SETTING-UP THE MATERIAL
The recommended layout for setting up one's material is to place the ink stick, inkstone, divided water container and side dishes along the top right corner of the felt cloth. Left-handers should reverse the setting so the water and ink are at the left top corner where it is more accessible for the left hand.

BRUSHES
Many kinds of brushes, or fude, are used for sumi-e. They can be classified as tsuketate fude, senbyo fude, menso fude, sai shoku fude, kumadori fude, hira fude, renpitsu and hake fude.

Tsuketate fude, "vertical" brushes, are used for line drawings and strokes in the outline and boneless styles. (For further explanation of these two styles, see the section Brush Styles in the next chapter.)

Senbyo fude, "fine line" brushes, are used only for line drawings such as details, making lines to represent haze or mist, or making varied thin-wide lines such as those seen in fine line paintings of the Buddha. Included among these are the sakuyo or "delineation" brushes for line drawing and for detail coloring.

Menso fude, "feature" brushes are for very fine work such as painting in the eyes, nose and mouth of small human figures.

Sai shiki are coloring brushes. The bristles are very good for applying the Japanese colors made from finely ground stones. Kuma dori, "ink" brushes, are used for blending and shading.

Hira fude, "flat" brushes, are used for thick lines, broad applications and coloring.

There are other two types of wide flat brushes, the hake and the renpitsu. The hake brush comes in many sizes. They are measured in fun and sun. Ten fun makes one sun. One sun is about three centimeters long. The bristles are of the same length and are glued together.

Renpitsu, or "continuous" brushes are made up of three, five, or seven brushes joined together. The bristles of each brush may be of the same length or graded so that when joined together, the edge of the entire brush is even or tapered.

Both the renpitsu and the hake brushes are used for applying washes and for broad strokes, such as those used in painting mountains, clouds, water and fog. The width of the brush makes it easier to apply the ink without leaving brush marks on the paper. The strokes of the renpitsu, however, are much more manageable and more delicate than those of the hake, as its bristles are thicker and less uniform than the hake bristles.
The important brushes for sumi-e are the choryu tsuketate fude, the sakuyo senbyo fude, the kai senbyo fude, the menso, and the tensuki fude.

1. Choryu tsuketate brush, large
2. Choryu tsuketate brush, medium
3. Choryu tsuketate brush, small
4. Sakyo senbyo brush, large
5. Sakyo senbyo brush, medium
6. Sakyo senbyo brush, small
7. Kai senbyo brush, large
8. Kai senbyo brush, medium
9. Kai senbyo brush, small
10. Menso brush
11. Tentsuki brush, large
12. Tentsuki brush, small

The choryu brush (no. 1-3) is made of sheep hair. It has long, soft, resilient bristles, which come in three different sizes (large, medium and small), and is used for painting large areas.

The sakuyo brush (no. 4-6), also made of sheep hair, is much softer than the choryu brush. It comes in four different sizes (very large, large, medium and small) and is used for painting soft lines.

The kai brush (no. 7-9) is made of squirrel and Siberian red sable hair and comes in three sizes (large, medium and small). It good for the dry-brush technique and is excellent for making thin and thick wavy lines.

Menso brush (no. 10) is made from badger and weasel hair and is good for detail work and fine color application.

Tentsuki brush (no. 11-12) comes in two sizes, large and small. It is finer than the menso brush and is excellent for very fine detail work.

Brush bristles can be made from almost anything: crushed bamboo fibers, grass, mice's whiskers, goat, badger, horsetail, wolf, weasel, cat, dog, horse, rabbit, deer, tanuki (a raccoon-like animal), squirrel, sheep, and even first-cut of infant's hair. (See Appendix I for the definition of brush terms and a sample listing of the kinds of brushes one might encounter in an art store in Tokyo.)

New brush bristles are stiffened with glue to keep the hair from spreading out. Crush the bristles gently between the fingers and rinse in cold tap water. Always wet the brushes thoroughly for ten minutes prior to use and wash them out carefully with cold tap water each time after use. Blot the brushes dry with an absorbent cloth and reshape their bristles before rolling them up in a bamboo mat for safe-keeping.

The rolled-up brushes should be kept in a ventilated place. Never put them away in an air-tight container before they are completely dry. Otherwise, mold will form, causing the bristles to loosen and rot. Use mothballs to prevent damage by insects.

INK STICK
Sumi is an ink stick made from aozumi, burnt pine carbon, which has a bluish tinge, or from chazumi, lamp black carbon, which has a brownish tinge. The carbon is ground into fine powder, then mixed with nikawa, a fish-based glue and compressed into small sticks. There are four shades of black available: kokuboku (black-black) and chaboku (brownish black) which are used for winter and rocky mountainous scenes, and seiboku (bluish black) and shiboku (purplish black) which are used for gentle spring time scenes. The brownish black and bluish black sumi are the more popular sumi sticks.

Sumi will dry and crack under extreme heat. It is best to wrap it in plastic and store in a cool dark place.

Always prepare fresh ink for each painting exercise. Do not attempt to store unused ink. The ink will separate from the water and become unusable. Moreover, exposure to air curdles the ink.

INKSTONE
The inkstone, or suzuri, is a an oblong stone with a deep pocket at one end for holding water and ink and a broad platform for grinding the ink stick. There are different qualities of inkstone; the higher the quality of stone, the more even the texture one can obtain in the ink. In Japan, the best stones are the Amahata stone from Yamanashi Prefecture, the Akama stone from the Yamaguchi Prefecture, and the Takashima stone from the Shiga Prefecture. The best stone from China is the Tankei stone from the Kwantung Province.

Wash the stone out with tap water each time after use. If dried ink forms a crust on the stone, it becomes difficult to remove. Ink crusts prevent smooth, even grinding of the sumi stick, giving the ink a gritty texture.

DIVIDED WATER CONTAINER
Hissen, a divided water container, is a useful piece of equipment for providing clean water in one pocket and for washing out the brush in the other. However, two medium size containers will do just as well.

DIPPER SPOON
Suiteki, a small dipper, is about one teaspoonful in size. It is used for transferring water from the hissen to the suzuri and to the ezara. It can also be used as a measuring spoon.

SIDE DISH FOR GREY INK
The ezara usuzumi yo is a small, shallow, white side dish is used for making grey ink. The dish should always be white, so one can readily judge the value while mixing the ink.SIDE DISH FOR CLEAR WATER
Another ezara mizu yo is a small shallow side dish used for clear water. Whereas the water in the hissen is used to refresh the inkstone and the two ezaras, the water in ezara mizu yo is used to replenish the brush with clear water.

PAPER
The sumi-e paper known among Westerners as "rice paper" is actually made of plant fiber from various kinds of trees. There are many types of paper, or kami, used for sumi-e. Unsized or nama paper, such as hosho (a thick, heavy paper) and gasenshi (a light, thin paper), are absorbent and difficult to work with. However, it is this absorbing quality that gives sumi-e that famous, soft, undefined tonal diffusion. Sized or dosabiki paper, such as torinoko (a thick heavy paper) and kozoshi (a thin, light paper), are non-absorbing and easier to manage. The strength of these papers lie in the effects one can achieve with a wet-on-wet technique.
It is easy to distinguish sized paper from unsized paper. Wet the corner of the paper. If the water soaks into the paper immediately, it is unsized. If the water pools on top of the paper, it is sized. There is also a right side and a wrong side of the paper for painting. The right side is smoother and shinier; the wrong side is rougher in texture.

Gyoshusen and kokasen are different types of gasenshii paper, mainly used for practice. Shikishi are boards stretched with all types of paper as well as with silk. For practice purposes, it is best to use the Gansen no shikishi. Kumohadamashi, a thick paper made from linen, is the strongest and most durable paper available -- known to last as long as 800 years. It is used for screens and sliding doors and can be found sized and unsized. Shiromashi paper, also made from linen, is much thinner than kumohadamashi. It comes in three sizes, #1, #2 and #3 and can be found sized and unsized. The #2 is used for scrolls and wall hangings.

Paper is a sensitive material. It yellows in sunlight, it cracks when dry, it buckles and warps in humidity, and insects like to feed on it. Protect the paper by wrapping it in plastic with mothballs and storing it in a dark cool place.

Old newspapers make good practice paper. It has a similar absorbent quality found in sumi-e paper; moreover, it is cheap. Use dark ink to make the strokes more visible.

FELT CLOTH
Felt cloth, or mosen, makes an excellent blotter. It is placed between the table and the sumi-e paper. Tiny hairs of the cloth prevent the ink from spreading and blotching, and the air between the hairs allow the painting to dry quicker.

ABSORBENT CLOTH
It is better to use a small, fude-fuki, or very absorbent cloth, for blotting the brush. Paper towels may leave bits of hair on the brush which could obstruct the even flow of the brush movement or become transferred onto the painting. After laying out the material and wetting the brushes, dampen the cloth and place it in a small dish.

Wash the cloth after use. First soak it in soapy water for an hour, then scrub and rinse out well. It may be impossible to remove all the stain, but it is nice to keep the cloth as clean as possible. Wash it separately in the washing machine.

BAMBOO MAT FOR STORING BRUSHES
Fude-maki is a bamboo mat used for storing the brushes. After cleaning, blotting and reshaping the bristles, roll the brushes in the bamboo mat to keep the hairs in shape and to prevent them from damage.

OTHER USEFUL MATERIAL
Bunchin, a long heavy piece of metal used as paper weight to hold down the sumi-e paper.

Fude-oki, a long notched object used to support several of brushes. It is a useful to have as it keeps the wet bristles off the table and prevents the brushes from rolling.

The name chop for general use is called in; the name chop used by artists is called rakan. Name chops come in many different sizes and can be bought from chop makers anywhere in Japan. People with foreign names should have their name written out in katakana before presenting it to a chop maker. The chop maker will then find a kanji equivalent, usually an auspicious one, for the chop.

In-ku, a chop guide for aligning the placement of the rakan, comes in two basic shapes, a right angle or a t-shape.

In-taku, a chop mat, is placed under the paper to provide a resilient surface for the stamping of the name.

In the orient, copying examples provided by the sensei (teacher) or the works of old masters is considered a legitimate teaching method. A book-stand is a useful tool for doing copy work.

TECHNIQUES

PREPARING THE BRUSH
Brushes made with animal hair should be thoroughly wet and left sitting for a minimum of ten minutes before they become fully pliant. Dip the brush in water, stir it around until the core is completely wet, then scrape off the excess water and lay it down on the table to sit so the moisture can permeate the shafts of the hair. Never leave the brush standing inside the water container. This form of soaking will also loosen the glue that holds the bristles together. It is good practice always to prepare the brushes immediately after the material is laid out.

MIXING THE INK
The time used to prepare the ink should also be used to empty one's mind of all other thoughts. By focusing one's attention on the grinding of the inkstick, other thoughts will slowly ebb away. The calming of the mind allows one to give one's full attention to the painting exercise at hand.

First, fill the inkstone well with water. The amount of water one places in the well depends upon the amount of painting one intends to do. Approximately three suiteki of water will be enough for about 2 hours of painting -- except in instances where large quantities of black ink is needed.

Dip the ink stick in the inkstone well, then drag the stick up to cover the flat platform of inkstone with water. Hold the ink stick perpendicular to the stone and grind it slowly, evenly, and smoothly against the wet platform. Drag more liquid onto the platform frequently to mix the ink and water thoroughly. The ink will thicken as it becomes darker. Make the ink as dark as possible. When it reaches a thick oily consistency, it is ready for use. Check the darkness of the water by dipping the tip of a clean damp brush in the ink well and dragging the tip across a small piece of paper. Wet ink always looks darker, so it is best to check the sample again when it is dry.

Add three suiteki of water in a small dish. Dip about a quarter of the brush into the dark ink and then dip it into the small dish of water and swish it around until the ink is thoroughly diluted. Drag the grey mixture up and let it slide down against the side of the dish to determine the value. If the water is not grey enough, add more dark ink. The grey wash should be a middle tone between the clear water and the dark ink.

On a scale of zero to ten, where zero is the clear water and ten is the dark ink in the inkstone well, middle grey ink would be a five or a six. The darkest value, 10, is called noboku or "thick ink"; the middle grey, 5, is called chuboku or "middle ink"; and the lightest grey value, 1, is called tamboku or "thin ink".

The subject of the painting and the effect one wants to create determines 1) the amount of water and the amount of ink one places in the brush, 2) the angle of the brush relative to the paper, and 3) the amount of pressure applied while the brush is dragged across the paper.