Suminagashi
墨流し / 12th century– / Technique / Type Classification
A technique in which concentric rings of ink dropped on the surface of water are disturbed by breath or brush and then lifted onto paper. The flow that appears on each sheet cannot be repeated, and from Heian period decorated papers to contemporary bookbinding it has continued as a method for inviting chance on purpose.
Streamlines of disturbed concentric rings / Layers made by the density of the ink / A pattern different on every sheet / Edges that keep the tension of the water surface
Dictionary entry
- Best used for
- Making a ground of which no two sheets are the same · Making a surface that handles quiet and chance at once
- Type
- Place type clear of the flow and do not let it compete with the ground.
- Composition
- Fix the direction of the streamlines and run them diagonally to the edges of the sheet.
- Material
- Drop ink and surfactant alternately onto the water and disturb them with your breath.
- Caution
- Trying to control it completely produces a dead pattern. Decide in advance how much room chance is given.
- Further study
- Decorated papers of the Heian period / How the technique differs from Western marbling / Its use in contemporary bookbinding