How to Make Gofun (behind the scene)

Gofun is the white color in Nihonga, made of ground oyster shells. Different kinds of gofun are used as a ground, for under-painting, and as a fine white top color.

After grinding the white powder, I dropped (added) some nikawa glue to make a ball shape (gofun dango) using my fingers.

Once it's moist enough and you can roll it into a ball, then it comes the "hundred times hitting technique". As you can see, to prepare white color, I am hitting the ball against the plate to get nikawa glue fully dispersed and absorbed, making a smooth and fine white color.