Charging the Brush

Ink painting, especially on raw Suen paper, is all about brush work. The Asian brush is constructed so that all parts of the brush should  be used on the paper. Techniques include

1. Charging the brush. The Asian brush can be charged with 4 colors and moisture contents. The base is the well and can hold a tremendous amount of liquid. The tip coming to a very fine point, can create drier lines. And of course there is the range in between. Usually the tip is charged with the darker, drier pigment and the base lighter and more moist solutions. Because of this, practicing angling the brush in all directions is important.
2. Using the brush length incrementally pressing from tip to base depending on desired width of stroke, desired softness of edge and movement or direction of object being painted.
3. Movement of entire arm and wrist include angling the brush so that the base of the hairs is on top of the stroke and at the bottom of the stroke moving in all directions.
4. Pace of brush movement over paper- slower movement means more moisture absorbed out of brush into paper which of course equals softer edges.
5. Brush strokes on dry paper create totally different effects than on wet paper.

When I have been painting in this medium for many days, brush stokes become so nuanced and so articulate that the subtle shifts of value in a peony evoke soft folds of silk. Light is depicted in an entirely different method than classical western painting.
Should you undertake Asian brush work., I highly encourage you to  play- play with absorbing moisture from the base by wrapping a white towel around it where the hairs meet the bamboo, play with dabbing a different color in the middle of the brush on one side alone, play with clear water then dipping the tip into pasty ink, playing with fleeting movements across the paper then pausing, playing with standing above the paper weight dropping onto the brush as it begins a journey across the page, playing with wrist movement which fatigues every muscle...
play  until all track of time is gone and you are one with your brush....