Vegetal and mineral pigments are the base of all colour mediums in Chinese and Japanese painting. They may come as inksticks but more often in tubes or small shells, ready to use since they are sized with various natural ingredients from gelatine to deer musk. Therefore they are suitable for absorbing paper as well. Due to their high density they can be diluted with much water and still keep their power (on the other hand they must not be used by children). Besides, if a tube has dried because forgotten open, the content may be extracted and used in a shell with a wet brush. NB the colours printed on the tubes and our pictures are very, very approximative and give no idea of the rich quality that can be obtained. The quality of individual tubes is richer and more dense than in the assortment.
