calligraphy - my recent works 半紙 size

[ryuurui]

飛龍 flying dragon

[redsteel]

Originally Posted by ryuurui

Oh wow, I really appreciate it, Sashimister.


@dogsbody70: well, it depends on what I am writing. Hanshi size is a usual paper size used mainly for training. Slightly bigger than A4. Writing on it i use so called 大筆 おおふで (hairs are 4cm long), made either from horse hair or 羊毛, i.e. sheep hair. It also depends on what size of characters you want to write.

There are many types of brushes, depending on in what style you write, and what effect you want to achieve. For example, kasure (smudges of ink, inconsistent lines with lots of white spots) is usually achieved by using a soft brush made of sheep wool.
For example, below 墨妙 (marvelous ink) was written with 2 brushes combined together, one made of bird feathers, and another made of sheep wool. There is a lot of kasure there.



Hanshi works in my previous post were written with two different brushes, one was hard and springy, where the other one was soft. Soft brushes are usually harder to control. The edited calligraphy (無音無夢) was written with a soft brush.

There are stores selling calligraphy supplies online, although not sure if they ship abroad, but I could ask. There also should be some simple sets for calligraphy on e-bay. Not sure if you are looking for quality equipment or just something to play around with. The prices may vary drastically. Extreme quality brushes may cost even 10.000$ USD. Decent brush for practicing can be bought for 8-10 bucks.

Below are few of the large scale works of mine. Those were written with a hard brush, which hairs are 12cm in length. Paper size : 1350x700mm
They are not stamped with pen name seal, as I am in a process of carving one of proper size.

情熱 passion


無心 Zen philosophy phrase, meaning state of being free of obstructive thoughts


雷雨 thunderstorm


仏 Buddha, I used an old form of this character which is 佛

I love Calligraphy, can't write it, but learnning about it is cool.I like the feather/wool cuz it has the mix of white/black. I confess I am a mandarin student in california and I am trying to write charracters too,but Japanese seen to have an inpact in my life. good job!

[ryuurui]

Originally Posted by redsteel

I love Calligraphy, can't write it, but learnning about it is cool.I like the feather/wool cuz it has the mix of white/black. I confess I am a mandarin student in california and I am trying to write charracters too,but Japanese seen to have an inpact in my life. good job!

Hi redsteel. Thanks. "White/black" - I understand you mean kasure (掠れ), i.e. streaks of white in places where ink application was faster, or ink was thicker. It can be achieved with any brush. This technique can be quite tricky as it is rather easy to overdo it, and instead of adding dynamism to work, it weakens the lines and calligraphy loses its power. Wish you good luck with your studies!

[ryuurui]

I have finally received the seals that I have ordered recently. They are absolutely mind blowing.

I am pasting seal imprints scans (scale is not 1:1) carved by master Shirai Yuuki (白井右鬼).

Master Shirai Yuuki



Top to bottom: 品天之印　（real name seal, "seal of Ponte", as "Ponte" is a first part of my last name. Most popular respective meanings of kanji 品天 are: "goods" and "heaven", however in this case they stand for "refined" and "Deva" (from Buddhist philisophy)）、寂滅為楽　（leisure seal, "free from earthy desires"）、龍涙　（pen name seal, "tears of dragon", i.e. ink of the soul）



Top to bottom:無心　（leisure seal, "free from obstructive thoughts"）　、品天、龍涙



Top to bottom: 心翔筆舞 (leisure seal, (when) heart soars the brush is dancing")), 品天之印, 龍涙



Top to bottom: 童心（leisure seal, "child's mind/heart"), 品天, 龍涙


Below is a scan of a handwritten letter from master Yuuki to my teacher. I thought it might be interesting for you to see how the traditional information exchange looks like. Such letters are very rare in today's Japan.
Even though master Yuuki is a famous seal carver, ink painter and calligrapher, his pen handwriting is a bit messy (as commented by my teacher), abundant in mannerisms and approaches calligraphic rules in rather loose manner. It also shows his uncanny character and perfectly illustrates that even though one can be a great calligrapher and write amazing thing with a brush while at the same time n ot be bothered with pen writing. Master Yuuki is 70 years old and is a pupil of legendary Grand Master Kuwahara Suihou (same as my teacher). Below is a link to his site, so you can see some of his artwork. (look under 作品)

http://www10.ocn.ne.jp/~yuuki/

Scan of the letter:


ここの所印とはすっかり離れてしまいました。これでよ いでしょうか。寸法もだいたいの印にしました。冠帽印 は変形のものにしませんので一回押しです。印矩はつか えません。

そのことを伝えてください。寂滅為楽の四字中(…)寂は� ��サンズイ」を省略したものです。
右鬼生。

Translation (note that direct translation is rather impossible due to specific language used, calligraphic "slang"):

I have separated seal (imprints) one from another. I understand that it is satisfactory. Also, I have managed to maintain (requested) seal sizes. (From) of 冠帽印 (seal pressed at the right side of work, it has many names such as 引首印、etc, and its called "leisure seal") is not deformed so you may press it only once. Please do not use seal (carpenter's) square (印矩).

seal (carpenter's) square, used for seal pressing:


Please pass this information (to me, as the letter was written to my teacher). (Regarding) four characters (of the idiom) 寂滅為楽 i have used the old form of 寂 (in seal script). (As you can see right radical was omitted). (In the character) 滅 I have omitted sanzui (water radical)

Signed
Yuuki

[ryuurui]

Here is a seal with a address of master's Yuuki studio (scan from the envelope)

[ryuurui]

諸行無常　　- impermanence of worldly things.

[ryuurui]

跳龍 prancing dragon (sorry for the quality of the picture being low, but it's due to size of work: 60x150cm)

[ryuurui]

山　mountain

[ryuurui]

心糸　- a single floss of mind

[ryuurui]

超書 - beyond calligraphy