Inkstick

Inksticks (Chinese: 墨  Mò; Japanese: 墨 Sumi; Korean: 먹 Meok) or Ink Cakes are a type of solid ink (India ink) used traditionally in several East Asian cultures for calligraphy and brush painting. Inksticks are made mainly of soot and animal glue, sometimes with incense or medicinal scents added. To make ink from the inkstick, it has to be continuously ground against an inkstone with a small quantity of water to produce a dark liquid which is then applied with an ink brush. Artists and calligraphists may vary the thickness of the resulting ink according to their preferences by reducing or increasing the intensity and time of ink grinding.

Along with the inkstone, ink brush, and paper, the inkstick is considered in one of the Four Treasures of the Study of classical Chinese literary culture.

History

The earliest artifact of Chinese inks can be dated back to 12th century BC, with the use of charred materials, plant dyes and animal-based inks being occasionally used with mineral inks being most common. Mineral inks based on materials such as graphite were ground with water and applied with ink brushes. Indeed, the mineral origins Chinese inks were discussed by Eastern Han scholar Xu Shen (許慎, 58 CE – ca. 147 CE). In Shuowen Jiezi, he wrote "Ink, whose semantic component is 'earth', is black." (墨，從土、黑也), indicating that the character for the ink ("墨") is composed of black ("黑") and soil ("土") due to the earthly origins of the dark mineral used in its production.

Sumi

Sumi may refer to:

See also

Ōsumi

Ōsumi can stand for:

Miga, Quatchi, Sumi and Mukmuk

Miga, Quatchi, and Sumi (who had a sidekick, Mukmuk) were the mascots for the 2010 Winter Olympics and the 2010 Winter Paralympics. The four mascots were introduced on November 27, 2007. They were designed by the Canadian and American duo, Meomi Design. It was the first time the Olympic and Paralympic mascots were introduced at the same time.

Development

The emblem of 2010 Winter Olympics, "Ilanaaq the Inukshuk", was picked through an open contest. However, it met criticism from some aboriginal groups over its design. So the mascot artist was selected through a competition.

Through the process where 177 professionals around the world were submitted their ideas, five were made final. In December 2006, VANOC eventually selected concepts from Meomi Design. Formed in 2002, Meomi is a group of Vicki Wong, a Vancouver-born Canadian of Chinese descent who worked in graphic and web design, and Michael Murphy, born in Milford, Michigan, who worked in design and motion graphics. Writing for Sports Illustrated, experts Michael Erdmann and John Ryan, while making comments on the mascots of the Olympic Games held in Canada, pointed out that Meomi's character drawing styles "are more closely related to Urban Vinyl [...]".