The Japanese writing system (Shodō) has three types of symbols: Kanji (Chinese Characters), native Hiragana and Katakana. Kanji was developed in China and imported to Japan by the first century. Hiragana and Katakana are both phonetic alphabets derived from Kanji. Each consist of 46 basic symbols, among the syllables are 5 vowels and consonants. One exception is the letter n. Some syllables has an extention to make then soft or hard, simply add two strokes or a small circle at the top right corner close to the character. Kanji is the most complicated script in Japanese, these Chinese ideograms number in the thousands, each one representing a different idea, not necessarily a different sound as is the case with katakana, hiragana, and romaji. In fact, most of the characters have more than one possible reading. The ideogram for person can be read as jin, nin, hito, bito, ri, and several other sounds. Sogana characters is the direct ancestors of Hiragana, is an accent and have the cursive script (Sōsho) and scrolling style of Chinese Kanji. Use them to enlighting your kana work. When you are writing individually a Hiragana character is called (Hanachi-gaki), after you became a master of the tip of the brush, will be times that you need to write more then one character which, means "continuity" and is called (Renmen) allowing you to keep a natural flow of the line. Calligraphy has an economy of line and a simplicity of spatial form which allows individual imaginations to expand and enjoy the artist's written thoughts. For the Japanese, imperfections are as much a part of the artistic value as is technical expertise. Traditional Japanese calligraphy even lays out rules regarding the amount and placement of blotted and dry strokes in a piece

Monday, May 07, 2007

The Four Treasures

Click on image to enlarge
In the Japanese calligraphy, comes in different varieties, sizes and shapes. For example I use traditional Japanese and Chinese brushes, and also use a good quality synthetic sable watercolor round brushes, plus brush pen Pentel or LePlume. The ink I use ready liquid sumi and watercolors, instead the ink stick the possibilities are endless.
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