The Sunrise*High Grade Chinese Calligraphy Brush / Kanji /Sumi Set for Beginners,cheap

This is a beautiful set with good brushes.The box reminds me of an antique Mahjong set my husband brought me back from main land China when he was staying in Macau. It is well made with heavy duty clasps like the ones on the old box. It contains an absolutely gorgeous ink stone with carved lid, and the brush rest is good sized. I have been in love with Chinese art since the first time I saw the Chinese Room at the museum in KC when I was a child. I have been practicing brush painting since I bought my first set at Pier One Imports in the 80s after Christmas for under $5.00. I bought all they had. I am an oil painter since the 60s and practicing brush painting and Sumi E has made me a better one. It changed the way I looked at art in general and painting in particular. I believe I am finally ready to channel my inner Chinese, get some good brushes and paper and make some fine Chinese brush painting art now. All of the sets and books cost more than when I started buying them, but this one is worth the price. The instruction book that came with it is written in Chinese. I took that to mean that this is a set which a Chinese parent or Grandparent would buy to use for themselves or to teach their children with, which I consider a fine endorsement.What it means to you, if you are new to Asian brush painting, is you'll need a good book. I recommend beginning with "The Sumi E Book" by Yolanda Mayhill. I used it for years until I wore it out and had to buy another one. My favorite book to read about Chinese brush painting is called "The Simple Art of Chinese Brush Painting" by Qu Lei Lei. She starts with a history of the art with pictures of famous works by various artists, not just her own, which I really appreciated. And, if you are a familiar with the I Ching, you may recognize some of the paintings..Well,my Won Ton soup is smelling done so it's time to eat, Feng Shui my table and paint some more.(I told you I'm channeling my inner Chinese).

This arrived promptly and it is a very pretty set. I gave it as a gift to my step daughter. The only downfall is there is no instructions (in english at least) on what any of it is and what to do with the various items. It will be a learning experience for her, for sure.

Really affordable. I went to a Blick to look for similar brush, they wanted $10 for a single Sumi brush, which was actually of lesser quality than the 4 brushes i found in this set. Comes with an ink block, which you would grind in the black saucer. Also has a soap stone block , which i guess u can carve your signature at the bottom, to stamp your signature using the red ink that comes in the blue/white porcelain tray?quite satisfied for the price.

It is not a genuine ink, and you can tell right away by the smell of it. For its price though, it writes fairly well even though it is definitely a cheap quality it will do the job.

I bought this for an introductory Chinese calligraphy class. Perfectly adequate for beginners. The brushes leave something to be desired for people who are more serious about calligraphy.

What a beautiful set!! I have used this set about 5 times and I love it!

Beautiful tools, beautifully presented. This will make a wonderful gift for your artistic, crafty friends, or yourself!

Good for what I need. Not a super "high quality" box, but thats okay. The yellow/orange reminds me of a cheap 70's towel.