TOOLS & MATERIALS

The materials used for Chinese brush painting are called the Four Treasures: brush, paper, ink, and ink stone.

BRUSHES

Chinese brushes are made of animal hair glued into a bamboo handle. New brushes are stiffened to protect the fibers.

Brushes contain either a single type of hair or a mixture of two or three hair types. Goat-hair brushes are very common and easy to find. Goat-, squirrel-, and rabbit-hair brushes are used for soft strokes (in paintings of animals, flowers, and fruit), and brushes made of wolf, badger, and horse hair are common for landscape work.

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