Inks and colours for Oriental calligraphy and painting

Beside carbon and glue some ink makers add several sustances in order to ease rubbing, improve the fragrance or improve the gloss (24 ct gold in the 101 ink for instance).

Since the beginning of the XXth century some makers produce quick use liquid ink (must be diluted with some water anyway). It seems nice to gbeginners but all advanced calligraphers prefer to rub insticks.
The cheapest of these bottles must be used without delay as they may decay after a while. The most expensive and sophisticated come from Japan, where they are manufactured like deluxe perfumes. They also exist as pastes, which must be diluted in water. The traditional Nara based company called Kuretake is the king of these sophisticated inks.

Traditional painting uses the same black ink as for writing, pure fro drawing, diluted for sumi-e. Colour comes with natural pigments, available in several forms