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Page 1 of 3 I will use this space to keep notes and discussions of the HXNY Arts class taught by Yen-Hua Lee (李燕华), a remarkable visiting artist from Taiwan and based in Chicago. (See Art Exhibition, recent project, about her, current exhibit). The class includes Chinese Calligraphy, Ceramics, floral arrangement, ... in essence arts that can be applied to and elevate the atmosphere of our everyday lives. This is lesson 1 and 2.
Class 1&2: Basics of calligraphy
Paper selection: ranging from the most inexpensive rice paper (slightly different from gift tissue paper) to 宣纸, with everything in between that we can experiment with. The key thing is whether the ink will seep through the paper.
Brush pen selection. Typically made of wolf hair, there are now also synthetic material to increase elasticity. The key features of a good brush is that they have the same length when let loose, and create a sharp point when drip into water or pen.
Better to buy a good (possibly expensive) pen, than a cheap one that may constraint your writing progress. The only way is to try lots of pens.
Brush pen care: Initiate a new brush pen: always use warm water in everything. Leave the new brush in water to let the hair separate from the glue. After usage, wash and squeeze the water out.
Don't put plastic cap over a wet brush, since the hair can get moldy, and fall away.
Use brush bamboo sheet (costs $3, like sushi roll sheets) which allow air flow, naturally resist mold, and easily keep lots of brushes together.
Buy Large, medium and small size brushes.
Ink, Ink well, and Ink blocking cloth
For convenience, use pre-made ink (bottles with sprouts are better). If you have time, use stone ink-well and make your own ink with ink sticks. The process of ink-preparation will tune your thoughts and focus.
Typical cloth, or the thick felt cloth, can be used to block ink from seeping through the paper. Black cloth is used for calligraphy, while white cloth is used for painting (to see the tone of the color).
People often use newspapers as coverings to prevent mess. However, the wet paper can cause newspaper ink to seep through both the calligraphy paper and the table. It is better to use cloth or clean paper.
For each exercise, pour out generous amount of ink. This will compel you to practice more, to use up all the ink in each session.
About initial exercises
Exercise paper includes 9-square, Mi-square of various sizes. Start practicing with big squares, using big size pen. You can see the details of what you do. Once you are good at doing large strokes, going small is easy. The carefree large strokes, as often done by children, are the best.
Different stylesBrief look at distinctive styles over the history of China, emphazing that everyone's unique style is a work of art (e.g. Zheng BanQiao (郑板桥), and so is yours. The style that we will emulate is that of 欧阳绚. Basic TechniquesDepending on how large the characters, your right hand needs to be in various positions. Small characters require write movement, medium would require more movement, in which case you can slip your left hand under your right arm for support. Large characters may be hanging your right arm in mid-air (takes practice to improve your arm strength). Always move the paper so that you write your current character in the central spot. Hold the pen in relaxed manner. The key to holding pen is flexibility and ease of movement and control by your wrist.
How do you keep the lines so straight like a ruler? - through lots of practice.
Teacher Lee mentioned practicing qigong 气功 for calligraphy. This would imply that wrist warm up, strengthing and flexibility exercises be done before calligraphy. Furthermore, the conditioning of the mind, in terms of having the right attitude, feeling, mood, and atmosphere (play music in background) would be appropriate before and during your exercises.
Horizontal and Vertical Strokes
- Go slowly, no need to rush.
- Hide the sharp edges. 藏锋
The next page contains in-class demos:
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