| Brushes: Essential brushes should include 1 large brown hair brush, 1 or several white hair brushes, 1 small brush for outline and fine detailing. Natural animal hair preferred. Alternate: 1 round, soft hair brush. White or mixed hair for multiple purpose. | Paper: For painting, there are many grades of paper. Chinese or Japanese plant based paper are good choices, generally they are absorbent, with a smooth side face and rough side for the back. Called xuan in Chinese and rice paper in Japanese, they come in precut sheets or in rolls. Newsprint paper is used for practice. |
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| Ink and/or Color: Chinese liquid ink or sumi ink is acceptable. Do not use Indian ink. Chinese watercolors, mineral pigments, or any water base colors are all acceptable. Alternate: Use black watercolor to substitute for ink. | Grid Paper for Chinese Calligraphy: Optional. The grids are guidelines for practicing calligraphy. Alternate: Without grid paper, can fold unlined paper to create lines for writing. |
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To prepare for a hands-on painting/calligraphy program, here is what you’ll need.
1) Table covering, avoid the mess of ink stains, protect the surface where you will be doing the painting.
2A) Jar of clear cold water for washing your brushes. Never use hot or warm water. Clean the brushes carefully after the art session, do not touch the hair with your fingers, wipe them lightly on a paper towel then air dry.
2B) Small mixing plate or wax-coated paper dish for mixing ink and colors.
2C) Brush rest, so the loaded brush will not stain the painting surface, and some paper towels to test the ink mix.
Options to purchase <Art Kit> from Instructor (send money using PayPal and I will mail the materials to you via Priority USPS) Email your order to paulinpodesign@gmail.com.
3A) Cost $12 + $7.95 Priority USPS
Bare basics — include 1 white hair brush (Big White Cloud), sheets of newsprint and white paper, 1 grid paper. Since I do not ship black Chinese ink, I will send 1 tube of black watercolor and 1 tube of red for this program.
3B) Cost $$26 + $7.95 Priority USPS
Fundamentals — 1 white hair brush (Big White Cloud), 1 large brown hair brush (Bamboo Orchid Brush), 1 fine outline brush. Sheets of newsprint and white paper, grid paper, and xuan paper. (with or without black and red watercolor, you will get more or less painting paper instead)
Note: Usually we use separate brushes for painting and for calligraphy (because we use straight black for writing, and diluted black for painting). For our class, which is introductory level, we will use one brush for simplicity.
4) Other stores or online resources:
You can buy online or go to art supply stores, I do not advertise for any stores and cannot guarantee the inventory at each store, especially during the current economy.
A) Amazon and a few other places seem to list a fair choice of materials, but I have not ordered from any of these online resources before:
e.g. MEGREZ Yidege Practice Liquid Sumi Ink for Beginning Chinese Japanese Calligraphy Practice Brush Painting, Black – 100ml/pcs
Watercolor box of 5 tubes, all Black
Watercolor box of 5 tubes, all Red
B) Eastwind Books & Arts, Inc., 1435 Stockton Street, San Francisco, CA. Oakland Bookstore & Newsstand, a small bookstore/newsstand at Renaissance Plaza in Chinatown Oakland, on Webster Street, CA.
Painting with Pauline 