How to make a Japanese painting dosa /blotting stopper

While painting a Japanese-style painting, mineral pigment peels off or absorbs water, resulting in poor coloring.

While I was fixing it, it took so long that I couldn’t get it done in time!

No matter how many times I fix it, the colors just won’t come back!

That may be because of the poor way of making dosas (anti-bleeding agents).

In this article, we will explain the correct way to make dosa to solve such problems, quoting from “Tansei Shinan,” a traditional Japanese painting technique book of the Kano school!

If you can follow this, you can really double your production speed!

What is a dosa?

In a word, “dosa” is “an anti-bleeding agent used in Japanese-style painting.

It is a Japanese painting version of the sizing liquid that is sold for watercolor.

For more information on sizing fluid, please see the article below.

関連記事Multisizing, the anti-bleeding agent, is amazing!

2023.02.09

➡Multisizing, the anti-bleeding agent, is amazing!

With watercolor, there is no such thing as too much blotting or watercolors peeling off when you start painting directly on either drawing paper or watercolor paper.

However, in the case of Japanese painting, if the dosa is not used properly, mineral pigments, which are granular, may peel off after they dry.

In addition, when drawing a rough sketch with sumi ink, the ink will smear, making it impossible to draw a delicate line.

Usually, the method of making dosa varies from artist to artist, and also depends on the season, humidity, and type of paper, as described below.

In this article, however, we will explain the Kano school’s method of making dosa, citing “Tansei Shinan,” a Japanese painting technique book that shows the traditional method of the Kano school!

How to make dosa – the amount of glue and alum

According to Morishizu Ichikawa, the author of Tansei Shinan, the conventional ratio for making dosa is

For simplicity, the weight of a piece of “sanzenbon-glue” (sanzenbo-nnikawa.about 12 to 15 grams) is shown below.

However, this amount of alum was a little too much, so the Kano School painters reduced it to just enough for each of them to make it.

This is the amount of dosa taught by the Kano school.

However, in a book written by a Chinese painter named Akutoyuan, who wrote about paints, it is written

• In summer, seven parts glue to three parts alum.
• In winter, 10 parts glue to 3 parts alum.

It is said that it is good to change the proportions according to the time of year when the paints are made.

This combination is the best when corrected to 15 g of glue, as in the example used above.

In fact, it is said that the effectiveness of dosa depends on humidity, and the higher the humidity, the less effective it becomes.

Some painters believe that the hot and humid Japanese summer is not suitable for dosa pulling, so they pull dosa for the whole year at once during the winter.

How to make dosa – specific steps

Now, let us assume that in the previous section, we have prepared 720 cc of water, 15 g of glue, and 7.4 g of alum.

From now on, we will explain the specific procedures for making the product.

As you read, visualize the process and remember it well!

That’s the procedure for making dosa liquid according to Tansei Shinan!

If I omit the detailed explanation, it goes like this.

Dissolve glue in a small amount of boiling water.
↓
Add alum and dissolve.
↓
Add the remaining water.
↓
Strain through gauze.
↓
Apply while hot.

These are the steps above.

In the original text, it says to use clean bleached cotton, but commonly available gauze is fine.

Also, since pots and pans can be purchased inexpensively, it is convenient to prepare them separately from those for food.

The recommended glues for making dosa are sanzenbon-nikawa-glue and granulated glue!

By the way, after reading all this, do you remember what the raw materials for dosa were?

That’s right, it was glue and alum.

Mr. Morishizu, the author of Tansei Shinan, says that what is important in making dosa is good or bad glue.

It is an indispensable material for kneading paints and is an important ingredient in the production of Japanese paintings.

The glue used in Morishizu’s time was called “bleached glue,” or “hirasuki.

However, even if one looks it up now, its true identity is not known.

It has probably disappeared.

It has been called “hirasuki” since that time, but the manufacturing process was different, and the effectiveness of the glue seems to have been poor.

On the other hand, the glues that are mainly used in Japanese painting today are called “sanzenbon-nikawa-glue” and “grains glue(tsubu-nikawa).

grains glue(tsubu-nikawa)

sanzenbon-nikawa-glue

Although glue made from cattle is often seen, there are other types of glue such as deer and rabbit, each of which has different adhesive strength as glue.

For now, let’s keep in mind “sanzenbon-nikawa-glue” and “grain glue.

These are two types of glue, but “sanzenbon-nikawa-glue” seems to be the most popular one.

When we talked to several Japanese-style painters, they all said that “gran glue has low adhesive strength.

However, unlike sanzenbon-nikawa-glue in stick form, it is easy to adjust the amount of glue, so it may be a good idea to make the glue thicker.


It may be a good idea to make it thicker.

In addition, most sanzenbon-nikawa-glue on the market today is different from the sanzenbon-glue used in the past.

Like “hirasuki,” this glue was once discontinued and has been reproduced by other manufacturers.

Some people say that this glue has less adhesive power than the old sanzenbon-nikawa-glue, but it does not rot easily and has a weak smell.

If you need the old sanzenbon-nikawa-glue, you should look in the mail order section of a Buddhist altar shop.

In rare cases, you may be able to find some that you have kept in storage.

Many painters, including Ikuo Hirayama, used sanzenbon-nikawa-glue for making dosa, so I recommend sanzenbon-glue for making dosa!

However, as shown above, sanzenbon-nikawa-glue has changed since then.

After all, it is best to make dosa using both sanzenbon-nikawa-glue and granulated glue, and use what you think is “more suitable for you! It is best to use the one you think is more “right for you!

There is also a way to make it with deer glue, so you may want to try that.

Dosa on that would make painting wood and fabric a whole lot easier!

I don’t like the way the color blurs when I paint on stone!

Wish I could paint on fabric too: ……

It would be cool to paint on wood: ……

Do you think that dosa is to be applied only to paper?

Actually, you can apply it to other materials as well, to stop smudging!

How to use a douser to stop wood bleed

The Tansei Shinan also shows how to use it when applying it to a wooden board.

When applying to wood, prepare two kinds of dosas: a thin dosa with more water than the amount described in the previous chapter, and a thicker dosa with more alum.

After preparing the two types of dosa, first apply the thicker dosa.

Then, apply the thinner dosa on top of the thicker dosa to make the ink stick better and the wood easier to draw!

How to use a doser to stop bleeding on rough woven cloth

Also, if you apply paint to a cloth with a coarse or large weave, the paint will soak into the cloth or peel off.

Dosa can solve this problem!

First, boil canteens to make a dissolved solution.

Next, apply it to a cloth and let it dry.

Finally, apply a normal concentration of dosa over it.

Just three steps are all it takes to get the effect of smoothing out both the brushstrokes and the ink!

Summary

The above is how to make and use dosa as described in Tansei Shinan, a Japanese painting technique book.

Let’s start with the basic concentration of 720cc water, 15g glue, and 7.4g alum, and change it according to the season and the work to be painted.

It is also recommended that you try to find your own favorite glue by preparing both sanzenbon-nikawa-glue and granulated glue.

In Japanese painting, the use of paints and procedures differ depending on the school and style of painting, as well as the density of the dosa.

For example, those who prefer thin paints also have thin dosa concentrations.

For those who apply coarse mineral pigments thickly, it is said that it is better to use a thicker douser in order to increase the fixing power.

Those who like to use a lot of blurring, such as in ink painting, probably do not need a dosa in the first place.

Ultimately, it is important to find your own dosa concentration and method of making dosa that is appropriate for your style of painting and drawing.

Modern Translation of Tansei Shinan

Dosa (blotting liquid used for Japanese-style painting)

The conventional ratio for making dosa is 180 liters of water, 37.5 grams (10 monme) of glue, 18.5 grams (10 monme) of alum.

However, this amount of alum is a little too much, so each person should reduce the amount accordingly.

However, in a book describing the paints used by the Chinese artist Akutoen, it is written that the most appropriate ratio is seven parts glue to three parts alum in summer and ten parts glue to three parts alum in winter.

In other words, it is best to change the proportions according to the time of year.

The raw material that overlaps in making this dosa is glue, which is also an indispensable medium for kneading paints.

Therefore, it is important to make a choice between good and bad glue.

The glue used in the past was called “bleached glue ( “hirasuki”),” and although the same product is still available today, it is made in a different way, so its properties are not good.

Therefore, it must be boiled for a long time, and most of them do not dissolve easily and are weak in efficacy.

Other types of glue called “sanzenbon-nikawa-glue” have the same characteristics and are not suitable for use at all. Therefore, when purchasing glue, one must first select its properties.

To give an outline of the conventional method of making dosa, assume that the amount of glue is 37.5 grams (10 monme). After the glue has dissolved, add an appropriate amount of alum, and boil it for a while to dissolve the alum as well.

Then, to make the dosa solution suitable for application, the pot is filled with boiling water or white water, the pot is lowered, and the dosa is filtered into another vessel using clean, unbleached cotton so that it is not pressed.

Then, while the heat has not yet cooled, it is applied to the silk or paper book to be used in the production.

When using dosa on wooden surfaces such as cedar doors and wooden signboards, apply a thicker dosa than usual, and then apply a thinner dosa on top of the thicker dosa.

To apply dosa to a slightly coarse weave such as basho or kuzu cloth, first apply a liquid solution of boiling and dissolved kanten and let it dry, then apply a thin layer of dosa on top of that.

However, do not add alum to the glue used to make dosa before it has finished boiling and dissolving.

Reference sites and other information about “Tansei Shinan,” a Japanese painting technique book

National Diet Library Digital Collections

You can browse as well as download for free!

The modern version of Tansei Shinan! The bible of Japanese painting.

CiNii Books

You can purchase copies (photocopies) of pages from Japanese libraries.

Japanese painting article here!