Friday 16 January 2009

Chinese Brush Calligraphy . . it's harder than it looks!

Today I have been lucky enough to have a go at the ancient Chinese art of brush calligraphy. In the east, calligraphy is viewed as an art form which unites body and mind, and the strive for artistic perfection is seen as a never-ending learning curve.



It looks so effortless, but it is amazing how difficult it really is to form each character correctly! We used watered down black acrylic paint, printer paper and common garden kid's paint brushes and the results were pretty effective, if nowhere near perfect!



Unfortunately I managed to smudge mine while it was still wet so I dont have a picture of my happiness symbol to show you, but to give you an idea this is an example of the Chinese character meaning beauty, and googling brings up hundreds of others if you are interested!






I think there are seemingly endless opportunities for Chinese characters to be used in crafts - mounted on cards, made into backing papers, I can even picture an idea for a lovely calligraphy mosaic. And above all, it is relaxing, absorbing and a very pleasant art to participate in.

3 comments:

  1. Sounds like you've had a fun day! I made a little broach/badge today thats looks just like your name!, theres a picture of it on my blog! hehe
    x x x

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  2. Stop panicking! the follow link worked in the end :D

    Welcome to the world of blogging x x x x
    I hope you enjoy it! it can be rather addictive! ;)

    Actually Getting a symbol down is so rewarding isn't it? they look so nice, I used to do it with my dad years ago, using Indian ink and calligraphy nibs. Indeed, not an easy task!

    ~Buffy x x

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  3. I'm glad that you enjoyed the experience of the calligraphy! You were very quick to learn and talented as well. I asked my friend in Japan to send some proper brushes. Onse we get them, we shall try it again. ;)

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