Tag: sumi stick

The Four Treasures: Inkstone / Suzuri, v

I have a small collection of inkstones / suzuri. A few I have paid a lot for (for me), and others have been incredibly inexpensive. Some are really poor as far as usefulness, some mediocre, and some surprisingly good for the small amount they cost. Several years ago I bought an excellent stone for $5.00 in an artist supply store. It is a real stone suzuri. Another one I bought a few years ago is not an outstanding stone, but a bit of work made it into a very usable stone. That is the subject of today’s entry.

The Phoenix Stone

I bought this stone on eBay about three years ago, paying about $15.00 for a stone which was never used. The gal I bought it from got it in Hong Kong about twenty years earlier, as a memento of her trip. That said, I wasn’t too sure about it, but liked the carving on it and bought it anyway. It must be understood that many inkstones are made for the tourist industry, are not usable, and most will not be worth more than use as a paper weight or other decorative item. This stone measures 5.25 x 8 inches (13.5 x 20 cm).

This stone is actually pretty good – much better than I expected. When it arrived, there was some sort of coating on it, which did not work at all well with hand grinding an inkstick. I decided to re-read some directions I got awhile back about how to make a stone usable – if it could be made usable at all. The goal was to remove the coating, try the stone, and then finish the stone’s grinding surface if necessary.

Buying a New Stone

When buying a stone to use, the first thing to look for in a stone is whether or not there is a slight glint, or sparkle, in the sun. Tilt the stone this way and that. What is needed is a bit of sparkle, and hopefully that sparkle is copper pyrite, which, according to my source in Japan, is necessary for good ink stick-ink stone connection. This stone has that glint.

Preparing to Refinish / Polish a New Inkstone or Suzuri

To refinish a suzuri is not difficult, though it might be rather scary if you like the stone. This inkstone was unused, so this description is for a new stone that does not seem optimal.

Because this stone was not dirty, with old ink stuck to it, I simply washed it soap and water, using Dawn dish detergent as it is good at cutting grease. I let it soak a bit in hot water, soapy water, and then used a 3M brand green scrubber on it. I did not apply a lot of pressure to the surface, but used just a gentle swirling motion. Once washed, I rinsed it, and let it dry a day before grinding sumi. The resulting ink was okay, but not particularly fine. The surface of the stone felt rather rough, so I decided to sand it down.

Polishing the Inkstone / Suzuri

Sandpaper is not to be used on an inkstone, but fine grit wet-dry paper is needed. This is usually a grey-colored paper, available in good hardware stores, and manufactured by 3M. It comes in varying grits, but to begin with, use nothing less than 600 or 800, and do the final polish with 1000-2000. What you choose to use will vary with the stone, and how much energy you want to put into it. I like a smoother finish, but with a coarse-grained stone will require a bit of gentle elbow grease. The paper shown is what I have used, and am pleased with the results.

Before you begin, run your fingertips over the surface of the stone. This way you will know what your stone feels like before beginning.

When I polish a stone, I go outside. With me comes a basin of water, the paper, the stone, an old bath towel, and table. Place the stone on the towel to protect the table, and to collect any dirty water from the sanding process. Put water on the stone’s surface, and using the coarser papers, begin rubbing the surface in light, circular movements. Don’t put a lot of pressure on the stone, but let the paper do its job. Proceed systematically over the entire surface. Rinse off the particles of stone and paper as needed in the basin of water as they accumulate, and continue. Test the surface of the stone with your fingertips – you should be able to feel the difference. Rinse off your stone, wash and rinse again, and let it dry.

Grind some ink, and notice the quality of the particles. Also notice the quality of your inkstick. If you have a poor inkstick it won’t produce particularly good ink – it will be coarse-grained, and take a long time to produce dark ink. There may be rough spots in it. These rough spots are impurities or contaminants, and can actually gouge your stone. Stop if you find something like this, pick it out, and try again. Remember – you can ruin a good stone with an inferior inkstick.

The key element is patience. Sand down the stone, wash and rinse it, let it dry. Run your fingers over the stone, checking for a smooth finish throughout the entire grinding surface. Try your ink. If you are content, stop. If you want a finer ink, continue using finer papers until you are pleased. Don’t try for a shiny, polished surface. There needs to be some “bite” on the surface for the inkstick so it may be ground into fine particles.

The Phoenix Arises!

I spent a few days polishing out this stone. I used several grits of paper on it before I was content. This stone produces a dark ink in a fairly short amount of time. The surface is flat, without puddling, and the well holds a nice amount of water. Because there is no slope on the stone, I use the water to dilute ink when painting. I add water from a suiteki or sucky-cup (plastic cup with a built-in straw, made by Rubbermaid) in small amounts as I grind ink. The large grinding surface makes for a relaxing “grind” – small surfaces make me tense up.

This stone has a rather greasy quality to it, which is why it is not one of my favorite stones. I expect it has something to do with the type of stone it is.  Little spots of white appear on its surface for no known reason.  Nonetheless, a stone which was not at all usable, in my opinion, has become functional, and under the right circumstances, pleasurable to use.

The Four Treasures: Inkstone / Suzuri, i

I am not an expert on inkstones. I own a few, most of which I have used, and some I like better than others. My most expensive is perhaps the best, although recently I acquired one which I have still not tried. A cheap inkstone is simply a cheap inkstone, and worthless. An inexpensive inkstone is not cheap, just a bargain, and a pleasure to use!

A Little History of the Inkstone

In the “kanji countries” – that is, eastern Asian countries with a tradition of brush and ink as writing implements – inkstones were developed to grind ink sticks. If you think of sandpaper, you will understand the underlying principle of the inkstone, which is to grind away the ink into fine particles which are dissolved in water. The finer the grit of the sandpaper, the finer the grit of the ground ink. A poor inkstone will not do the job it is intended to do. A fine inkstone may be ruined by a poor ink stick, so taking care to choose high quality stone and ink is important to the artist and calligrapher.

According to various websites, there is archeological evidence of inkstone usage in China as far back as 5000 years. In Japan, the arrival of the inkstone – the suzuri – came later, as Chinese and Japanese cultures made contact. Inkstones have been excavated in Japan which date to the 8th century, and 1998 at the Tawayama site in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, the finding of the Chinese inkstone parts suggests articles related to writing were introduced to Japan via the Korean Peninsula much earlier than previously thought – about 100 A.D.  Inkstones are usually made of stone, but have also been made of ceramic, tile, clay, porcelain, jade, iron, copper, silver, wood, lacquer, and bamboo.

There are many areas throughout China, Japan and Korea noted for the quality of stone for inkstones. A good inkstone will quickly grind ink into very fine particles, will not absorb the water used to grind the ink, and not harm the brush. The mineral content and character of the inkstone influences the fineness of ink particles, as well as the blackness of the ink.

Two Chinese stones I have and used include the Duan and She stones from China. Duan (Chinese: duanshi. Japanese: tankei) is a volcanic stone, or tuff. The colors range from reddish to purple. The She stone is from China (Japanese: kyu), and is a form of slate. Both stones may have markings throughout, which are considered to increase the value and beauty of the stone.

In Japan, according to a contact, there are no more mines today which are capable of producing good inkstones, and the best stones are imported from China and carved by Japanese artisans. Nonetheless, in Japan, there Akama and Ogatsu inkstones. The Akama stone is reddish in color, with a hard, fine grain. The Ogatsu stone is black, and allows for detail in carving. It, too, is a hard stone with a fine grain. I have both Akama and Ogatsu stones.

Parts of the Inkstone

An inkstone is not just a practical tool, but a work of art in itself, whether simple and functional, or richly carved. Generally speaking, an inkstone will have a large, flat area for the ink, and a slope leading to a well for water. A small amount of water is placed in the well, and using the bottom of the ink stick, water is pulled onto the flat surface where the grinding of ink occurs. I often will sprinkle a bit of water onto the flat surface of the stone, begin the grinding of the ink, and pull more water up as needed. A stone with a large flat surface can help the artist localize different shades of grey, and the well may be used to dilute ink already on the brush to lighten it. This link will show you the general structure of an inkstone.

A Duan Inkstone

This stone measures approximately 3 x 5 inches (7.5 x 12.5 cm) on the inside.  When tapped, it has a nice, crisp sound.  The case is made of rosewood, and well constructed.

Not all inkstones have boxes or lids, and unless you use your stone frequently, it would be easy to let the ink dry out in the stone if you covered it and forgot about it.

This stone cost about $40.00 around 2000. Ink is easily made using this stone, and has a pleasant consistency. As it is a small stone, ink needs to be replenished on a regular basis. The size also makes it convenient to take to class, or to use outdoors, as it is neither heavy nor bulky. This is a great everyday stone for the the artist looking to explore ink painting and calligraphy. It is a quality stone without a high price, and a good ink stick (not a student grade ink stick) will produce thick, rich ink.