The Art Of Writing - Calligraphy And Bamboo

In today's modern world, the exercise of writing by hand has given way to texting and typing. Nevertheless, an exercise still exists that celebrates the art of handwriting for its ability to communicate the spiritual planet with the artist. Meaning gorgeous composing, the exercise of calligraphy can be a skill type that conveys the emotions, integrity, aesthetic feelings and culture of the artist to its readers. In this training, the medium of the artist and how it is wielded is as critical as what is put on paper. It really is necessary to choose the right tool to produce these wonderful characters and the bamboo brush is that tool.

Considered among the Four Treasures of China, the bamboo brush (pen) is sturdy but light, adequate to let the artist accomplish the quick, forceful strokes needed to hit the paper properly. Writing brushes themselves are extremely valued and are generally seen as a symbol of the spirit unique to the Chinese folks. The tip in the writing brush is usually made of hair of diverse animals. The calligrapher dips the tip in ink, and wielding the shaft with several hand movements, produces characters on the paper. The composing technique revolves around the means to hold and use the brush to write characters. The Chinese term gi bi signifies to begin your stroke along with the term shou bi signifies to end your stroke. In writing, both strokes include these, the crucial steps that determine the form of your stroke. You can't make indecisive strokes and must know how you are going to write the strokes and where they are leading to. Forceful strokes ought to be distinguishable from light strokes. Your characters will be like withered trees, formless and styleless if you are unfocused.

The practice of calligraphy is definitely an intense discipline being studied and is surely a significant part of Chinese culture. It entails the evolution of composing styles as well as the development of rules and techniques. Even prior to gi bi, the calligrapher have to adhere to the traditional way of practicing handwriting by following the three basic actions of mo, Lin and xie. Mo entails tracing while practicing holding the brush. Whilst practicing, the main areas of focus will need to be stroke, structure and style of calligraphy. The next step, Lin, involves having a model to copy and beginning to take a conscious approach to realize the characters themselves. Following a couple of months of detailed study comes lin xie, through which the very first copy of stroke is made on paper after studying the specimen and memorizing the strokes.

No matter its origins, calligraphy remains an enduring fine art variety in this modern age. Mainly because of its reliance on its medium to create the characters inside the strong but flowing manner needed, some say that calligraphy is a fine art of the brush. The bamboo brush is the medium that may keep this wonderful art flowing.

Douglas Michaels Jr. writes educational articles for Green Earth News, the authority on everything Bamboo. For more information on Calligraphy And Bamboo. Check out Green Earth Bamboo for bamboo sheets, bath towels, duvet covers, clothing and baby products, all made from the world's most sustainable and renewable resource on the planet.

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Tips For Achieving Amazing Calligraphy

Beginners often find it difficult to learn the art of calligraphy. But the main point to remember and understand is that calligraphy writing is different from normal writing. When one is practicing to calligraphy write one is practicing to form the shape of letters by placing the angles and letters in the right form.

Calligraphy should be considered as drawing rather than writing. Normal writing combines letters together to form words, but try to have a when you calligraphy write you are forming and connecting pictures instead of letters together to form a particular style. These pictures are the lettering style that you will adopt when representing a particular idea.


The calligraphy pen should be used properly, especially for beginners; they should first learn how to hold the pen at a 45 degree angle when you calligraphy write. Holding the pen at this angle you should slowly move the pen up and down forming vertical lines on the paper. The paper should be straight while you work with your pen in the best position. By doing this exercise the calligraphic writer allows the small muscles in the hand to become well trained, like when a baby's big muscles get trained when it crawls or when it learns to walk.

After thoroughly practicing the art of making vertical lines on the paper you can start to make serifs or smaller lines which extend at the end of the letters. You will feel the proportion of these lines when you calligraphy write the letters. The next step would be to practice small circles sized consistently. This can be done using different types of nibs that would give a different appearance to the letters and also provide a special feel in the hand.

Sometimes the calligrapher may specialize in vertical lines and opt for Gothic Calligraphy or maybe, if the writer prefers to use circles, they would specialize in Carolingian calligraphy that may seem an easier way to calligraphy write letters.

If you are a beginner to calligraphy you may prefer to use markers to calligraphy write. Though they are easy to practice with, the result is not as effective as when you use a metal nib pen. Despite the fact that these inks may fade in the course of time, more people prefer to use the cartridge pens that have dye-based ink.

The best way to calligraphy write is using a metal nib for the best results. It may begin to blot initially leaving you the embarrassment of not being an excellent calligraphy writer. But this will slowly vanish with further practice and control of the pen. To obtain a smooth and free flow of ink while writing, the position of the pen should be maintained till the end.

Edward Ashcroft-Hamilton is a passionate calligraphy teacher and artist. Click the following link for more great tips and advice on learning to calligraphy write

Also, for your FREE 10 DAY MINI CALLIGRAPHY COURSE, don't forget to visit www.calligraphywizard.com

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