Japanese Ink Painting

Last year my aunt got me this beautiful ink set and a guide to learn how to paint Japanese style paintings.  The art is called Sumi-e.   Here is the book that I will be using to teach myself:

http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Ink-Painting-Art-Sumi-e/dp/0806908335/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231626244&sr=8-1

Here are pictures of the ink set:

I'm almost afraid to mess with it because it is so pretty!  Anyway I'm excited about learning a new technique of painting and I will be posting my progress.