Yang O-shi's book "100 FLowers"

 Raggedy Chinese Eagle Painting

   SNOW. 

I had hoped there would be more people in Europe who took up Chinese Art. Obviously I was wrong. We must be the gross minority. I have made some exciting contacts in this new field, as novice as I am but I am a year student now. Almost full time. The topic is so rewarding and if you like infinite and refreshing avenues to follow in Art then I could not recommend one more diverse or Ancient.

And today.... more Sparrow practice.

Sparrows are good practice and allow me to experiment with the bird positions. Having studied the works of Yang O-shi now for some time I am familiar with the basics. But some still run astray sometimes. I have only found, so far, one other person in the UK who paints Chinese style but, who is also Chinese.

.

Painting Practice. Cape Leadwort. Timelapse Video.Painting Practice.

Here I have tried my hand at plants again. I have spent extortionate time hunting down a book by Yang O-shi called "100 Flowers". I have her books "Inspiration" and also "100 Birds"  as well as "Painting Small Birds."
I don't find this easy, I enjoy it immensely but also try to encourage others to come in and have a try. Its fun and time consuming. You also need a lot of patience regarding the import of the materials. This can take some weeks even from America.
One of the most peculiar things about Chinese Brush Painting is the oddity that in the west it is practiced by the , er, how can we put this, very old? And yet in China, young men and woman primarily practice this art form because traditionally it was a meditative element associated with Martial Arts.
Anyway, lots to see in this site and its associated brothers. A massive gallery of chinese couplets and also a forum for discussion. I hope you enjoy what you see.

distant dragon.

Plum Blossom. Chinese Brush Painting. Traditional Chinese Calligraphy.

Plum Blossom.

Further studies of CHinese Brush Painting and Traditional Chinese Calligraphy.

I wold like to start something that has snow on it at least. I dont know how to start. I'll have to find some examples. How to paint snow with black paint???

Cricket Practice / Chinese Brush Painting.

Chinese Brush Painting and Calligraphy

RAGGEDY KINGFISHER.

 For some time now I've been studying Yang O=shi's works and I have to admit, her style is beautifully fluid. The visual simplicity of her  tutorials is unmatched by any other Author I can find throughout China.

However, this Chiese element; this elusive Chinese style that flows through the paintings they create, is indeed an elusive ingredient. I find that a lifetime will probably enable me to find something close to it. I have only even lifted a brush to paper in the last 8 months; this isnt something I'm used to in any way. The learning curve is a steep one.
But the intrigue and satisfaction of even being able to control the paint on the paper, even marginally, is a very pleasant experience.

 Originally I was to post YouTube videos but because of the crappy quality and now disgusting Gruoogle adverts popping up on them... well... personally  I find that disgusting and my brain is in overlload mode regarding excessive boring tedious useless adverts everywhere I look which I NEVER respond to anyway.
I was disgusted to see on YouTube some beautiful art videos by a respected Chinese artist sudenly have the lower third blanked out in Groogleadds, as if we're supposed to ENJOY these random pieces of miniature visual crap. The Sad thing was that you THEN have to scrutinise these things to find the x to shut them off so wether you like it or not you HAVE to look close at this crap about disposable panties or foreign dating or hydraulic fluids or something as riddiculous.

So, because of this, I have posted large high quality videos in the TCC forum found in a link on the top of this page. Go there and be banner free. In case you're interested.  

Chinese Ink. A Rare Sample.

Its about time we saw something in Europe appear from the days of yore.. Sadly, this doesnt go back very far in history, about 99 years actually but even so. Fo Europes effort.... not a bad little find.

On the web this ink is for sale at 110 dollars.

The condition is stunning.  Someone somewhere had this tucked in a dark cupboard and all these years later its's surfaced.

The wording on the advert is "Liquid chinese Ink L & C Hardtmuth Austria Mint Ink sealed Top mint label on the bottom of the bottle and the label in the front go on the three sides rare"

If you're interested and they maybe have some more hidden away (though this was the only  surfacing item for the words CHINESE INK, you can visit this link here.

SEE THE SITE HERE!

(WARNING: If your antivirus has been written to believe that a new blank on-demand window is a "popup", you wont see the new window appear. I write this because there are those who write this software but who don't know fully what theyre protecting you against. In this case....... nothing at all.  If you use firefox, you'll probably see even less.  )

Regarding Old Ink, there sure is alot of it on EBAY. But some of it actually IS ink and some of it is quite reasonably priced.
It may well be that its not 100 years old but for 10 large 3 oz sticks all moulded and painted in golds and decorated in a fancy , if artificially tattered box.... if this was anounced as NEW and created as such it would still be twice the price of a fake antique. Theyre still useable. They look fun. Theyre intrigueing and better than a simple cheaper stick. As long as they aren't like GOLDA2000's on Ebay, our friendly ever conning Con-Artist selling plaster of Paris and then claiming an Ink Stick is actually a Stamper. Heh. Some people keep brain matter sphinctal.
But sometimes we need to just enjoy it for what it is....

In 1908 I imagine this would have been used in a nib dipped into it, but I could be wrong. 1908 we didn't have the BIC yet after all.

GUANGHWA. EUROPE'S SECRET WEAPON FOR CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY SUPPLIES.

GUANGHWA is a wonderful condensed store that is really a cellar. Down in this cellar you will find just about everything you ever need for Chinese Calligraphy including ornamental ink stones, (or will soon so I am reliably informed by Wendy Choi.)

The store itself is a very unassuming book store. Go through the door and on your right ifs a staircase down into the depths. Down in there are the most beautiful things.

And a very impressive brush selection also.

The main thing about these items is that they are priced correctly. The books have frightening prices, these range from 6 to 700 pounds, but are mainly out of print now so, buy it while its there because no one is publishing them anymore and they are a superb collection of pictorial brush painting and calligraphic materials. Nothing in Europe matches this collection.

ink Stones are available now, though simple, they are large and affordable, some about 3 pounds each in stone with a  lid.  Paper is in abundance. Porcelain dishes and pots and vases are there as well. Very typically Chinese and exceptionally beautiful.

Porcelain brush rests and far more. Wonderful scrolls, kites and  ornaments just to keep the desk looking beautiful.
This is worth anyones time to go and see.

For me, for supplies, brushes and paper and liquid ink that I use sometimes, it's the place to go.

Literature? Things like Tang and Song Couplets and Verse and Li Bai works, there IS nowhere else to go in Europe for this.

Later this month I'll share what I discovered there in the way of Tang verse. Written in Chinese, and English, traditional Chinese characters and also pronunciation. What else could we ask. Well, the book also has pictures to boot.

Gunaghwa. This is a quick entry as I have a small  server crisis on my hands.
I hope it's informative.
========================================================================================

Tangerine Raggedy Birds.

Scribblers breaks into the Calligraphy Forum World!!!

I've made a couple of posts at the new Scribblers Forum but several were "moderated" out. Thanks for that. Nothing like wasting my time.

I thought it might be inspiring at the Scribbblers forums which took valuable time and effort, pictorial as well, but sadly they never made it to the forum face after the moderating stage.
Also I replied to a post in their forum but this wasn't allowed inclusion either which makes the advice given appear thankless; with no thanks from me paints me as rude and inconsiderate. Also the patronising remarks did little more than promote the disgusting  obsession theme of the "foxp*ss" browser which we found to be a wholly appalling ploy.
No welcoming messages. Edited to death.
I think a few protocols to make us feel comfortable are in order but actually, considering they are supposed to be a "Calligraphers forum" and yet oly cater for those £10 tiny kits of miniscule chinese calligraphy gift wrap things..... do yourself a favour and don't bother.

Several weeks down the line and still no members? Writers need more freedom. I thought that what the arts were all about. Freedom of experession, spiritual explosion on paper. Bit of a waste of time there really and badly managed.

England needs Chinese Calligraphy Forums. Or, hey, theres this one. HERE!

===============================================================
==================================================
======================================

My Continued Studies of Yang O-shi.

 Yang O-shi. Her work is a beautiful fluid visual treat. Not many in England know the name though. I have been studying her works for 6 entire months.  Well, we have to start somewhere, and I also admit, I have never raised a paint brush in my life before. I have never been inspired. But, having see on a daily basis the Chinese works since about this time last year when I started my crusade into Chinese Calligraphy I started to feel it was worth the effort.

So embellishing the odd character with a line of bamboo, or a single orchid, is grew into what it is today. A very hard frustrating fight to achieve that Chinese essence in a painting. Am I pushing things only 6 months down the line? Heh, well, we'll see.

Scribblers UK Stationers has a forum?

Well, it's a little odd, but , yes, they do.  unfortunately for us, it runs down the traditional European route of classic copper plate and Gothics double bar styles complete with you tube videos backed by classical-western-music...  Of course, England needs to be informed that CHINA is actually a very large country and still in existence even though at one time we and the french and the Russians all simultaneously tried to carve off giant lumps of it for ourselves and failed miserably.

So what's new. Scribblers has gained a dozen members in the last year of its opening. Thye vetted my posts to death and didnt list 80% of the 5 I made. Patronising and boring.
Even Scribblers don't cater for Chinese Materials. Why doesn't the west acknowledge the Chinese Arts as being the oldest and, really, the most important of them all.
The infiltration of Westernisms into it is seen here as an infection; a disease that has to be cured, as if Westernisms are the be all and end all! Surely not?

On to the next topic.

Personally I would like to see a sudden explosion of Chinese People AND European people suddenly come forwards and make their presence known.

Progress has to see Chinese Artistic Materials appear in all stores. How can it be that such a rich field is completely dead and non extinct in Europe.
It has to be snobbery and denial, doesn't it?

www.guanghwa.com  in London Chinatown, is a ready resource full of Ink Sticks, Ink Stones, Xuan Paper and a massive array of brushes. Its a trip to Paddington Station, and a tube to Piccadilly circus and you're there, but this at current prices is about £20:00 / $40:00 dollars / e30:00 euros. Wouldn't it be nice if someone realised the error of our ways and started looking at Chinese wholesalers.

==================================================
============================================
===============================
===================
=========

THE STUDY OF YANG O-SHI.

Tangerine Raggedy Birds.

It's taken me a while but finally I have something which closely, in my opinion anyway, resembles the foundation of method I see in Yang O-shi's works.

I am not so arrogant that I can claim anything more than 1% of the essence I see in her work, but considering I have never touched anything Chinese in my entire life, nor even lifted a brush to paper, I feel my journey already has small accomplishment.

I would have enjoyed  a conversation with Yang O-shi, but I have written many times to the email addresses at her site at www.yangoshi.com and never once a reply. Perhaps her English is like my Chinese. We can hope, perhaps one day one of my sites will display in her sight and she will write, no matter that it may be in pure Chinese.

I find the current trend of Westernising Chinese Art disgusting. I find this a complete contamination of something that is so ancient and so spiritually wonderful it is like the west p*ssing up the tree of Ancient Chinese History one last time. I find nothing enlightening about Western inclusion in something so uniquely spiritual.

FEMINISTS PLAY HECKLER AT QU LEI LEI'S OXFORD TUTORIAL MEETING.

It reminds me of the disgusting feminists that were present at the Qu Lei Lei meeting in Oxford earlier this year. After displaying a symbol that represented MAN, and addding a simple symbol above the head of this symbol, it then meant Heaven. (See image above and idiots left + foreground in it.)
Instead of seeing this as representation of the masses of character in the Chinese language that have multiple non-associated meanings and, with the inclusion of a single line, they become something altogether non associated with the origin of the word, no..... someone asked him snottily,
"Can you do the symbol of a Woman with a circle above her head?"
And someone else said,
"No, they don't do that. Women are worth nothing to them."
And then, after a flabbergasted pause by Qu Lei Lei,  one of the hags blurted out loudly, "SEXISM!"

I looked at them all. Later I asked them, almost all of them, had they ever done Calligraphy before. No. None had.
To them, it was a simple break from the normal tea circle of  "got nothing better to do" spinsters and in all, not one of them said they would be pursuing the topic any further.

Qu Lei Lei's excelling attempts to explain a tiny facet of China's wealthy History just fizzled into nothing more than a festering nest of Feminists out to show the world that Racism, compared to the way they condemned the male of the species, was like a kiss from heaven by comparison.

The afternoon was soured.
I sat there wondering why it was the Europe is totally unable to accept the fact that, apart from its incessant self hailing mouth, its achievements were thinning on the ground and, in its historical greed, its undermining infestation of social parasites was a lesson coming back to haunt them all these centuries later.
As a result it seems loudly that there's a total inability to accept that anyone else in the entire world has any say or deserves any respect. And results display people like this, in common society, firing off their mouths trying to unhitch a wagon load of self inferiority on struggling successfuls like Qu Lei Lei. (I'm pretty sure Mr. Qu Lei Lei didn't write history as it is. And so I dont condemn him accordingly.)

The episode reminded me of something out of a John Boy Walton movie. Those Sunday School respectables all burning their bra's in the face of "The Demon Drink" .

And what of England then.
Nothing.
It's just a question of time. Personally I would rather it was overrun by the Chinese compared to its current infestation..........
The total unacceptability of anything China is a very loud statement but I don't know quite how to define it intelligently. The Qu Lei Lei meeting displayed a wholly disgusting attitude and frustrate's mixture of the repulsing elderly. Hell knows what they would be like if they ever discovered personal happiness.

It's impossible to get anything in England related to Chinese Calligraphy except from Guanghwa in China Town in London. There you can find most items and in large array. Not the ornate Ink Stone yet, but they SHOULD be there. Every effort SHOULD be made to inspire. inspiration. Intrigue the people. Display the beauty of it, but sadly, Calligraphy is commonly understood to be Gothic depressing gravestone texts written by the aged and dying and "one foot in the grave"ers who have nothing else they can do but sit at a table.
On the other hand in China Calligraphy is full of fire, artistic enormity and a youthful vigor that is a wholly pleasurable experience to observe on YouTube.

Why are the English so stubborn and "up their own back ends?" Who knows. Perhaps because they have to admit they have the Americans to thank for not speaking German, the French to thank for their cuisine, and the Germans to thank for superior Banking.
England almost disallows the fact that China exists.

In every, and I mean EVERY Major Art store in all the major towns, and that means places like Winchester; Salisbury, Bournemouth, Brighton, oxfordshire, Windsor, and all the others, there is NOTHING in the way of China's Art materials. I think in Winchester there was a rather rude shop selling everything  Western and had a jam jar of about 12 brushes from china they were selling for about 7 pounds each. 14 dollars. 12 euros.
I addressed the Woman in the Art store in Winchester and she became defensive, abrupt and bloody mindedly rude.
She told me if I wanted Chinese Art materials I had to go to China o get them myself. "That, " she said almost stabbing her nose in the low hanging horsehair and plaster ceiling of the Edwardian premises, "Was the only way and accepted amongst all the scholarly people in Winchester."

Well, thankfully not many I know live on the same planet as she does. Maybe they hunt with their noses, who nose? But they definitely think with their ass.

And so, bottoming out on any understanding as to why, after 5000 years of existence, Britain doesn't have anything to do with Chinese Art, I close todays post.
Qu Lei Lei, you have my deepest respects. Your fight to bring this subject to England is both memorable and Honorable. I enjoyed meeting you. I was ashamed and disgusted with the treatment you got and you did not deserve anything but the very highest respect.

Isn't it funny how something as sewer as Feminism, compared to racism and cannibalism, is rated as "Socially acceptable to voice" and yet equally condemns.

I think, then, that the Chinese Arts are better left deep within China where they are safely guarded; where they are treated with the respect they are worthy of, and where the people who live amongst it know it and live it as a daily life. The west will only try to belittle it, and dilute it. Already we see Westernisms appearing in Chinese art.

RaggedyBird.com Videos of TimeLapse paitnings.

I thought it might be enjoyable to show some of the paintings I have enjoyed creating.

Mainly they have been inspired by Yang O-shi, and her incredible Small Birds in her Chinese Brush Paintings. I find her work so inspiring and even though I started out in Chinese Calligraphy with the intent of only covering calligraphy, her art and style is so beautiful, I simply had to have a go and see what I cold enjoy.

Remember that I have never used a paintbrush in my entire life and this is the first time these last three months that I have even considered painting with a brush.

I hope you enjoy them.

Distant Dragon.

.

For some time I have wondered where I could get some beautiful seal stones from And after some time on the web it seems EBAY is the prime place to find a bargain.
In the following video (I make no excuses for the bad subtitling, Turbine Video Encoder lacks a previewer... :( ) you will clearly see a wide variety of stones readily available on ebay. Some like the seal ring cost 1 cent. Some cost about 5 dolars and some 20 dollars. Postage is fierce at about 15 dollars per item. But on the whole, still a cheap system for Europeans to enjoy Seal Carvings. 

Here are some of the beautiful things I have discovered over the last 6 months. I hope you enjoy them.

.

The quest for Ngan Siu-Mui's whereabouts is on. Her email address seems to come back as unrecognized. She is the master of the Raggedy Bird. A style of painting that I am quite taken by. Being an absolute novice doesn't make like easy and these birds to me represent so many of the qualities of Chinese Painting.

I would appreciate her know-how regarding the method of her painting at least just for these birds. I cannot quite seem to find the right order to get the solid "wet" outlines coupled with bleeding colour and pastel mix of each.
Her work is wonderful and I would dearly like to know how I can contact her.

Anyway, here are todays efforts along my vertical learning curve.

The fourth attempt of the day. The wings need to look alot more like ink blots.

After getting the beak a little over sized the rest of the bird had to follow and my Raggedy ended up just a little too large for the leaf she sat on.

And my first play with an entire page of d/w xuan paper. It's alot of fun. And I have never painted in my life before this March. I have to say, the Chinese element, whatever it is, is very appealing to me. But these birds' correct portrayal is excessively elusive.

Traditional Chinese Calligraphy.
Ngan Siu-Mui

Well, the long haul is over... After a very fruitful visit for China Town in London (more about that in the next post.) where I was able to purchase some very fine brushes and good resources as well as discover an amazing secret resource of Example material and wonderful literature/books, the paper from Melissa arrives from Mr. Bo's ( www.OrientalCrafts.com ) and at last I can have a little freedom of movement regarding Chinese painting; these beautiful brushes, this extraordinary paint and the very best paper there is.

There's something very satisfying about putting ink onto paper of large size.  For me this is almost the first time I have veer put paint to paper. I do NOT paint. Never have. Never had the urge. I cannot stand the usual method of painting. The paper the brushes and paints and trying to create a photo from paints. It has never appealed and I slipped into Journal;ism and Portrait photography at the age of fifteen where I stayed until my mid forties.

Now, having spent 8 months studying intensely the method and style of Traditional  Chinese Calligraphy, it seems the whole arena is more beautiful to me than looking at the drear of Constable or Picasso. The drear in my eyes from the western style doesn't compare to the Chinese style and its freedoms and accepted simplicities.

You can argue that I cant paint and so such a freedom of license to err appeals. I'd strongly agree. In its way its a form of coloured (or not) expressionisms that comes from the heart and the desire to try and say something in pattern on paper. Something we've been doing on the walls of caves since we stood upright.

But this new Chinese attention in my life has suddenly awoken something that has never been there before and that "Chinese element" that Chinese art has, is something to be remembered, and something that appeals as well as triggers an appreciative passion in me I intend to follow until I can at least create something I, myself, see as being enough of a Chinese work that satisfies.

If you've never painted before in your life, and wondered what it would be like, I recommend this wholeheartedly.

Just to say Thankyou.

Chinese Cockerel.

This is a small thankyou to Karen and Melissa over in Louisianna and Texas who, together, have made my venture into Chinese Traditional Calligraphy Possible.
In Europe it's almost  a wholly impossible task to get anything in the vein of Chinese Art Materials and in 8 months I have managed scarce amounts of progress. Either, not in stock, excessively charged or, as Ebay is renowned for, Dealers who take your money and run OR sel you fake and poor quality resource.
Karen and Melissa have both made this work for me.
Eternal Thanks to them then. :o)

SPOT TESTING YOUR INK.
Does it size up?

For some time I have used what is sold as a "child's toy", a "Tourist Gimmick" as my primary Ink Source. Today Ill betray some secrets about it.
Initially it's a model of a lil Monk. And the more you use it the better the ink quality gets.
Well, first you need to get past the 4 to 6 millimeters of ink on the foot or base of the stick/model.

This is a thin greasy colourless weak glue base.After that, and if you vetted it enough and ground down enough, ion the morning that useless layer should peel off like a flower in shards.

From then on the ink is rich and thickly opaque. I don't know the professional means to test ink but here is what I have done with the four inks I used to use.

I made up one teaspoon full of ink of each. Made it equally as thick in consistency which is like warm syrup or melted butter.
THEN: I took ONE drip and dripped this onto a piece of rice paper.
THEN: I took another one drip and added TWO drips of clear water to the one drip of ink. I took one drip of this and dropped it on the paper.
It;s now 2 parts water, one part ink.
THEN:I took TWKO more drips of water and added them to the Two drips of water and One drip of ink mixture.
NOW we're four drips of water and one of ink.... And so on and so on.

Adding two drips of water every time, mixing it and dropping one drip onto the paper.
So that after ten drip tests, the mixture is at 18:1. 18 drops of water to one of ink.
Get the idea.

Good.
Here's the results.

Crude Ink Spot-Test Results.

(LEFT + ABOVE)  This is Crude Oil Burnt and the soot collected to make ink sticks. The positive issue is... + = They make ink very easily. + = A good range of tonal values. + = The ink is a wonderful dark black with a sheen to it when dry.  - = The ink is tricky to keep at the right consistency. - = Stinks like an old car engine. - = Also causes excessive nausea to the point where I was very ill when it was used.   - = Contains sand and grit. - = Poisonous content and I'll put my word to that. - = Thinned out at only 6:1 ratio. (See above)_ SUMMARY: Good Ink but dangerous content and gritty; damages your ink stone. Poisonous,

(LEFT + ABOVE) This was one of those typical glass fronted flat 4 inch by 1 inch by a quarter inch ink sticks that weighs far too much for its size. It is a real ink stick in so far as it does make ink but with difficulty.  - = It DOES make ink but takes a hell of alot of effort.  - = Plaster is used in this one.  - = Scratches your ink stone. - = Bad range of odd tonal values. (See above) - = Takes very long time to make any ink. - = Final ink dries badly.  - = No scent bar the dusty smell of plaster.  - = Contains artificial colouring. - = 2nd from the right in the third row shows artificial colouring has been added in the second ring. SUMMARY: = Disgusting waste of money.

(LEFT + ABOVE)  This is 40 year old ink bought from Acorn Planet. Oddly, studying this and the Sooty Monk below its quite apparent that the tonal range is also stunted but moreover... the soot isnt that fine. See how little distance has been covered where the water has seeped out through the fibres of the paper puling the granules of soot with it. The resulting third outer circle is short and tight to the centre. Compared with all others here its ther worst/coarsest of them all. + = Easy to make ink. + = Perfumed. - = Poor bleed ability.(See above) - = Coarse particles. (See above) - = Poor tonal values. (See above) - = Scratches the ink stone even using light pressure but doesn't leave grit.  SUMMARY: Good end result. Matt finish pushes Black illusion further though many prefer a lustrous finish. Needs to be used with care or on an old ink stone. There's a wonderful spiritual feeling using ink sticks of such an age and if you're sensitive to this you must try a purchase of something from Acorn Planet who deal in many antique and old Ink Sticks for, really, what amounts to very little money.

(Left + Above) Amazingly, in trying to get the final ring dispersion to match that of the other three a dilution ratio of over 82:1 had to be used and this didnt match the others even then. I gave in. I had to add another 20 drops to make it a ratio of 122:1 to almost match the others. After that it stayed the same density until about 39 more drops making 152:1 the final ratio where the pale centres matched those of its competitors. Fine soot particles. Good tonal vbalues and smooth soft greys at the outer edges. Good bleed ability. The Sooty Monk. Scent is of green Pine, Fresh Rain and Soft peaty earth. Makes a thick dense oily ink with a slight sheen when dry. Works silently like butter on ink stone. + = Makes wonderful thick ink. + = Perfumed. + = Soft like butter when used, no damage to ink stone. + = Costs very little. + = Comes in 2.2 ounce painted moulded figurine sticks + = Good tonal range. + = Good bleed ability. + = Available from www.acornplanet.com. + = Ink Sticks are already 15+ years old. + = Supplier is one of the very best in the world. + = Doesn't dissolve as much as the ink above this test which cost, by comparison, 8 times as much ounce for ounce. - = Has to be bought in £100:00 gbp wholesale orders not individually.  SUMMARY: Excellent Ink not just for practice but also serious painting and all other work. Cost effective. £6:00 for 2.2 oz. figuring. Comes in display case if order is large.  One order should see you though for life. Great tonal range and very soft/safe for any ink stone.

INK SPOT-TEST RESULTS.

At a STUNNING 82:1 the Sooty Monk STILL makes a density way above the others which peter out 15 tests previously.
In the graph above you can clearly see the difference in Soot density using the ink stick sold as a toy.... The wierd thing is that once you're past the gluey base, the rest of the ink stick is remarkably soft and gives a wonderful quality with a soft lustre.
So soft it feels like butter on your stone.
The $40 ink stick actually damaged the stone of a friend of mine who started using it after it arrived in the mail.
We were both quite surprised. It was gritty to use though had no grit. It was simply a case of having to wait for the ink to dissolve on its own. Very beautiful ink, costly, but compariotively to the Sooty Monk??? Well, yuou decide.
To us its horses for courses. No ink is specifically for all or one task.
It's a question of what you'd like to use and what you'd like to see at the end on the paper.

ANALYSIS.

The sooty monk not only costs less, $6, but it lasts extortionately longer than the tiny lil stick that cost 20 times as much. Ounce for ounce  Sooty Monk is a remarkable little character with an untold Secret all his own.

Broken Dragon.

Centre: The centre, where the drop landed, shows the ink's maturity. A very sharp border around it indicates a young, immature ink. Ink which is more mature has the centre circle invisible; the ink is fully mature.

2nd circles: The radius of the second circle shows how far the soot particles travel, i.e. an indication of their relative particle size. Note, however, that 'large' drops will produce wider circles than 'small' drops.

3rd circle: If you do NOT see a third circle, it's good! Normally, just pure, filtered water travels outside the second circle, and this water will leave no trace when the dropping is dry.
However, if you see a third circle the ink stick most certainly has been 'adulterated' or 'improved' with a dye stuff, which will discolour the paper much further than the soot in the second circle will.

Colour:  The nuance of the second circle shows which soot was used as the main ingredient (brownish-black = vegetable oil soot; blueish-black = pine soot). Unfortunately, these shades are almost too delicate to show on the computer screen.

Latitude/Depth: Since the drops are made with gradually diluted ink, it is fairly easy to determine the ink stick's latitude, or its 'depth' of blackness.

• High quality stick ink can be diluted very much, in as much as 15 steps or more.
• Vegetable oil soot will give the nicest gradations from black to a very pale grey.
• High quality pine soot ink will survive about as many dilutions, but does not have such a nice gradation.
• Soot from gas flames fall off quite rapidly.
• ...and cheap ink sticks will just survive a few dilutions.
• A good pure soot ink stick with a good soot to glue ratio with be more opaque than any other.

After many weeks writing to so many dealers and distributors (or at least the ones with quality merchandise behind their operations anyway) it would seem that Mr. Bo of http://www.oriental-crafts.com, www.AcornPlanet.com, Emma - BrushTribe of EBay, and www.Char4U.com have all now more or less made it possible to purchase Chinese Calligraphy Materials to England and the rest of Europe.

A big thanks to those people and their operations, links to each of which can always be found in the JOURNAL and at the botom of this page.

I think it's important to make sure the equipment is available. It isn't expensive. Shipping is a nightmare... and in England postage is about 4 times that of america... like English taxes... but that unavoidable failing aside, it is possible to buy good materials and wonderful ink stones at a very exciting price.

The GOLDEN RULE???
Don't buy ANYTHING associated with Chinese Calligraphy in England. There is a dealer from SevenOaks and a dealer in Alton, Hampshire.. and both charge extortionate prices for materials like brushes and stones and this can only be bacuse people in England... until now anyway, coulddn't easily get quality merchandise with out a fight or very much uncertainty.

One dealer we found sells Brushes ( that can otherwise be purchased for 12 dollars (6 pounds) a box ) for £45 uk pounds, 90 AMerican dollars. A markup of over 400%.

If you have any purchase questions.. leave word here or email me by writing to enquiries@ traditionalchinesecalligraphy.com

PAPER PARADISE.

Learn About Genuine Xuan Paper Here --- Where is it come from:

Xuan Paper from Anhui, Jing County, is the fourth treasure of the Chinese study.

As noted by the heir of the Xuan paper maker in Jing county --- Cao, Tiansheng, who had his PH.D from the Political Science Research Center at The People University in Beijing, Who was also once a historical committee member of the Chinese Paper Making Association.

Since the mid of last century, numerous occasions of spies from England and Japan, fake into the villages of Jing county to learn about the secret of making Chinese Xuan paper.

After these people went back to their own country, they wrote and published how the Chinese made their Xuan paper. 
In 1909, the Japanese even took some samples of Qing Tang tree to Japan, but the researchers cannot identify the tree, because it's not grown in Japan.

After 1937, using the opportunity of invading China, the Japanese shipped some Qing Tang bushes to Japan. But the climate in Japan did not fit the tree to grow well. The paper made from the tree fiber was inferior. Later after China opened it's door, spying on the technique of making Xuan paper became much easier.

But no matter how other paper makers imitated the technique, no one can make the same Xuan paper made in Jing County. This is because the minerals in the water of the Jing County springs and the climate in Jing county for growing the special tree fiber was vital for the quality of the absorbency of the paper.

We are so proud that we are able to offer all the artists who loves Asia art the Xuan paper made from it's original village for thousands of years!

Hand made Rice Paper Anhui, Jinxian -- The place making paper for ink brush painting for thousands of years.

Compare to machine pressed paper, these paper has super absorbancy and consistancy! Rice paper is a name used in the west. Anhui paper is not made from rice or bamboo pulp. Rather it's from the fiber of a special tree --- Qintan tree. This tree's fiber can be peeled and grow back again and again. Because of these special fiber, top quality xuan paper last forever and can be re-mounted again and again with water.

(MORE TO FOLLOW LATER>>>>)_

So....
Where do we find very good quality ink. 
What are the characteristics of a good quality?
How do we avoid fraudsters trying to sell us low or useless grade ink sticks?

Firstly we need a good supplier. Someone who knows you're not a tourist; that you actually desire to USE the ink sticks. Someone who knows you won't be spending money on plaster diluted soot ink sticks. You want Ink Sticks without Grit and stones in.

The biggest place we know of with history and facts written all through the site is www.ACORNPLANET.com .
This is what they have to say on the intro page of their Ink Stick Catalog. Read the article below or CLICK HERE  to go to ACORN PLANET NOW.

Why Chinese Ink? Because of it's composition, Chinese ink has it's ability to stand the tests of time. It does not fade as much as western ink when exposed to light and air. This is why ancient Chinese paintings and calligraphy still retain their resilience after centuries of display.     We bought the whole inventory out from the old maker Hui She Old Hu Kaiwen Inkstick Factory. We are offering here (at www.acornplanet.com) as artist inksticks, not as rare collector's items. I hope you will appreciate them and use them. Special care need to be taken with these inksticks. Please have the plastic wrapper on the inkstick at all time. Never expose them under extremely dry and sun. You can leave them under room condition with the plastic wrapper on. Show to people with the wrapper on. As these are over 30 years old, they have been very well kept. But sudden dry air can easily crack the inksticks. If you use them, after grinding, immediately wipe dry the water and put in plastic wrapper. It's really old inkstick, hairline cracks on the inkstick is perfectly normal. Great care has been put into these inksticks over the 30 -40 years. Just the labor of love is worth much more than what we sell them here! All of inksticks were made for artists use. Some are Pure Oil Soot inksticks, make from same material as Jing Buyi inkstick, they are great for painting. Some are Premium Pine soot inksticks, same material as psonyan, they are great for calligraphy. Choosing a Quality Ink Stick. It's been a while since cheap inksticks (ink stick) and inkstones came to eBay.   This portal really produced a lot of opportunities for power sellers. But very sad to tell you, after the artists found us, we received a lot of letter complaining about their inksticks (ink stick) are soot, not ink! Why? You need to continue reading!   Artist Use Inksticks are the most Expensive and Valuable Collector's Inksticks Most Famous and Best Quality Inkstick is by the Thousand Year Old Old Hu Kaiwen Inkstick Factory Who is Hui She Old Hu, Kaiwen Hui She Old Hu, Kaiwen is the old old factory that has been making the famous Hui inkstick for thousand years. 1956 the factory was changed over to China's new government managed factory. In 2001, the ceo who has been with the factory for over 20 years, with some other partners made it's first step --- buy out the pensions of the retired and not needed workers, to make the factory much more efficient to continue offering affordable ink sticks and still making the highest quality inksticks for the artists. Though the CEO getting paid much less than a regular teacher in the town, but it's credential and reputation in China, especially among scholars are not many people can compare. He is the Vice Chairman of the "Chinese Four Treasures of Study Association", same is true of the CEO of Red Star Xuan Paper. Same as the Red Star Xuan Paper, Hui She Old Hu, Kaiwen is a protected brand by the Chinese government. It represents the reputation of China. So now you must understand, they do not make fake inksticks to cheat the tourists. Though the government has not much law govern private makers making fake brands, but there are very rigid laws govern institutions like these brand name factories. Same mold look the same, are you really getting what you want? Look carefully our ink stick signature: Hui She Old Hui Kaiwen Maker On the top side engraved: Made with Old Method Distinguish it from other imitators How come on EBay similar looking inksticks like Tie Zhai Ong is selling only $9.99 for 5 pieces Sorry that we cannot sell our 5 piece 2.4 oz Tie Zhaiong inksticks for $9.99, the factory whole sale cost in China of these genuine artists inksticks already cost more than $9.99 for 5 of them, not mention the cost of shipping to USA and the time to put them up, and the EBay listing, final, transaction fees! 1) Our stick might be two times the net weight of the others that are for $9.99. 2) If ours is the same net weight as the others, then our larger size shows these were made with lighter soot, so it indicates better quality, the lightest and finest soot is the most expensive and makes the best quality inkstick! 3) 5 pieces at  $19.99, we basically bring to you as a free service! 4) We will be visiting  Hui Zhou in July, we might have a chance to  check out the producer who makes the cheap "Tie Zhai Ong inksticks", when we come back, we will give you a full report how good these inksticks are! If they were not made in Hui Zhou, then we cannot help you! Similar picture does not mean the same goods! Are all Hui ink stick made the same? We (Summer, 2002) just came back from China, here is a small report we can give you about Hui inksticks. Because it's "relatively easy" to make inksticks, this is only true if you do not stick with quality and expensive soot and old recipes. So inksticks are the biggest tourist items in Hui Zhou. All the opinions are just our personal observation. Acorn Planet, Inc. is not liable for any of the information presented here! Over the years, we did receive so many letters from our customers about how wonderful and easy to make ink with our Genuine Hui inkstick, rather than some cheap inksticks that they picked up from other sellers or Chinatown stores. while we were in China, we visited three Hui Inkstick Factories. At one factory we saw the Tie Zhaiong molding inkstick. As soon as we inquire the price of the famous Tie Zhaiong artist inkstick, the owner immediately asked us: Do you want the real one or the fake one. After we chat we found out though these owners make these fake Tie Zhaiong inksticks they do tell the buyers what's the actual material for the stick. Fake ones use three major material: Pine Wood Soot (much heavier than oil soot), Tan Hai (Soot from burning similar to car tire material, heavy and ink is all black without any shades), Plaster Powder (Really Heavy). Traditional Tie Zhaiong inkstick is made not only pure oil soot, but also lacquer soot (even more expensive). If the Tie Zhaiong inkstick you are getting is made of pine wood soot and Tan Hai, you can grind out ink, except it's very hard to grind out ink and takes a lot of time. While a real Tie Zhaiong inkstick should give you a soft and very very nice fragrance. Another way of identify these fake inksticks is it's fragrance, real ones smell very nicely. Because it's made with genuine Chinese medicine. Fake ones with plaster powders is not usable. The size of fake inksticks will measure in smaller size, because the material is heavier. Among the three Hui inkstick factories that we visited, only Hui She Old Hu Kaiwen inkstick factory do not make any fake inksticks. Price for genuine artist use inksticks is also the most reasonable. This is very understandable, they make very large quantity of genuine artist inksticks to export to Japan. This brings down the cost. While at other factories, first they only make products that's highly profitable, they do not make any inksticks that suites student use. Because making a large stick of one pound and a half Oz inkstick deploy almost the same labor assuming the material is already made. One other factory do make a genuine artist inkstick same in quality to Jing Bu Yi by Hui She Old Hu Kaiwen, but their price for the same weight stick cost 2.5 times. Unfortunately Old traditional mills is very difficult to survive. The Ceo of Hui She Old Hu Kaiwen makes half of what a teacher makes in She county. His wife is the storage keeper in the factory makes one third what a teacher makes in China. They still lives in the factory dorm apartment unit that were sold to workers. While one of these other inkstick factory owners started in 1992 lives in a five story luxurious stand alone little mansion with court yard, views of the River and Mountain in the center of She city. We asked Ceo of Old Hui She inkstick factory why he still workers day and night here after over twenty years of service and struggle, he saids: money is not the most important thing. We respect his dedication and we also hope through our promotion and education of the public, factories and makers of genuine and brand name artist products do not die from currently the chaotic market where fake products are sold and labeled as genuine brand names. If the factory makers tell the merchants what's in the product, the merchant has a responsibility to make it aware to the public. Why Chinese Ink?   Because of it's composition, Chinese ink has it's ability to stand the tests of time.  It  does not fade as much as western ink when exposed to light and air. This is why ancient Chinese paintings and calligraphy still retain their resilience after centuries of display.  Why Hand Grind your own Ink?     Grinding Ink ---  As one pours a bit of water to the grinding surface of the inkstone and sit down upright to grind that ink with a smooth and gripping Shi inkstone and Hui inkstick slowly and steadily in a circular motion cross the inkstone, you will get the meaning by the most famous Song dynasty artist Su Shih's (1034 - 1101) poem, the sound from the grinding is like string music to his  ear. As most practitioners find out this meditative and preparatory procedure makes the calligrapher concentrates his attention to the rhythmic and circular motion. The inkstick becomes an extension of ones hand. By the time the ink has reached its consistency, all the distracting thoughts has drifted away. It is exactly this un-distracted mental state, the peaceful and focused quality which are thought to have resulted in the high quality of the calligraphic  and brush stroke works. How to Grind the Ink?     First you really need to allocate some time for this meditative procedure. Hold the inkstick upright, with little water on top of the grinding surface of the inkstone. Move in one circular motion till the ink reaches it's intensity. If you need a lot of ink for dipping in the brush, let the ink cumulates in the well. This is the same way for grinding our colored inksticks too! The better the inksticks are, the easier to grind the ink. The Li Tinggui inkstick is equivalent to a forty year old inkstick. It's fragrance is very delightful and the ink is intense and lush! Inkstick Factory vs Inkstone Factory There are so many different kinds of inksticks and a lot of commercial products that are made for tourist stores, because it's much easier to make inksticks with beautiful engravings and patterns. The inkstick industry has been much more prosperous than the more valuable She inkstone industry at our hometown. Inkstick only need to be made from a carved mold. While each She inkstone is individually carved by an artist. Not mentioning how hard it is to get hold of a good ink stone, to get a good price for an inkstone also depended upon each individual artist's talents and opportunity. Another reason that no inkstone factory was able to survive is there is no way to produce quality inkstones in quantities. Each inkstone comes in it's own shape and character. To cut into uniform shape is too costly. Also in the modern society, most of the young people do not even know what inkstones are. There are not enough collectors to warrant this kind of costs. This is why the last factory at our hometown that were making inkstones closed it's door few years ago. Of course there are various exporting houses that sells "She" inkstones. Such as inkstones made from the relatively easily find JianXi Jade Mountain stone, Jianxi Daban stone, etc. There is also the Jianxi machine carved "She" inkstones. Since 1983, the genuine She inkstone --- Jianxi, Wuyuan Dragon's Tail stone stopped production, the only resource for the collectible She inkstone is from private collectors or from inkstone carvers' old inventory, as you can see this will dry up very soon. Continue for inksticks ......... Artist Use Inksticks are the most Expensive and Valuable Collector's Inksticks    Before anyone buys any inkstick, one should know there are two kinds of inksticks. One kind is made for artist use, these are the most expensive ones, because the oil soot and glue has to be the best quality suitable for use. Almost every very well known inkstick has versions for sell to tourists. These inksticks are made from left over soot and commercial glue, they are mass produced. They usually cost much much less. For example the most famous Li, Tinggui inkstick has a version for tourists. It cost at 1/10th of the artist use one. There are dealers who buy these inksticks, then soak in rice washing water, re-dry again, ... to make them look antique. There are a lot of specially carved mold for making tourist inksticks. It's the carving and design attracts the buyers. While most artist use inksticks are plain and simple.     Our interest is to promote hand grinding ink, of course we carry only the highest quality artist use inksticks. We have few tourist calligraphy ink cakes for appreciating the beautiful calligraphy originally done by Emperor Qian Long.     As long as you can identify what's commercial inkstick and what's artist use inkstick, then collecting inkstick is easy. Because for use purpose the older the inkstick the better. As long as you are collecting the right kind of inkstick, as times goes by, the inkstick worth more money regardless how they look like on the surface. Because the glue for the inkstick is as important as the oil soot for making good ink, the inkstick can not be too old to use, when it's over 100 years old, the glue is too try, there is no way to grind out any good ink any more. Most Famous and Best Quality Inkstick is by the Thousand Year Old Old Hu Kaiwen Inkstick Factory         But then he was always not so satisfied with the glue used for mixing the soot. One day while he was boiling the Chinese medicine for his wife, he found out that the very known expensive female tarnishing E Gao after it's melted is very sticky, he realized this might just what he needed. So he forgot to make the medicine for his wife, instead he mixed them into the ink soot. The inkstick made from this sure is full bodied, fine, smooth, and with great shades like the lacquer. Late Tang Emperor Li, Yu heard of this event, asked for two pieces of his inksticks, painted two carps. The fish on the painting looked really alive.  Emperor Li was very proud, so he established a branch office of "Mo", Xi Tinggui was honored the last name of the royal family, and was the official in charge of the "Mo" branch in the region of Hui Zhou. This is how the  Li, Tinggui inkstick maker became known and recorded in history. At that time the economy in Hui Zhou is very prosperous, Hui merchants were all over China. Through them, Hui inkstick, especially Li, Tinggui inkstick became very famous.     The Chinese character Mo come from a black mineral. It's the word "black" with the word "soil" at the bottom. At the initial stage natural black mineral stone or half-natural black stone was generally used. It was during the Han that artificial ink appeared. At that time the most famous ink-stick was produced at Qianyang, Shangxi. By Tang dynasty, it moved to Shanxi, then to southern Anhui -- She Zhou -- Currently She county -- our hometown. Later She Zhou was changed to the name of Hui Zhou. This is how the famous Hui Inkstick name came from. Hui inkstick is created by Li, Tinggui. Li, Tinggui's original last name was Xi. He was born in He Bei Yi County. Because of the war, the inkstick making is interrupted. His father escaped to Hang Zhou in the south mainly use the pine trees near Jiu Li Mountain to make the inksticks.But they were not so satisfied with the quality. Han Zhou is only over a hundred miles to Huangshan. They had heard from people that Huangshan had thousands year old pine trees. So then the whole family moved to She Zhou. After long time of study, they found the burned soot from the Transparent Lacquer Oil on the pine trees in the deep mountains of She Zhou makes the best raw materials for inkstick. So they settled permanently in She zhou, later named Hui Zhou.   Up to Qing dynasty, Hui inkstick reaches it's pinnacle point. There were four famous inkstick Hui makers were known all over the world. They were Shugong Cao, Jishen Wang, Jieang Wang, and Kaiwen Hu. From Anhui museum, all of these maker's inksticks can be seen.   Hu, Kaiwen's original name was Hu, Yude, came from a very poor family, being a cooker's helper at a Mo store in Tunxi (the current capital of Hui Zhou) when he was only 12 years old. By 16 years old, he became the apprentice for the store. He was a diligent boy, memorized everything by the heart. When he was 21 years old, the store went bankrupt. The owner paid him the store front and all the tools for all the wages that they owed to him. Hu suddenly became the owner of the store. He asked a lot of scholars to give a good name for the store. None was what he liked. One day when he was passing by a little bridge with a pavilion on the bridge. There were four calligraphy writings on it ---- Hong Kai Wen Yun, he read it again and again. Felt it was meaningful. So he changed the store name to: Hu, Kai Wen. Ever since, his store name also became his name remembered by everyone. Hu had 8 or 9 sons. They all engaged in Hui inkstick business. There had chain stores all over China. This is why Hu, Kaiwen mo is so known in China.   In 1915, Hu's Golden Globe inkcake 1.5 CM thick and 12.2 CM in diameter, weigh 365 grams (more than 3/4 of a pound)