Grind New Ink Sticks & Prevent Scratches on Chinese Calligraphy Inkstone

Grinding ink 磨墨, Ink Method 墨法 & Water Method 水法 for Chinese calligraphy require experiences, understanding and insights. They are interrelated to other factors and principles of Chinese calligraphy.
www.art-virtue.com/principles/...
When the surface of an inkstone is severely scratched by grinding brand new ink sticks or low quality ink sticks with impurities such as sand, the quality of ground ink may be affected if we are doing extra fine and very detailed brush strokes. Minor scratches are very normal and may not affect the writing quality at all. To prevent scratches caused by grinding new ink sticks, we may add drops of water to soften the new ink stick. This may help reduce the scratches and save our time in grinding. However, if the ink stick is soaked in the water for too long, it will crack or break later. Ink sticks are somewhat sensitive to humidity.
2:20 should be 仿古墨 Imitated Antique Ink Stick pmgs.kongfz.com/detail/49_103390/
General tips for using different qualities of ink sticks and ink stones.
1. Check the impurities (sands, metal & stones) from the new ink stick's grinding area and any rough edges. Generally, I use rough (and/or fine quality - very smooth like 曹素功) ink sticks on rough inkstones. I don't use rough ink sticks on smooth and expensive inkstones such as Duan Inkstone 端硯. High quality, smooth ink sticks may be used on rough, less expensive inkstones.
2. Soak the tip of the new ink stick in few drops of water. Soaking for too long may cause ink stick to crack later (because ink sticks are somewhat sensitive to humidity) or stick to the inkstone.
3. Start grinding gently in smaller circles. Feel the pressure, noise, and contact between the inkstone and ink stick.
4. Eventually apply more pressure and speed in circular motion.
5. Realize how much time, pressure, water, and other factors may be used per one's experiences. No one can tell exactly how long to grind for a certain individual or a specific calligraphy style or a character's size. So experiences and understanding are important.
曹素功 is a famous brand of Chinese ink stick for Chinese calligraphy & Chinese painting. www.caosugong.com/
Generally, we use pine soot for Chinese calligraphy & oil soot for Chinese painting.
www.google.com/images?q=%E6%9B...
stores.ebay.com/Big-Teapot-Bru...
More items and 曹素功 brand will be added by early December, 2010.
Other e-Bay stores - search keywords "calligraphy ink" or "calligraphy ink stick"
stores.ebay.com/The-Monkey-Kin...
Grinding on She Inkstone ( 歙硯 ) • She Inkstone ( 歙硯 )
Filename: GrindingNewInksticks(SPEED120)-PreventScratches-1080p
Grinding in first part sped up to 120%
Writing part is original speed for semi-cursive style

[@cristobelle56]

Admiring your collection of ink sticks and inkstones all over again. Rgds

[@jishuenkam]

Nice and comprehensive coverage. I guess I scratched like 80% of my inkstone surface and seriously unless I can acquire at least a She inkstone I will have to use bottled ink as a substitute for the time being. The ink grinded on the severely scratched inkstone would never be good ,time wasting and inhibit the progress of learning.

[@dinasaur2]

Nice video- I hope to see more on the subject.

[@antonioalbul00]

very nice video

[@cristobelle56]

Thank you for a most interesting lesson today. I get to see your beautiful collection of ink stones and sticks. When you talk about pine soot, does it mean that the sticks are made from this material ? Sorry if my question sounds silly. Would also like to know if the longer the ink is ground, the darker it becomes ? I like the tiny green teapot used for pouring water onto the stone slab. Best,

[@artvirtue]

@jishuenkam Thanks. A lot more details can be expanded from this overview video. You must have practiced hard to scratch your inkstone. There are ways to smooth out the scratches.

[@noah295463]

Hi and THANK YOU for the video .I juste have a question for you ? where can I buy a Chinese ink stone like the first one in the left ? Thanks .

[@artvirtue]

You may use merely fingers to test the inkstone surface. Usually, you don't need to do anything before first usage. Thanks.

[@cristobelle56]

@artvirtue The tiny 'teapot' is called water dropper. I will check out the earlier video. Thanks. I was under the impression ink sticks are made from the same material as ink stones ! What a sorry misunderstanding... Regards

[@artvirtue]

@cristobelle56 Yes, it's materials from pine trees. That's also why Yellow Mountain Pine Soot ink sticks are very famous. You may use Advanced Search in Google to look for "Chinese ink stick" "ingredient." Thanks for your comment. Never a silly question. The longer the ink is ground, the darker it becomes. That water dropper was introduced in one of the earlier videos "Chinese calligraphy painting water dropper 水注."

[@artvirtue]

@jishuenkam When I first started calligraphy, I also spoiled many of my tools, especially the brushes and ink for many years. Mostly I am very indifferent to bottled ink since I preferred ink sticks and some Japanese/Taiwanese bottled ink. That bookstore sells for 500cc for $13 plus SH, a total of $20 for out of state shipping.

[@blissPearl]

Do i have to use inksticks to test the inkstones? i can use finger to run over n feel the texture? or its not accurate? For new inkstone, do we need to do anything before first usage? Hope you have a video on how to shape brush on inkstone Thank you

[@artvirtue]

@cristobelle56 That's fine. Don't worry.

[@artvirtue]

@jishuenkam Robert will have everything from Yidede brand on e-Bay between late Nov. and early Dec.

[@dinasaur2]

Nice video- I hope to see more on the subject.Do you sell on eby (inksticks) to send to Australia. I have not seen you on ebay or the ink stick you show in your video that was available on ebay.

[@artvirtue]

There are always all kinds and grades of products in the market.

[@jishuenkam]

@artvirtue haha joshua i wish what you said was true. I am a major failure in taking care of my equipment and that's the main reason why my inkstone was scratched so badly. Another reason might be the inkstone is pretty low quality too. By the way is the yidege bottled ink so expensive? How much does Robert sell for one? 250cc for like 20 dollars just unaffordable.

[@artvirtue]

@jishuenkam When Robert sold the smallest size of Yidege bottled ink at only $1 in 2006 (100 cc for $1), I remember meeting people driving from Houston, Arlington, and Oklahoma just to buy large quantities at his warehouse. Soon they were almost out, then Robert sold for $2 or $3 on e-Bay (until they were all sold out by mid 2008) while the bookstores' prices are about $5 each bottle in Dallas. I am never a fan of bottled ink. You may check prices from taobao dotcom.

[@aznmessenjah]

I'm Korean. There are some ink stones sold as "歙州硯" or "翕州硯" in Korea imported from China, but they seem to be of poorer quality than some other She ink stones (rough grain in the grinding surface). They are similar to the "dragon pattern" student ink stones in the flimsy wooden boxes. Are these real She ink stones?

[@artvirtue]

@dinasaur2 Thanks.

[@artvirtue]

@aBRUSHforCONFUCIUS Please share your demo video. Thank you.

[@dinasaur2]

@artvirtue Thank you very much I will contact him, definitely. I have seen forbiddencity2008 on ebay but they do not 'ship' to Australia. I will email Robert and see if he might be able to for me. Other than that, not many ink stick's (good quality for painting , the kind made with oil) available even for Australian buyer's. I heard that some seller's got taken off ebay, High demand, more chance that some item's may not have reached some international buyers etc-too many negs for sellers etc.

[@christanieanastasia6861]

what ink is expensive quality can be thick and how to know the good ink

[@artvirtue]

Buy them and try, and analyze from experience. (Reading books or others' comments may not help.)

[@thesoutherncross1]

please i want to buy my first inkstick, i work mainly with chinese painting but do a little calligraphy as well. could you help me find the better cost-benefit for me? i'm in south america so it need to be imported. thank you!!!

[@artvirtue]

Contact the seller Robert and tell him you are a friend of Joshua. He will make exceptions to ship to your country. stores.ebay.com/Big-Teapot-Brush-Jade-Dress-eStore/4-Trs-Ink-Stick-/_i.html?_fsub=336681&_sc=1&_sid=87299995&_sop=1&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

[@Von_D]

How do i get rid of the black ink that a colored inkstick has picked up from the inkstone?

[@artvirtue]

+Von Edzel Dela Pena Sandpaper.

[@Von_D]

+art-virtue. com I sand the ink stick?

[@Von_D]

Do you know why some people grind the ink stick at an angle?

[@artvirtue]

It's their personal habits.

[@skyclintliquit7814]

I bought cheap ink stick from TaoBao and it says 金不換. What does it mean? And is it normal that it stick if the bottom dries?

[@artvirtue]

金不換 literally means cannot be exchanged with money, which may mean it's precious. I don't think that name imply any level of quality and price b/c anyone can adopt a good name. If you leave an ink stick vertically on an inkstone, of course, it sticks when dried.

[@skyclintliquit7814]

Sorry typo. I mean it's stinks.

[@artvirtue]

@dinasaur2 I bought the inkstones and ink sticks from different vendors at different times. If you contact my friend (Robert, forbiddencity2008 e-Bay) via his personal email, he might ship to Australia.