墨Sumí — one brush, four loads
Studies in pressure

Four strokes,
one hour

Ink loaded on a brush does not apply evenly. The hairs hold a reservoir, the tip holds almost nothing, and the paper decides how much of it stays.

Each stroke below was made in a single movement — 始筆 (shihitsu, the beginning of the brush) to 収筆 (shūhitsu, the lifting). What follows the lift is called 飛白, the flying white.

BrushShinzan 2号
InkSumī, pine soot
PaperKozo, 42 gsm
Humidity58 %
Plate I — pressure, release, liftsumi on kōzo
STUDY 01

横 — the horizontal

Pulled from left to right, the brush travels flat and the ink thins towards the end. The tail is the record of a slow hand.

STUDY 02

縦 — the vertical

Drawn downward, gravity helps. The line swells at the top, thins in the middle, and gathers again where the wrist stops.

STUDY 03

点 — the dot

One press of the tip. The hardest mark to make, because the brush must leave the paper without a decision in it.

The five movements of a single stroke

  1. 着筆 — the brush touches down at an angle, and the reservoir of ink begins to move toward the tip.
  2. 行筆 — the hand travels. Speed determines width: fast strokes starve, slow strokes flood.
  3. 頓挫 — a pause. The brush is pressed, the ink spreads, and a dark knot is left in the line.
  4. 収筆 — the brush is lifted and drawn back through the stroke, which is what produces the pale flying-white tail.
  5. 留白 — the space left behind is part of the painting, and often the better half of it.