Comparing liquid inks for mountability

Previously, I compared 萬世 ink stick from 日本製墨 vs 墨の華 liquid ink from 開明 to see if liquid ink runs compared to solid ink. But I then realised that the box on 墨の華 says that I should wait a week at least before mounting any pieces written using it. I also have other liquid inks that are apparently okay for final works. The common understanding is that cheaper liquid inks use resins and will run when wet, while the more expensive ones use gelatin (like solid ink) and thus do not run when wet.

So this prompted me to try another experiment. I wrote different characters using the six liquid inks that I have on six different types of paper. I then watered down the ink (because some of them are thick 濃墨 or extra thick ink 超濃墨 that is usually used watered down) and repeated the same process for another six sheets of paper.

 

Basically, I had to write a total of 72 characters, switching paper for each character, diluting/changing ink every 6 characters, and washing the brush every 12 characters. It was a time-consuming process that took me about 1.5 hours to complete.

There are the characters I used for each type of ink.

華: 墨の華 from 開明

書: 妙品 書仙 from 開明 (uses gelatin? see below)

純: 書芸呉竹 純黒 from 呉竹 (uses gelatin)

美: 墨美人 濃墨 which is an original ink by キョー和

徳: 玄徳 超濃墨 from 呉竹

濃: 書芸呉竹 濃墨 from 呉竹 (uses gelatin)

And the watered down version:

I then let them dry for a week before spraying them with water like what is done during the mounting process.

Unwatered version on the top row, and watered down version:

For each type of paper, the first photo is before the paper is wet, followed by immediately after wetting the paper, and after the paper has dried (which I shifted to a white background to better see if there is any running of ink)

 

Unwatered versions:

Unknown paper 1 (paper that I found lying around, probably left over by my calligraphy teacher)

 

 

Unknown paper 2 (paper that I got from a distant relative, who was an artist)

 

 

玉蘭 (the paper that I usually used for submitting pieces in the past for grading; it is machine made but tries to imitate the style of handmade paper)

 

Kuretake practice paper (cheap practice paper for students)

 

 

白雪 (machine-made paper)

 

 

雷鳥 (machine-made paper that is of slightly better quality)

 

 

Watered down:

Unknown paper 1

 

 

Unknown paper 2

 

 

玉蘭

 

 

Kuretake practice paper

 

 

白雪

 

 

雷鳥

 

 

It is quite a surprise, but this time, there wasn't any significant running of ink, except for a bit of running for the characters written using 妙品 書仙 from 開明 (especially when written on Kuretake practice paper and 白雪 paper). This is actually quite a surprise for me, since this is supposed to be premium ink used for final works. The packaging implies it uses gelatin and even states that works written with it can be mounted.

In conclusion, I guess it means that, yes, even liquid ink can be used for final works that will be mounted. However, it is important to let them dry for at least a week before mounting.