Making Korean Inkstone

[Hermes2020]

This beautiful, inspiring video is worth watching. The other sculptors here will find this especially interesting.

 

[pcj]

What a wonderful video ! Incredibly inspiring ! ..and fascinating to see the techniques and tools
they use for the beautiful carving. Thank you so much for posting this !
Cheers,
Patricia

 

[Hermes2020]

What a wonderful video ! Incredibly inspiring ! ..and fascinating to see the techniques and tools
they use for the beautiful carving. Thank you so much for posting this !
Cheers,
Patricia

I thought it would be of interest to many Creative Spark members. It is sad, though, that demand for these stones is decreasing.

 

[pcj]

Yes, It's very sad that the demand is decreasing ...and the number of people
who have the skill !
Patricia

 

[laika]

I don't think I've ever seen anything like that shouldering of the tools.

It is sad, though, that demand for these stones is decreasing.

I'm sure it was some comfort to the old man that he was able to pass on his knowledge to his son. And what a treasure of knowledge the old guy possesses - all the way from the quarry to the beautiful finished piece.

 

[pcj]

He is an amazing man ! I feel so sorry for him. He continued with his beautiful
[and physically demanding] work through liver cancer, radiation therapy , kidney
failure and dialysis until finally he lost the sight in his right eye which forced him to
stop the fine carving - but he is still teaching his son ! ... and inspiring others through
this video.

 

[Bartc]

I believe in Japan such people are considered "national treasures". Recall a documentary on that. You can feel what a labor of love making these stones is for him, and when I look at the visual result, they are actually magnificent.
50 years or so ago I tried my hand at sumi=e painting. The feel of the ink stick on the stone you don't forget, and a really good stone, like any fine object, has a special feel. (Not that I could ever have afforded one!) Embellishing your sublime tools with artistic decoration elevates the tool to another plan as an objet d'art.

 

[Artyczar]

That is also how I create my Sumi ink. I never buy it in a bottle. I have the sticks and the stone.

 

[Bartc]

That is also how I create my Sumi ink. I never buy it in a bottle. I have the sticks and the stone.

Yeah, that's how I started too. Wanted to do it more as a meditation, as I was not a painter at that time, though I admired the art form. Also bought a set of colored ink sticks in NYC - a rare item at that time! Found that it was indeed meditative, but too slow for me, but I do remember that feeling of ink stick on stone. In fact, it's just like how people feel "mulling" pigments, because that's the same process.

The only studio art class I ever really took was a couple of Saturdays almost 50 years ago in sumi-e. Needed that live teacher to help me grasp how to use the brush and ink, and she was not hide bound to copying slavishly the masters or the Mustard Seed Garden Book, etc., just showing us how to use the brush and ink fluidly. I owe much to those 2 Saturdays in understanding media and tools to this day!

I recommend trying sumi-e to beginners always for that reason. Regardless of style and preference, the techniques and the feeling are fundamental.

And that sensation of stick on stone with water still resonates, so sensual. I can paint in many media and enjoy most of them, but nothing has that particular physical sensation like ink on stone. If I owned a stone anything at all like those pictured, I would treasure it. That man is the real treasure!

 

[Artyczar]

We have a pretty nice stone (it wasn't cheap), but nothing like that. Yes, it is a meditative process. And I like going slow. I am coming to accept it.

 

[E.J.H.]

How did I miss this topic?
Really interesting. I would love to try my hand at preparing ink this way.