|
 For
a few pounds you can buy these beautifully made Chinese
brush sets at bargain book stores (at The Works,
for instance).
It's a good subject to draw (using my Parker fountain pen) but
can you use those brushes, or are they intended as decorative
curiosities?
I rub the ink stick (left, centre) in
the concave depression on the rectangular stone palette,
then add some water (I don't know whether you're supposed to add
a little water first - it seems to work either way).
 The
brush probably isn't artist's quality but holding
its bamboo handle tends to make you sit up straight and, hopefully,
get into a calmly calligraphic frame of mind. In comparison, the
seductively curved shape of the traditional western brush probably
encourages you to become sensually expressionistic.
I copied the Chinese characters (left) from
the lid of the box. I wonder what they mean - an inspirational quote
or 'bargain ink and brush set'?
The item on the right is a stamp carved in soapstone
(I guess) and the circular ceramic jar next to it contains red ink
to use with it. You can carve your own design into the square end
of the stamp. 
Richard Bell, richard@willowisland.co.uk |
