Just as in learning to play a musical instrument or a sport, there is a technique to be mastered in learning Chinese calligraphy, and it is a brush. The following exercises will familiarize you with handling a brush and enable you to use it effectively.
Just as in learning to play a musical instrument or a sport, there is a technique to be mastered in
learning Chinese calligraphy, and it is a brush. The following exercises will familiarize you with handling a brush and enable you to use it effectively.
Brush and ink
Dip the bottom half of the brush in ink and, holding it loosely, make different kinds of shapes with it: zigzags, curves, dashes, and dots. Try the same shapes with the brush held tightly. Do you see any difference in how the lines turn out?
Is there a difference in the lines just after the brush is dipped in ink and later when it has run drier? What if you vary the speed of your writing?
You may have noticed that your arm became tense when you held the brush tightly. You will find that you have the best control of your lines when you hold the brush rather firmly but keep your arm relaxed.
When freshly dipped in ink, the brush will go more smoothly over the paper and produce clearer shapes than when it's drier. If you load the brush with too much ink, however, your lines will begin to spread out in blotches on the absorbent paper.
Most of you probably made the lines at about the same speed as you would sign your name. Try to write more slowly as this will give you better control over the direction of the brush.
About initials
Write your initials (in script, not printed form) by pressing down at the start of each initial and gradually lifting the brush as you come to the end of the letter. Be sure to make each initial in one, slow, continuous movement. Now, reverse the technique. Begin each letter with the point of the brush lightly touching the paper and gradually press down on it as you continue the letter.
Compare the two sets of initials. In Chinese calligraphy it is essential to be able to vary the width of the strokes simply by applying a little pressure to the brush. If a line is too wide at one point or too narrow at another it cannot be "touched up" because the corrected area will show darker than the original stroke once the ink has dried. This is also a reason that each stroke must be done in one continuous movement.
About the single line
Write a single horizontal line across the paper, alternately pressing and raising the brush. Now try it holding your hand about 4 inches above the paper (you will have to hold the brush farther away from its tip this time).
You will probably feel awkward in writing without any support for your hand and in having to hold the brush farther away from its tip than you normally hold a Western writing utensil. This method, however, gives you better leverage on the brush and because it makes you write with your arm and not just your wrist and fingers, your brushstrokes will be more lively and forceful.
How to grasp the brush
The final step in learning the technique of calligraphy is to know how to grasp the brush. Grasp it firmly between the thumb and first two fingers. Keep the ring the fourth fingers lightly behind the brush as a kind of balance. Always keep the brush in a strictly vertical position.
By holding the brush this way, strictly upright, you can use the entire tip of the brush when you write rather than just the side of it as when you hold it like a pen or pencil. If you find it too difficult at first to write without any support, have them place their left hand under their right wrist to serve as support.