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You are right on mirroring the characters when you put them on your stone, so when you stamp your seal it will look right. You can use a pencil or a felt pen to draw the characters on it (traditionally they use ink and brush).
I’ve made a video once on how to carve a seal if it may be of help for you : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MeeH21SW-s
Hi Catherine,
its not really a matter of making it a priority, it depends on how much you want it (i think). Forcing yourself into practising while you are not feeling the ‘vibe’ isn’t going to work out so well as perhaps first thought.
Practising Chinese calligraphy or painting for me is a matter of how I feel. If i don’t feel inspired than it happens that I don’t write for days. But when I do write or paint, I could lose track of time which is a wonderful feeling.
Just listen to yourself. If you feel a sadness because you haven’t practised yet, then plan a moment ahead and say “i will practice for one hour” and then simply do it. Remember this is a time for you, a time to explore yourself in an artistic way. Perhaps you can ask someone to join you.
Hope this helped a bit 🙂
For Chinese brushes, once used you should not put the cap back on. The plastic cap is only there when you buy it to protect the brush. After using it, its indeed better to hang the brush (the water wont drip out if you gently wipe it with the towel).
If you should put the cap back on, then you could damage some of the hairs on your brush. Some may look funky then
Hi Elizabeth
I have no experience in this but I’ve always wondered how it works. Would love to see some of your works 🙂
The paper made with mulberry tree bark is more water absorbent than other Xuan papers I suppose then?
Hello ema.ballo
For beginners it is usually recommended to copy styles from Yan Zhenqing or Liu Gongquan or Ouyang Xun or Zhao Mengfu. Simply because these were the greatest four calligraphers in the regular script. By mastering one of their styles you will master everything you need to know of the regular style (kaishu).
I am not that familiar with the calligrapher Chu Suiliang, I looked up his calligraphy and it’s not that bad. Although there are some typical techniques just for his style. If you want to copy and learn these , by all means go ahead.
In China they tend to recommend you to learn a style from a calligrapher even though you do not feel ‘connected’ with this style. I personally think that you should have some kind of ‘connection’ with the style you do that way your learning curve will be better because you have a better motivation 🙂
It also depends on the learning material/resources you have, like books etc. Hope this helped you a bit
These are indeed very interesting videos ! Thank you for sharing
There are more good video’s on Youtube, but you have to really dig deep for them. Plus most of them are in Chinese without any English translations or subtitles. Here are some more :
Chengming Hu and his handmade Chinese brush | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnwOZ5DpZl4
The most famous art community in China – nearby West Lake | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0kA84tqDWc
<h4>More an overview of the history of Chinese painting</h4>
1/2 The Culture Show : The Art Of Chinese Painting | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSszFPOX2Pc2/2 The Culture Show : The Art Of Chinese Painting | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMwo_qPoZH8
Hello Krista (and others)
We are actually organising a educational trip like that the end of May. Together with our Confucius institute in Bruges, Belgium, we are planning a two week trip visiting musea and places where they make the materials used for calligraphy and painting 🙂
Hello assortedlives,
Like Yan explained the brushes are similar but from a different grade. As a beginner you might want to not spend too much money on a brush but still have a decent brush – that’s the Initial #4.
When you are on a level where you want to invest in a good brush, the 0903WsWl brush is a good one.Compare it with like buying a t-shirt. You need a new tshirt but you decide if you want a good one for a okay price or you want a good (to better one) for a more expensive price. It’s still just a tshirt only the materials and work put into it can differ.
Hope this helped you, if not please let me know 🙂
Is it possible to flatten the paper after painting or doing calligraphy? When it dries up it starts to wrinkle again but how do you get it flat?
I drew a piggy, sitting in the mud next to some young trees.
I only used black ink and water to get some difference in shades. For the mud it really came out nice I think. I washed the brush but not thoroughly and then dipped the tip a bit back into the sumi-ink. Then used the side of my brush with some quick movements. For the little leaves I twisted my smallest brush (same one using for drawing the tree) after cleaning it a bit and did some quick dips on the paper. Used the same brush full with ink and twisted to paint the grass. I used 3 different brushes.
Dear kmo
If you wish to know more about the artwork or the artist herself, she will gladly give information 🙂
Maybe you can keep it in line of the Chinese seal. You can talk about Chinese seals throughout the years, what the difference was between great calligraphers or emperors. I’ve heard that some emperors had significant seals to put on works to claim their own or claim in their possession.
Or maybe write about a specific kind of script or calligrapher of that script. For example there was a calligrapher that developed a certain style and is now called the “needle-style-script”. I do not remember his name unfortunately.
Hope this helps a bit 🙂
