial sheet: Try everything the nib can do: lines of different pressures, different thicknesses, varying rhythms, dots, soft lines, sharp lines, etc.
Creating nets - create nets in many directions on a 9.25x12.5 cm. sheet of paper. After about 15 nets, look for an image in the “forest” and emphasize it or its surroundings by adding more nets. Create a subject and object.
Lines and patches - apply diluted stains in different shades of gray onto the paper. Let them dry, then draw a line which does not suffocate the stains.
The text is based on The Spirit of Matter / A Database Handbook for Therapists, Artists, and Educators Nona Orbach and Lilach Galkin, 1997
In the shop, you will find much more in several languages.
Sumi Workbook, Christine Flint Sato.
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