PETALING JAYA, July 2 — When it comes to anything artistic, I admit I’m a total failure. Despite that, I was curious enough to attend the suminagashi class held by Black Milk Project since it was labelled as something fun that required no art skills.
Set up in 2013 by Wei Tieng, Black Milk Project is fuelled by her creative talent; her company produces whimsical and quirky products like cushions, rompers and T-shirts. Last year, she started to offer fun and creative workshops.
Usually held on weekends, the classes are a great way to relax and meet new like-minded friends.
Suminagashi or 墨 流 し means floating ink. The Japanese technique produces a marbled design achieved by floating black sumi ink on the surface of water which is transferred to a sheet of paper. What makes it incredibly unique is each design is unrepeatable.
Wei Tieng tells us, “It is really interesting versus drawing. Anybody can take it up and it’s free and easy. Art is supposed to be fun.”
Wei Tieng also explains that it’s not easy to achieve perfect unbroken rings since the water is in constant flux. Most times since the class is usually conducted in an air-conditioned environment, it will be affected by the surrounding flow of air.
One must be silent and incredibly Zen-like to produce unbroken rings; an almost impossible feat. Luckily everyone considers those purposely broken swirls that develop because of the moving air flow as art.
Everyone has their own Zen spot and Wei Tieng tells us for her, it’s the kitchen in Black Milk Project where she can quietly do the suminagashi and achieve her best results.
You would need sumi ink made from charcoal and a dispersing agent like ox-gall. A light touch is also required to ensure the brushes dipped with the two items aren’t submerged but just skimming the surface of the water.
Once you’re happy with the pattern formed, you can transfer it on to your paper. Any excess ink is washed off and the paper is left to dry. With so many factors like the air flow, how you dip your brushes on the water and even how you press the paper and remove it, you never get the same pattern twice.
That uncertainty doubles the fun of doing suminagashi. You will find that once you start, it can be addictive and incredibly rewarding when you achieve a pretty marbled pattern on your paper.
Wei Tieng also explained that through their own experiments, they even realised that the source of water is important. For an event at Pavilion KL, they discovered that it was impossible to achieve the marbled effect when they used the water there.
Instead they had to resort to bottled mineral water to get the marbling effect. She has also experimented with various inks and items like thinner to try and achieve the same marbled effect using coloured inks.
Even though it does work, Wei Tieng believes most people will be turned off by the strong smell of thinner. In the future, she hopes to conduct classes using Turkish ebru ink, where one can create colourful marbled items. This is provided she can source the special ink from Turkey.
At the end of the session, you also learn how to make a notebook with the marbled paper you have created. Using a hole puncher and rustic looking string, the notebook will make a lovely handmade gift.
You can also have your name or any wordings of your choice hand-calligraphed by Wei Tieng on the notebook, making it a personalised item.
Joining the suminagashi class that day was a varied group of beginners and some return students. It’s Cathryn Ng’s second visit to Black Milk Project; her first was to learn how to paint watercolour floral hoops and calligraphy.
As a keen artist who specialises in pastel nagomi art, the class is just a fun way for her to de-stress and also pick up a new skill. “It’s very relaxing,” said Cathryn who enjoys the session.
Next to Cathryn is film-maker Qistina Ruslan who makes stop-motion films. She’s also a part-time baker who set up Sugarkitty (https://www.instagram.com/sugarkitty_official/) that makes whimsical custom baked goodies.
Even though she reckons suminagashi can be self taught by just buying the ingredients, she decided that she might as well join the class to learn it from Black Milk Project since it is more fun.
First-timers Kathleen Khong and Ming Li came across the suminagashi class when they were shopping for an art related workshop. Ming Li loves drawing while Kathleen usually makes scrapbooks.
Both the psychology students were attracted to suminagashi since it said no art skills are required. After an intense few hours, they said they enjoyed the class tremendously and wouldn’t mind doing it again when Wei Tieng introduces the Turkish ebru ink.
Ming Li even came up with a unique way to sprinkle the dispersing liquid by flicking the brush with ox-gall to create a spotted effect.
Once you look at your beautiful suminagashi papers, you will be hooked. The beauty lies in the unexpected... creating lovely pieces via randomness.
Black Milk Project
No. 8, Jalan SS14/8B, Subang Jaya, PJ
For more details on suminagashi classes, visit Black Milk Project. They also hold various monthly classes on water colouring, floral hoops, water brush calligraphy and pyrography or colouring on wood.
Website: https://www.blackmilkproject.com
