Mini Shikishi

Ships from Japan.
This set includes 20 mini-format shikishi boards, each finished with a traditional gold edge and mounted with smooth Torinoko washi paper. Known for its soft ivory tone and lightly satin surface, Torinoko is prized for its stability, low absorbency, and responsiveness across media.
 
Selected in collaboration with a board maker in Mino, Japan — a town celebrated for its washi-making heritage — these boards were chosen for their suitability across artistic practices. The surface supports ink, watercolor, gouache, acrylic, oil pastel, pencil, and mixed techniques, allowing pigments to remain crisp and luminous without bleeding.
 
Torinoko paper offers a refined tactile experience: smoother than gasen, more closed in texture, and ideal for detailed linework or layered color. Its ability to hold surface media with minimal disruption makes it a favorite for those who work between drawing and painting.
 
These boards are part of the ongoing Shikishi Art Project, a curatorial initiative by Art San Gallery to invite artists into dialogue with this traditional format — not as a historical object, but as a living, creative surface open to reinterpretation.