IKANE GUIDES
Materials, techniques & practical problems
Ten practical guides to choose tools and surfaces, start a technique and understand why a material behaves in a particular way.
Start with your practice, your material or the problem you are trying to solve. Each guide answers a different question.
DRAWING & PAINTING
Drawing, colour, surfaces and water.
Start with the general drawing or painting guides, use the exercise page to practise, or go directly to the watercolour troubleshooting guide.
Drawing guide
Graphite, charcoal, ink, paper, values, shadows and a simple starting setup.
Open guide → PAINTINGPainting guide
Watercolour, gouache, acrylic, supports, brushes, opacity, layers and drying.
Open guide → EXERCISESLearn fine arts
Short exercises for line, values, water, colour, ink pressure and volume.
Open guide → TROUBLESHOOTINGWatercolour: blooms & muddy colours
Understand moisture, drying, blooms, dark edges and mixtures that lose clarity.
Open guide →INK & CALLIGRAPHY
Start from zero or go deeper into the material.
The beginner calligraphy guide explains paper fibres, absorption, brushes and ink. The other guides then explore traditional tools, ink materials and excessive spreading.
Starting Chinese calligraphy
What paper should you buy? Xuan, mulberry, hemp or bamboo? Untreated, semi-sized or sized? Then choose one brush and one ink and begin with simple exercises.
Open guide →
The Four Treasures
Brush, ink stick, paper and inkstone: the role of each tool and how they work together.
Open guide → MATERIALSInk materials guide
Solid and liquid ink, inkstones, brushes, nibs, paper, dilution and wash.
Open guide → TROUBLESHOOTINGWhy does ink spread on paper?
Diagnose absorption, water, brush load, pressure and speed.
Open guide →SCULPTURE
Understand volume, joins and drying.
Clay, modelling compounds, tools, thickness, assembly, drying, texture and finishing.
Sculpture & modelling guide
Choose a material, understand modelling tools and build a piece that can dry without avoidable cracks or weak joins.
Open guide →
TRACED INCENSE
When the line breaks or the ember goes out.
Ash, powder, continuity, density, ignition and airflow.
Why does the incense line go out?
Diagnose a traced incense line that breaks, burns irregularly or stops after a few centimetres.
Open guide →FROM GUIDE TO MATERIAL
Once the function is clear, compare the relevant materials.
The guides are here to reduce guesswork: identify the technique, paper behaviour or tool you need before browsing the collection.