Calligraphy and the calligraphic-letter

Calligraphy and the Calligraphic-Letter – How to Get Started

The word calligraphy comes from the Greek, kallos and graphos, meaning beautiful writing.

Calligraphy or beautiful writing represents one of the most expressive methods in which to ornament the written word. It is now becoming recognized as a true art form.

I fell in love with the art of calligraphy while living and working in South Korea (and still live here), and my Korean friends introduced me to the many intricacies that make up this beautiful art form.

Brush calligraphy is a highly admired and regarded art form practiced by the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese, and has great heritage significance.

The art of calligraphy is one that virtually anyone can start.

Calligraphy requires very little except the right brushes, the ink and the paper, plus an enormous amount of practice, attention to detail and patience.

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Why study the history of calligraphy? Because once the first components of the craft are mastered, that is, the tools, the scripts and an understanding ...

Some Calligraphy History

Calligraphy has its origins more than 3000 years ago, and even in the 21st century the art had changed very little. Within Europe and the Middle East the start dates back to the 1st century. The Romans adapted the Greek alphabet and used a broad nib comprising the sharpened point of a quill to create calligraphic-letter.

Calligraphy and the Calligraphic-Letter - Chinese Calligraphy

Chinese brush calligraphy is called Shu Fa. It is still regarded as an abstract and sublime art form and has great significance in Chinese culture. Shu Fa is believed to reveal the innermost personality of the writer. Calligraphy varies from many other visual art forms and techniques.

Each calligraphy stroke is permanent, and must be meticulously planned before confident execution. The uniqueness and artistic merit of calligraphy is achieved by careful control of the ink concentration; the thickness and absorption qualities of the paper and the flexibility of the brush. Within these boundaries the artist is able to produce an infinite variety of styles and forms.

The use of diffusing ink blots and dry brush strokes are performed as impromptu and spontaneous expression unlike the font-like uniformity and homogeneity of characters seen in Western Calligraphy.

Like many art forms calligraphy is a mental and emotional exercise that requires mind and body coordination, and is essential in selecting the best style for properly expressing the content of the passage. This is a very disciplined process that contributes to the artists spiritual and physical well being.

Calligraphy in China started to flourish during the Tang dynasty, and the Later Han dynasty all the basic script types had been created, with no new types developed after this time.

At this time the first writings used to evaluate calligraphic style came into being. This was an important shift that recognized expressive quality in writing that transcended the simple ability to communicate meaning.

Chinese words are used as the mode of expression and you do not have to understand Chinese to appreciate the beauty of the writing. Calligraphy is considered an abstract art.

A classical book was written by Tu Meng during the Tang dynasty (618-905). He developed 120 expressions that describe the different styles of calligraphy and establish criteria for each of them. This was the first basis for critical appraisal. His list included the following - ability, mysterious, careful, carefree, balance unrestrained, mature, virile, grace, sober, well-knit, prolix, rich, exuberant, classic

Calligraphy and the Calligraphic-Letter - Japanese Calligraphy

In Japanese Calligraphy is called shodo which means the way of writing. The basic calligraphy set consists of the following items:

1. Shitajiki. This is a soft, black mat that provides a comfortable and soft surface.

2. Bunchin. This is a metal stick that acts as a weight to hold down the paper during writing.

3. Hanshi. This is a special, thin calligraphy paper.

4. Fude. This the artist brush. A large brush is used for writing the main characters. A small one is used to write name of the artist. The small brush can also be used to write characters.

5. Suzuri. This is the heavy black ink container.

6. Sumi. This is the solid black material that is rubbed in water in the suzuri to make the black ink for writing. Less traditional is ready made ink.

Japanese calligraphy varies from the strokes used for Roman letters. The strokes of Japanese characters must be drawn in the correct order, and cannot be written arbitrarily. In writing Chinese characters you draw one stroke after the other and this known as the square Kaisho style of writing kanji. This style is not commonly used by the Japanese. Two faster styles of writing, called semi cursive Gyosho and cursive Sosho are used and they are similar to the writing of Roman letters with everything written using only a few strokes.

Calligraphy and the Calligraphic-Letter - Arabic Calligraphy

Arabic calligraphy is also another beautiful art form and it has it’s basis in the earliest alphabets used by civilization. The Arabic alphabet belongs to a family of Semitic alphabetical scripts where the consonants are represented in writing, and the vowel markings using diacritics is optional. The earliest developed alphabets were the North Semitic, at around 1700 B.C. in Palestine and Syria, and this comprised 22 consonants. The Arabic, Hebrew, and Phoenician alphabets were all based around this model.

At about 1000 B.C. the Phoenician alphabet was used by the Greeks as model, who added some additional letters for vowels. Greek subsequently became the Etruscan model around 800 B.C. to form the basis of the ancient Roman calligraphic-letter and alphabet, and of course our own present day Western alphabet. The North Arabic script of the Quran comes from the Nabatian script which had its origins in Aramaic script. Old Aramaic was the language of Jesus and the Apostles. The two principal groups of Arabic calligraphic styles are the dry styles called Kufic, and the soft cursive styles, which include Naskhi, Thuluth, Nastaliq and several calligraphic-letter styles

Calligraphy and the Calligraphic-Letter - European Calligraphy

The European term calligraphy means beautiful writing and essentially is the ornamentation of words on a page. European calligraphy is generally very stylized and regular with flourishes for decoration. These often restrained and disciplined flourishes are in contrast to the spontaneous ones used in Asian calligraphy and lack the element of personal expression.

Calligraphy and the Calligraphic-Letter. Start with the History

All about calligraphy and the calligraphic-letter,