Bister(Bis) is a pigment made from the soot and tar of burnt wood or shellac or the ground bark of walnuts and gum arabic. Bister comes from French from the word 'bistre' which stands for brown，hazelnut，dark brown or chocolate brown.



The disadvantage is the non-lightfastness of this material，which easily dissolves in water. The more water used，the lighter the drawing. Drawings made in bister gradually disappear when exposed to sunlight.

Distilled water(H₂O) is useful whenever water must be added to any mixture，it is much cleaner and makes for a smoother mixture than tap water or drinking water.