Painting/Calligraphy - Inksticks 1, good or bad

[punkiliciousXghurl]

what will happen in that gold design on it ?

[yanghaiying]

@punkiliciousXghurl Ground.

[Brbolj]

And you just feel that the darkness absorb all the darkness in the world! XD epic

[yanghaiying]

@Brbolj while the brightness reflects all the brightness.

[NingasKugon09]

the one i told you was 2 cases of old ink stick..it has nice design / mould..by itself it can be considered an art...

[winterbell87]

where do you live?

i live in LA, california

and i want to learn and buy chinese calligraphy materials but i dont know where to get it

anyone know?

[geochafg]

What are inksticks?

[yanghaiying]

Inksticks are made mainly of soot and animal glue, sometimes with incense or medicinal scents added. To make ink from the inkstick, it has to be continuouly ground against an inkstone with a small quantity of water to produce a dark liquid which is then applied with an ink brush.

[HongLeiMing]

Very good explanation on picking a good ink stick and the types available.

Someone told me that certain ink sticks have sandalwood and other materials imbedded to give the ink a fragrance once it's written on the paper. Is this true?

Also, how does liquid ink compare to ink sticks?

[yanghaiying]

As far as I know, ink stick can contain some 100 kinds of elements, including medicine, fragrance etc, and there are several choice of wood can be used.

Liquid ink is convenient. Ink stick can get you to the most exact density you need.

[pok1me2]

i love how you give great discription on everything you do. and you know what your talking about. and your so conciderate!

[n07w4tU7hnk]

It is enjoyment! Again, thank you explaining the inksticks. Always a lesson needed.

[chinotan0628]

I'm really amazed with your explanations :D

[chinotan0628]

are inksticks the inks itself?? which were just made hard then if you put water it would dissolve and make ink>??

[yanghaiying]

You are right.

[isFuzzy]

hmm

i was wondering if you could talk about inksticks like '茶墨' and '青墨' (tea black ink and greenish black ink)

thanks

[FuturisticXXL]

omg - the inkstone on the top right looks like the yin and yang symbol! - (or is it meant to be?)

[ilas75]

Haiying, is there a way to tell if an inkstick is good or bad before buying it? Like the way it looks or feels if we can't test it out? Thank you.

Also, you mentioned you were going to Miami to buy inksticks in a previous comment. Where in Miami do you go? I live North of there in Fort Lauderdale.

[aspie101]

Considering the price on good inksticks and the fact that it takes months even years to use up, people should consider quality over quantity. Not to mention thaat one must take care of it as well. Successful craftsmen do have some of their first tools that they started as novices.

With poor quality tools, one can become fustrated as they do not get their desired results no matter how hard they try and they give up on it all together.

[monteoner]

this is how western culture had fucked things up

i would usually be thinking, right... im gonna save time and mash it up

but interesting to see some sort of relaxing or therapy coming out of the action

[yanghaiying]

True, I have not yet finished one. Never. Maybe disappeared before finished. Busy city street, yeah, I like chaos. Did you see my latest videos? Thank you

[blabberblabber]

Excellent information. And your enthusiasm is greatly appreciated!

[Lynnfaye]

Thank you!! wonderful information