Guess again! But speaking of Japan…

In the Japanese art of sumi-e, or ink wash painting, artists achieve a wide range of shades, from blackest black to very light gray, by dissolving the black ink in water. In sumi-e, an artist makes just a few marks of black ink painted with a brush on a sheet of white paper. No touch-ups are needed, and there is no desire for perfection. But with openness and practice, the artist is able to capture the essence of the subject with only a few strokes of the brush.