Last year we began a partnership with calligrapher Connie Chen to have her review some of our most popular products. Her review of gold inks was particularly popular with our blog readers, and she has just produced another video where she reviews sumi inks for use specifically in pointed pen calligraphy. For each ink, she gives a rating for drying time, hair line, odor and shine. (The ratings she created are only comparable for the sumi inks she tested -as she explains in the video- and are based entirely on her opinions and experiences using the inks.) Further, she shows each ink in use and offers her thoughts on each one as she writes. We think you’ll really enjoy her video. Simply watching her write the names of each ink so beautifully proved mesmerizing for us!
(Standard disclaimer: The views expressed are solely Connie’s and do not necessarily express the views of Paper and Ink Arts.)
Paper and Ink Arts Blog 
Just a quick note regarding inks….I have found that using glass beads from craft store do a great job of blending those inks…especially the gold…I bought a string of cheap glass beads and dropped 3 …½ inch beads into the kuretake gold and then replace the lid and swirl in a circle and it blended the gold perfectly…it worked so well I used it in my white and black sumi and in fact any of my inks that sit for a while…just thought you might want to share this with others that don’t have one of those blending things….this works well and doesn’t cause foam/bubbles on the surface..
Kath Harney
Thanks for the tip! That’s a great idea!!
I appreciate this video. It will be an excellent video to share with my students. Thank you.
On Tue, Jun 14, 2016 at 7:34 AM, Paper and Ink Arts Blog wrote:
> piajennifer posted: “Last year we began a partnership with calligrapher > Connie Chen to have her review some of our most popular products. Her > review of gold inks was particularly popular with our blog readers, and she > has just produced another video where she reviews sumi ink” >
Great video; it addressed concerns and questions I had. Thank you.
This review was so helpful in deciding what Sumi to use for my practice work. It’s great to see such a great calligrapher take time to review calligraphy items most people have questions about.
Brilliant tip about the glass beads. I’m new to calligraphy and I’ve been shaking and shaking my gold ink in vain.
Good review but turn the music down, it truly interferes with listening to what you are saying.
Thank you Connie Chen for a great review of Sumi inks. I am inspired to try a lot of them! However, one major point: I agree very much with Bill Kemp’s remark that you should turn the music down–even OFF–since I could not understand half of what you were saying! Although I am a musician, here we want the info on these inks and your wonderful writing display! One more suggestion: would it be possible to turn the page horizontally so we can read what you are writing as you write? Thanks again for a much appreciated video! Trevor Jones