I wanted to practice using my sumi brush and my sumi ink with no pressure but on nice paper and in a small journal so that I wasn’t worried about having to fill a whole book.

So, I folded a piece of Arches hot press watercolour paper into an accordion journal, grabbed some ink and a cup of water and got to work.  I filled the little book really quickly in fact it was only waiting for the ink to dry which slowed me down.

Talking of slowing down, I also made a conscious effort to go slow as I used my brush. I experimented with adding water to the ink and using it full strength.  I am often guilty of rushing through any artistic endeavour and I am aware that if I slow down I do much better.

Because of this I made sure I used the brush to it’s full potential (and my ability), with just one brush you can get nice thin lines and juicy fat strokes too.  Add some water for a greyed out effect and leave the ink full strength for an opaque strong black.

Now I want to fold more mini journals and practice some more!

Happy Saturday x