Wills Quills

Click here for our mail order conditions of sale
Chinese Fluid Inks
Used as Western Calligraphy/nib Inks

CHINESE INK FLUIDS
Chinese inks are available in Ink Sticks or In Bottled Fluids. This page will show you the range of Bottled Inks we sell at the shop, and give you some of the details about different types.

SMALL SIZED BOTTLES
These fluid bottled inks are available in a number of qualities and thicknesses. Our first selection shows the standard (smaller) size bottles, followed by each inks description, ml/cc size and price.

Inks No.1 and 2 are both Japanese Sumie inks from the Boku Undo ink manufacturer.
The first (No.1) is a quality Sumie Indigo Blue/Black ink. This ink is made from the soot of the Tung Tree, when burned it produces an exquisite Indigo blue shade soot, and is a thicker than standard grade liquid ink. Only for the advanced and discerning user, its uses include the shades used in distant high mountain scenery, as the blue/grey-black shade is unobtainable by mixing colours. The ink will paint well on all good Japanese and Chinese painting papers. Bottled in 100ml size, and costs AUD$48.00 each.
The No.2 bottle is a thicker grade black liquid ink in 100ml size. The cost is AUD$17.30 each.
No.3 is a 'Lion' Taiwanese special based ink, the size is 270cc in size. Each bottle costs AUD$19.00.
No.4 has a slight Indigo tint to the black ink. The cost is AUD$16.25 each.
No.5 also has a slight Indigo tint to the black ink. The cost is AUD$16.25 each.
No.6 is Kai Ming ink a quality black, also known as 'Kai Mei' in Japanese. The cost of this smallest size is AUD$11.15 each. See also Ink No.12 for 1.8 ltr and No.15 for the 360ml bottles.
No.7 is 'Silver Peak' student grade Japanese black sumie ink. We call it 'Blue Top'. This is a 180cc size bottle, and costs AUD$9.85 each.
No.8 and 9 is the 2x sizes of one of our favourite student grade black inks. Called 'Chung Hwa' the sizes are 250ml large and 100ml small. Priced at AUD$7.10 and AUD$$3.65 each.
No.10 is 'Youth' black ink,a student grade ink. This is a 100ml size bottle, the cost is only AUD$3.05 each.
Lastly Our NEW 120ml size JAPANESE VERMILION INK from the Boku Undo ink factory. AUD$25.20 each

LARGE SIZED BOTTLES
This is our range of larger sized ink fluid bottles,

No.11 is one of our largest 1.8 ltr sized bottles, This is 'Ling Lung' or 'Elegance fine detail' Japanese black ink. It is thicker than standard grade. The cost is AUD$132.60 per bottle.
No.12 is another 1.8 ltr size bottle. This is the well known Boku Undo brand 'Kai Ming' or 'Kai Mei' Japanese quality black ink. The cost is AUD$98.00 each.
No.13 'Red Star' black ink, comes in 450ml bottles. The cost is $26.60 each.
No.14 is our top grade Vermilion coloured ink fluid from Japan. This is a 360ml size bottle, of traditional vermilion made from Mercury. AUD$53.00 each.
No.15 is the medium size 360ml 'Kai Ming or 'Kai Mei' Japanese black ink. This bottle is AUD$27.90 to buy.
No.16 is 'Beijing Ink' black and is a large size student grade black ink from Yi De Ge Ink Factory - a famous ink manufacturer in China. The cost is AUD$7.00 each.

ALL SOLD OUT - SORRY. ~~ADDITIONAL TO THE FLUID INKS IS THE CONVENIENCE INK PACK~~

This handy small container with lid, has a hard round black pallette of black ink inside, that dissolves instantly on application of a wet brush, There is an ink reservoir/rut around one edge to allow preparation of the brush before use. The cost is only AUD$2.65 each.

MARIES BRAND - CHINESE COLOUR PAINTING TUBES
This brand has been on the market for many years as the range of Chinese Painting tube colours. In the old days the tubes were very small, but recently they have updated the line with larger (finger) size 12ml tubes.

The 12 per box set, has these colours as a standard range of "MOST USED" shades;
Titanium White, Gamboge (Hue), Vermilion (Hue), Cinnabar (Hue), Carmine, Burnt Sienna,
Green No.3 (Hue), Blue No.3 (Hue), Indigo, Phthalocyanine Blue, Black.

This set costs AUD$21.85 each to buy.

The same range of shades is available in single tubes, plus additional colours as follows;

Peacock Blue, Rouge (Hue), Rose, Carmine,
Blue No.2 (Hue), Blue No.2 (Hue), Blue No.3 (Hue), Cerulean Blue, Orange-Yellow, Burnt Sienna,
Emerald Green, Indigo, Green No.1 (Hue),
Green No.2 (Hue), Green No.3 (Hue), Gamboge (Hue), Ultramarine Blue, Black Lake, Scarlet, Cinnabar (Hue), Mid-Yellow, Phthalocyanine Blue, Titanium White, Peony Red, Cobalt Blue, Dark Brown.

The tubes cost AUD$2.00 each to buy.

# Our minimum amount for a mail order is AUD$20.00 worth of goods, so you would need to buy 10x of these tubes for an order by email.

THE IDEAL WESTERN CALLIGRAPHERS INKS
A few of the above inks are especially suited for use as calligraphers inks, and we have re-bottle them for nib users.

The Chinese or Japanese supplied bottle inks have small necked or even squirt type tops. As such these don't allow nibs to dip directly into the bottle. We use wide, open necked glass jars that have easy access for any kind of nib loading technique, i.e nib dipping, dipping using a semi-submerged sponge, or even loading by brush edge dipped in the bottle - etc.

A. Williams China Black in 30ml quantity is used by nib calligraphers using any of the square tip nibs, for styles such as Italic, Gothic, Uncial or Roman, and any of their derivative styles. Each bottle costs AUD$3.45 each.
B. Ling Lung is the ideal thicker grade Copperplaters ink, the name translates as 'Elegance fine Detail Ink'. This is sold in 15ml bottles. The cost is $AUD$5.95 each.
C. Yuen Wah is another of the thicker grade Copperplaters inks, the name translates as
'Essence of the Mystique'. This is also sold in 15ml bottles. The cost is AUD$6.00 each.

Here is our small size bottles of Japanese Vermilion ink, in 30ml hexagonal glass jars, with a metal locking cap. This is re-bottled from the large Boku Undo brand 360ml size bottles above (the orange bottle with a white cap). This colour is a thickish painting ink and is ideal for copperplate work. The vermilion colour looks just great on your finished work. The cost is AUD$8.62 each bottle.

As shown above in the painting section. Our NEW 120ml size JAPANESE VERMILION INK from the Boku Undo ink factory. AUD$25.20 each. This is the same ink as in our Will's Quills 30ml bottles (above), but with 120ml of ink.

Top of Page
Prices subject to change without notice.
Updated Nov 2008
# Call, fax or email us for further details.

	Here is our small size bottles of Japanese Vermilion ink, in 30ml hexagonal glass jars, with a metal locking cap. This is re-bottled from the large Boku Undo brand 360ml size bottles above (the orange bottle with a white cap). This colour is a thickish painting ink and is ideal for copperplate work. The vermilion colour looks just great on your finished work. The cost is AUD$8.62 each bottle.
	As shown above in the painting section. Our NEW 120ml size JAPANESE VERMILION INK from the Boku Undo ink factory. AUD$25.20 each. This is the same ink as in our Will's Quills 30ml bottles (above), but with 120ml of ink.