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Calligraphy Lesson 2
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Written by Wei-Jing Zhu
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Page 1 of 3 Second Lesson in the HXNY calligraphy class taught by Yen-Hua Lee (李燕华).
Lesson 1 at http://hua-lian.net/mambo/content/view/60/2/
Discuss homework from last Lesson:
Red paper design project:
1. WJ's Pop-Up 3D paper design:
- usually paper popup shows single direction
- this design extends to an extra dimension, making 3D space from popup
- can be use as card, name-card stand, or a surprise message (secret transformation by using the other side)
2. Chuxiao's Artwork (see picture on next page)
"I got the inspiration when I noticed how beautiful the trees looked after a late afternoon snow. The masculine look of the branches reminded me of the strokes that we had learned in calligraphy class. Right away I knew what I would do for my first piece of creation.
Initially I thought I would put white snow on top of the branches just like how I had observed; but then I hesitated as I do not want to redirect the focus from each of the strokes. To symbolize the world of white, I used a large white circle instead, it had also created the wholesome feeling that I was looking for. Then I added the moon and the lake, also in shapes of circles. I thought by adding these two elements, not only will it bring life but also add balance to the painting."
Stroke exercise commentaries:
A. technical details:
- use large strokes to amplify our details
- let our practice interest and involve other family members
- we get better the more we practice
- write the date and time on the practice sheet, and practice our name too
B. Balance and Distribution of character:
- balance on the character level
- we speak of how steady and stable a character is
- uniform strength: balance in the sense of "flesh on bone" when we hang substance to the strokes
- the framing of the character: an imaginary rectangle enclosing the character: is it balances, or skewed?
- leaving room around the character: 80 percent of the square. don't go to the edge (Temperate degree, from Confucius)
Balance on the composition level: if one character sways to the left, the next one may sway to the right, etc, so that, even though not every character is standard and in the middle, but on the whole, there is balance, like a dance of strokes and movement of characters along a line of flow.
Direction of writing: Normally the traditional direction is top to down, and from right to left. We will have to overcome this awkward direction, especially when our elbows will encounter all the black ink. Some people where black elbow guards, or to put their left palm beneath the right elbow. While the new western influence of going left to right and then top to bottom may be adopted, we have to deal with traditions in some way. The same issue goes for making Chinese Name Seal/Stamps.
While we can respect and learn from tradition, (and initial character copying via see-through character modeling), we should not wait to explore our own style. Try to develop your own style alongside the imitation and practice of traditional styles, and jotting down notes about your experiments with self exploration and style
Details for improvement in strokes
- we should use only the tip of the brush for beginning and ending
- the brush should be pressed at most at 50% level.
- Notice the bristles on the brush
- The strokes should always be smooth and go with the flow of the brush direction.
- When we press too much to gain thickness, the brush is probably too small, and we should use a larger one.
- If the brush shows too many spreading bristles, we need a better brush. Don't stay with the cheapest, but buy a higher price brush
- When we start the brush, use only the tip, so that all bristles remain straight. Otherwise it twists, and go against the flow.
Personal Exploration:
- create the right mood, with music, or collect flowers, meditation, qigong or other exercise (no need for traditional position or method, but whatever relaxes you or comfortable)
- character origin – every character has a story about how it comes into being
New exercises
- Strokes for "Moon", "Mouth"
- Strokes for the character "Eight"
- See in-class demo notes on the next page. (Hopefully to trigger your memory of what the teacher showed.)
- Next to some of these characters are the flow-path of the brush, exagerated to illustrate the flow, but they are in fact supposed to over-write to close the stroke
- For the ending of the character "Eight", we rely on the wrist to lift the ending of the stroke
- We find that strokes from character writing can be transported to painting. In fact, painting of bamboo leaves is very similar to the 2nd stroke in "Eight"
As always, if you happened to remember other details from the class that is meaningful, but that I have missed, please add to the comment, or email me to augment to this article.
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