Another of my attempts at sumie. I won’t say how many went into the trash before I did this one. The subject is a pine that is way up on a mountain, and could be well over a hundred years old. That or a very cleverly cultivated bonsai. Once again I’ve used rice paper, the crystals are to hold the paper, there is an ink stone, and water in which I rinsed by brushes. Incidentally that rinse water is useful in sumie for obtaining lighter shades. My other option would be to grind my own ink in the stone, something I will do on rare occasions, but ink that is ready to go is much quicker. The stone can still be used to draw off excess moisture from the brush. That excess moisture is what can ruin an ink painting, especially when using rice paper.