250 ML/8.8 OZ Calligraphy and Sumi Liquid Ink - Versatile Elegance for Chinese Traditional Art Works and Japanese Brush Art

I ordered this SEAMEW 290ML Calligraphy Ink/Sumi Liquid Ink to try as an alternative to watercolors in the gum bichromate alternative photography process.I've been experimenting with some non-toxic alternatives to gum bichromate. I've found one that I've achieved good results with that uses ferric ammonium citrate as the sensitizer instead of potassium dichromate. The problem that I seem to keep running into is getting a deep enough black. No matter how much black watercolor I add, I can never get anything deeper than a medium gray. I thought I would give this ink a try.Using this ink instead of watercolor made mixing considerably easier. The ink was easily incorporated into the hide glue/fac mixture. I coated some watercolor paper with the resulting emulsion. Right off the bat, the coating was significantly darker than what I achieve with watercolor. I made a test print and found that I could not completely clear the highlights.I haven't given up on the idea, though, and I'm going to try a second test print using sized paper in hopes that none of the emulsion will soak into the paper.I assume that most folks who order this ink will not be using it for my "off label" process. What I can say is that this ink is very black. It pours nicely from the bottle. The liquid is free of any blobs or grit. It applies smoothly to paper. It is possible to get very nice gradations in tone by diluting with water, either before or after applying it to paper.

i do alot of caligraphy art because i study japanese. this ink is the next best thing if you can not order any from outside the USA. it doesnt bleed, it applies well dries even better

My favorite brand of sumi ink hasn't been available for decades. It's even hard to find authentic ink sticks. This bottled ink gives you the results without the time spent in grinding your ink to your specifications.The ink is a rich, intense black recipe. With the proper paper, brushes and technique you will be able to achieve multiple values of grey to black. With this ink you can concentrate on the strokes in order to create the characters, plants, birds, flowers, etc. which you desire.Important hint: DO NOT SQUEEZE the BOTTLE. The ingenious screw-on opening is designed to dole out the ink by drops.

This is a really large bottle of ink if you're not using big brushes it will last a long time. The black is nice and it's rich in pigment, I've really been enjoying it

This is a beautiful formula. I'm not a Chinese calligrapher, but I love to utilize Sumi inks in my sketchbooks and journals, especially with my watercolors. Just know that, as is the case with all sumi inks, this water-resistant ink is opaque and dries to a permanent matte finish. The key here is letting this dry down fully to add color washes to it, or it will run/ smear. Semi inks do take a while to dry down, so give it a few hours to do so. Paint a swatch on the paper you will be using for your art piece and check that every so often with a light wash to see how that's drying down so you know what to expect for your work.This a nice rich black that dilutes beautifully for a variety of grays should you want to add that level of variation. This is VERY concentrated so a drop of this gets you very far!The bottle is pour friendly, a very thoughtful design. The ink is easy to access with the built-in screw tip.

Excellent price for sumi ink. The flow is good, lots of surface tension that holds your bead together and nice density of the black. I’d really recommend that you invest in some sumi brushes if you’re going to utilize this ink properly. There is something very liberating about large sheets of newsprint and a sumi brush to free your stroke up, this ink is perfect for that and the investment in tools is minimum. I couldn’t really tell from the information provided but most sumi inks have some shellac in them that makes them water resistant. DO NOT USE THIS INK IN FOUNTAIN PENS, it will clog them. Use only with brushes or nib pens. I’d recommend and will be buying again,

First I will compliment the design of the bottle. It has a clever pouring spout so you can portion out the ink drop by drop. Not intended to squeeze out the ink. A little goes a long way, especially when you water it down to create grey tones. The pure ink itself is very deep and rich. It takes a while to dry (much longer than watercolors) and will be a matte finish when it does. If combining with watercolors, I recommend experimenting with it a bit to see how it reacts to the watercolors when it is still wet and when it is dry. This is a good sized bottle for the money. It also happens to have a very attractive look to the bottle.

This turned out to be a great ink ideal for many applications and artwork. The ink is very stable on paper, dark and versatile to achieve many effects and shading. Very easy to use and well worth consideration for your next art project.