20,020 palettes

Sumi color palettes

Sumi palettes are the calligrapher's desk: graded ink black, wet-stone gray, aged paper and the vermillion hanko pressed at the end. They suit galleries, tea brands, editorial tools, architecture — work that signs itself sparingly.

Two-color palettes are the hardest to fill a page with. Each entry here grades the ink into at least three real steps — dry brush, wet brush, wash — so hierarchy exists before the seal ever appears.