This video shows how my father paints lips. For the red color, he uses a mineral pigment in Japanese-style painting, the color of which is known as shu (vermilion). He mixes it with pure titanium which has a white color.
For this work, he chose kiguchishu (yellowish vermilion), while he also uses various shades of vermilion such as keikanshu or kamakurashu for other works.
He mixes the pigments with water, and then adds a nearly equal amount of a wood glue produced by Konishi Co., Ltd. There is no rule about the ratio of water and the glue, and he just goes by a rule of thumb.
In passing, this wood glue produced by Konishi Co., Ltd. is very popular in Japan (click here to purchase at Amazon.co.jp).
By the handwriting of “30, 2” in red on the label, he meant “February, the 30 year of Heisei (2018)” as the date he bought it. He says it’s better to use a fresh one, since the glue deteriorates over time.
Regarding the brushes he uses, please read the post “Brushes for coloring netsuke.”
After painting the lips, he delicately removes any excess paint that went outside of the desired edges, using scrapers. He also paints a bit to make fine adjustments, just as he did on the eyes and brows in the previous video (part 5).
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