Suminagashi

Iver hasn't yet attended "in-person" school, and he only knows his classmates and teachers via Zoom. The school offered an art activity via Zoom on Friday evening, and while I'm pretty Zoom-ed out by the end of the week (I don't know why Iver isn't), he decided he wanted to participate. 

The art technique taught was Suminagashi (Japanese ink marbling), which was new to me/us. 

From what I read later, I learned that Suminagashi (literally "ink-floating") as an art form originated in China, is at least 2,000 years old, and involves dropping ink onto water to create swirls, which is then imprinted on paper (traditionally rice paper). Expert artists can create landscapes and more with this delicate and beautiful (not that I'd expect anything less from anything Japanese!) technique.

Supplies we needed were
- a small amount of inks of different colors (school provided them-- Dr. Ph. Martin's Bombay India Ink)
- paintbrushes (one for each ink color and one for soapy water)-- the "pointier" (the finer the tip) the better
- a bowl of soapy water (water + a squirt of dish soap)
- a straw, wooden skewer or toothpick, and old toothbrush (all optional)
- shallow basin or pan for water
- craft paper
- drying rack or towel 
- newspapers for covering your surface, apron (this ink will stain)

It was helpful to work near a sink (to replace our water periodically), so we set up in the laundry room as we followed along on the iPad.

You dip a paintbrush into ink and dab it to the water's surface (it makes a circle). You then follow with a "dab" of soapy water with that designated brush, and repeat, which creates concentric circles.

You can add more colors to your design using the same process.

You can "blow" (with the straw), drag a wooden toothpick across the design, or flick (soapy water) with the toothbrush to cause your designs to be distorted slightly. 

You then lay a white paper on the marbled water surface, and leave it for a count of about six.

You remove the paper and place it on a drying rack for a few hours or day and then admire the final creations!

Iver (and I) had a lot of fun with our Suminagashi art. Thank you to his school for putting on such a fun workshop! Even though we haven't *met* in person, it was great to (virtually) *see* so many other families also!