Sumi-e (墨絵), Japanese ink painting, is the art of making a bamboo grove out of one colour. A stalk in three strokes. A leaf in one. A mountain that is mostly paper, with a smudge of grey where the mist ends. It uses the same brush and ink as calligraphy, and for many people it is the easier way in: nobody can tell you your bamboo is spelled wrong.
The trouble is buying the kit. Search Amazon for “sumi-e set” and you will find calligraphy sets, watercolour sets and craft kits with a bamboo picture on the box, but almost nothing made for ink painting that I would put in a beginner’s hands. The good news is that a proper sumi-e kit is six inexpensive things, and you can build one yourself for less than a boxed set costs.
This guide lists exactly what to buy, piece by piece, with the reason for each, and three ways to put it together: a $46 kit to try this weekend, a $94 complete starter, and a $37 add-on for anyone who already practises calligraphy.
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Table of contents
Open Table of contents
The short answer
For a complete beginner’s kit, order these six:
- Brushes: I-MART sumi painting brushes, 3 sizes · about $7
- Ink: Yasutomo liquid sumi ink, 2 oz · about $9
- Palette: Porcelain plum-blossom palette, 5 in · about $9
- Paper: Yasutomo rice paper roll, 11 in × 60 ft · about $21
- Felt mat: MEGREZ felt mat for sumi painting · about $15
- Book: Naomi Okamoto, Japanese Ink Painting: The Art of Sumi-e · about $23
That is everything. The rest of this guide explains why each one, and what to skip.
How sumi-e differs from calligraphy
If you already write with a brush, you are most of the way there. The grip, the ink and the felt mat are the same. The difference is where the attention goes.
Calligraphy is about the black line: one tone of ink, and everything expressed through the shape and speed of the stroke. Sumi-e is about the greys. Painters talk about the “five colours of ink,” the range from glossy black to the palest wash, and the whole art is in controlling them. The signature technique is the loaded brush: you fill the brush with pale ink, dip just the tip in dark ink, and a single stroke then shades from dark to light on its own, which is how one movement becomes a rounded bamboo stalk.
That changes three things about the kit:
- A palette with wells. You need several dilutions of ink side by side, from black to pale grey. A calligraphy dish holds one.
- Brushes that hold water. A large, soft-bellied brush that carries a lot of ink for long strokes, a fine one for veins and stems, and a flat brush for washes.
- Absorbent paper. The gradations only show on paper that drinks ink. Smooth or sized paper makes every grey look flat.
The kit, piece by piece
1. Brushes: I-MART three-brush set · about $7
I-MART sumi painting brush set, 3 sizes, on Amazon
Three natural-hair brushes in large, medium and small, with wooden handles. The large one is your workhorse for bamboo stalks and orchid leaves; the medium one does most everything else. With over seven hundred reviews and a price under $10, they are the right brushes to learn on: good enough to do what the book shows, cheap enough that you will not mind wearing out the first set.
Add a fine brush: Kuretake JA307-7 fine brush (about $10). A Japanese kofude with a sharp point, for bamboo leaf tips, the veins of a leaf, a plum branch’s twigs, and your signature. It is the same fine brush I recommend to calligraphy students.
Add a wash brush, later: Yasutomo hake, 1 in (about $7). A flat sheep-hair brush for skies, mist and backgrounds. You will not need it for the first month of bamboo; you will want it the day you paint your first mountain.
2. Ink: Yasutomo liquid sumi · about $9
Yasutomo liquid sumi ink, 2 oz, on Amazon
Bottled sumi ink that dilutes cleanly with water into even greys, which is what a painter needs from it. Two ounces is plenty to learn on, because most of what you paint will be ink mixed with water. When you are ready for more depth in the greys, ground ink from an ink stick is the traditional upgrade; see Best Sumi Ink Sticks for Beginners.
3. Palette: porcelain plum-blossom palette · about $9
Porcelain plum-blossom palette with lid, 5 in, on Amazon
The flower-shaped white porcelain dish with a well in each petal is the classic East Asian ink-painting palette, and there is a reason it has not changed: white porcelain shows you the true grey of each dilution, and the separate wells let you keep black, dark, middle and pale ink side by side. This one comes with a lid, so the ink does not dry out between sessions. If you prefer more room, a MEEDEN 7-well porcelain palette (about $11) does the same job.
4. Paper: Yasutomo rice paper roll · about $21
Yasutomo rice paper roll, 11 in × 60 ft, on Amazon
Sixty feet of absorbent white paper on a roll, 11 inches wide. Tear or cut off the length you need: a short sheet for a single bamboo stalk, a long one for a branch of plum. The paper has just enough absorbency to show the gradations of a loaded brush without turning every stroke into a blot, which is exactly what a beginner needs. At 60 feet, it lasts months.
For quick stroke drills, a pack of hanshi works too; save the roll for paintings.
5. Felt mat: MEGREZ felt mat · about $15
MEGREZ calligraphy and sumi painting felt mat on Amazon
Absorbent paper lets ink through. A felt mat under it catches the ink, stops the paper sticking to the table, and gives the brush a soft surface to press into. This MEGREZ mat is larger than a calligraphy student’s mat, which suits the longer sheets of sumi-e. If you already have a mat from calligraphy, skip this. (More in Best Calligraphy Felt Mat and Paperweight.)
6. Book: Naomi Okamoto, Japanese Ink Painting · about $23
Japanese Ink Painting: The Art of Sumi-e by Naomi Okamoto on Amazon
Sumi-e is learned by copying, stroke by stroke, and a good book is the teacher at your elbow. Okamoto’s is one of the most popular sumi-e books in English, with over four hundred reviews: clear step-by-step lessons on the materials, the loaded brush and the traditional subjects, written as much about the spirit of the practice as the technique. Work through it in order.
If you prefer a different voice: Shozo Sato, Sumi-e: The Art of Japanese Ink Painting (about $21), from the author of the calligraphy book I recommend most, is more formal and more thorough. For a child, or a very gentle start, Super Simple Sumi-e (about $9) is charming.
Optional: a little colour
Traditional sumi-e is black ink only, and you should start that way. When you want a touch of colour, such as the red of a plum blossom or the green of a bamboo leaf in spring, there are two good options:
- Kuretake Gansai Tambi Sumi Colors, 6 colours · about $16. Japanese watercolour cakes in muted, greyed tones designed to sit beside ink without shouting.
- Marie’s Chinese painting colours, tubes · about $15. The traditional pigments of East Asian brush painting, with over a thousand reviews.
Three ways to buy
| Kit | What’s in it | About |
|---|---|---|
| Try it this weekend | I-MART brushes + Yasutomo ink + plum-blossom palette + rice paper roll | $46 |
| The complete starter | All of the above + Kuretake fine brush + MEGREZ felt mat + Okamoto’s book | $94 |
| The calligrapher’s add-on | Hake wash brush + plum-blossom palette + rice paper roll | $37 |
The weekend kit assumes an old towel or newspaper under the paper. The add-on assumes you already own brushes, ink and a mat from calligraphy.
Your first week: bamboo
Most teachers start with bamboo, one of the Four Gentlemen (四君子, shikunshi): plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum. Between them, these four subjects contain every basic stroke of ink painting, and they have been the beginner’s curriculum in China and Japan for centuries.
- Mix three greys. In three wells of the palette, mix dark, middle and pale ink.
- Load the brush. Fill the large brush with pale ink, blot it lightly, then touch just the tip into dark.
- Paint the stalk. Hold the brush upright, press, and pull upward in short segments, lifting slightly at each joint. The loaded brush shades each segment on its own.
- Mark the joints. With the fine brush and dark ink, add a small curved stroke at each gap.
- Paint the leaves. Press and pull away quickly with the large brush, lifting to a point. Leaves come in groups, and never all the same length.
Do this twenty times on the roll. Then start Okamoto’s book at the beginning.
What to skip
- Boxed “sumi-e kits” with craft-store brushes. Stiff synthetic brushes cannot hold the water that a loaded brush needs, and beginners conclude the technique is impossible.
- Watercolour paper. Heavy, sized Western watercolour paper makes ink sit on the surface. The greys will not bloom.
- Twenty-brush sets. You will use two. Buy three good cheap ones instead.
- Colour before black. The art is in the greys. Learn them first.
Where to go next
- The ink, in depth — Best Sumi Ink for Beginners and What Is Sumi Ink?.
- The brush grip — How to Hold a Japanese Calligraphy Brush, which is the same for painting.
- The empty paper — Ma, the Japanese art of negative space and Yūgen, the two ideas behind what sumi-e leaves unpainted.
- Hanging your best painting — Best Blank Hanging Scrolls.
Six things, under a hundred dollars, and a stalk of bamboo. That is how every ink painter in history began. Order the weekend kit, mix three greys, and paint the first stalk before you have finished reading the book.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do I need to start sumi-e?
A large brush that holds plenty of water, a fine brush for details, black sumi ink, a white palette with several wells for mixing greys, absorbent paper, and a felt mat. A beginner’s version of all of these costs about $46 to $95 on Amazon; a good instruction book is the most useful addition.
Can I use calligraphy supplies for sumi-e?
Mostly, yes. Sumi-e uses the same ink, felt mat and brush grip as shodō. What calligraphy sets lack is a palette with several wells for mixing different greys, a soft wash brush, and paper absorbent enough to show gradations. Those three additions cost under $40.
What is the difference between sumi-e and Japanese calligraphy?
Both use the same brush, ink and paper, and in Japan they are often studied together. Calligraphy (shodō) writes characters, and is mostly about the black line. Sumi-e paints subjects such as bamboo, orchids and landscapes, and is mostly about the greys: how a single loaded brush can carry dark, middle and pale ink in one stroke.
What should a beginner paint first in sumi-e?
Bamboo. It is one of the Four Gentlemen (plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum), the traditional beginner’s subjects, and it teaches the three basic movements: the straight stalk, the joint, and the tapering leaf. Most teachers start their students with bamboo.
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