Chinese ink
Calligraphy's black medium
Chinese ink is a solid black ink traditionally made from soot and animal glue, pressed into sticks or cakes that are ground with water on a stone to produce liquid ink.
It has been used for millennia in East Asian calligraphy and brush painting: The artist ground the Chinese ink until it reached the right consistency.
Also called India ink, though that term more often refers to the liquid form.
- inkstoneSlab for grinding pigment
- sootCarbon from incomplete burning
- pine resinConiferous tree secretion
- landscape paintingArt depicting natural vistas
- lampblackPigment from incomplete combustion
paper · calligraphy · Zen art · hanging scroll · seal · brush · wet on wet · grinding stone · carbon black · pigment · binder · water · imperial seals · natural dyes · rice paper · silk scroll · palette · decorative motifs
- blackjet black, pitch black, coal black, true black, midnight black
- Inkinkwell, inkwells, inkstones, cartridges
- water paintswatercolor, gouache, tempera, poster paint, finger paint