Sumi-e, or Japanese Ink Painting is the second medium I had to learn during my apprenticeship. The difference between this medium and Western watercolor was that once a stroke was made with sumi ink, there was no blending it with other strokes on the paper. 

The largest struggle I have with this medium is controlling the spread of water, and learning the way that different brushes work to achieve the effect I need on the rice paper. 

To help me with the learning curve, I took a semester of Asian Brush Painting classes in a local college with professors that are well versed in the medium, along with having feedback from the artists at Chapter One.