–Materials–
If you don’t have any of these on hand, you can find them at Fred Meyer, Target, Michael’s, or your local craft store.
You’re going to need:
1) A writing utensil: a Japanese calligraphy brush is ideal, but brush pens, or any kind of rounded paintbrush you have will do. Water brushes work well too, just don’t add water to the reservoir or you’ll don’t dilute your ink. Tombow Fudenosuke or Tombow dual brushes are great brush pen options.
2) Ink: (If you use a brush pen, you don’t need to worry about this) Sumie ink or other calligraphy ink is ideal, but you can also use one of these alternatives:
•Black watercolor paint
•Watered down black acrylic or tempera paint
•Black gouache
•Instant coffee, made very strong to resemble ink
3) Paper: some copy paper to practice on, and some thicker, heavier paper to write your final draft on, such as watercolor, mixed media, or heavy drawing paper. Copy paper will also work fine for your final draft in a pinch, but will warp and wrinkle a bit from the water.
4) A table covering: Make sure to put down some plastic wrap, wax paper, or newspaper under your paper when you write! The ink and paint will soak through the copy paper and stain whatever you’re writing on.
5) Calligraphy practice grid: Download a printable grid here to help you keep your kanji characters the same size as you practice on during the workshop: