calligraphy - my recent works
 

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I am no expert but I love them very much.

thanks a lot.

here is one slightly edited

無音無夢 no music(sound) no dream

These are similar aren't they. I do like them very much. It would be good to have opinions from some people who really appreciate it and understand, especially Japanese people.

Hello again what size and type of brushes do you use?

Are they easily available on line?

Not that I speak on behalf of our entire nation, OP is awesome and that's an understatement.

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

thanks for your information Ryuuriu


By the way I have sent you a PM.

those works you have just posted are fascinating.

I am glad you are enjoying it :) . I have replied to your message.

few latest works:


夢 dream



tettoo design of a name 勢麗女 / SELENA *serena in japanese
勢麗女 - lit means a lovely womanl full of vigor



水清祥 すいせいしょう the spirit (energy) of water



道 a path


nother tatoo project: 愛情 / affection

Love them== especially the top one, it has so much fluidity. thanks Ryurui

also love the last coloured one too.

How do you get that green effect on the black background?

Thanks:)
Ah it was done in picture editor, same as the character for "path", thats a negative.

three more I wrote yesterday, same expression but various styles.

無事 is a phrase from Zen philisophy, which lit. means "no thing", as in no disturbance (both mental and physical), quietness, peace.

勢い vigor, impetus, momentum, energy, spirit, etc

桜　ー　cherry blossom

I LOVE that one for 道. Fabulous work; the character almost looks like a galleon sailing off into the distance. サクラ too. It looks to me like two trees on either side of a stream, with the falling petals.

Thanks Columbine :)
Beautifully said.
Artists look at calligraphy in a refreshing way.
I see the galleon now. It appeared to me three dimensional, though, have not looked at it this way.

With the sakura, the hardest bit was to make the white page pink, as i am color blind lol. :D

響 echo in 3 styles: 楷書、行書、草書





勢 vigor, momentum, impact
same as above but in large scale, character has over a meter in height.

龍従雲 dragon accompanying coulds

both in running script, but two slightly different approaches.

I was preparing a tattoo design (愛子供妻) and found out how amazing is running script of kanji for "wife"

written in one brush stroke:)



tattoo design in 2 different styles of 楷書 (standard script)、愛子供妻: love, kids, wife

一撃必殺　one punch certain death (Karate Kyokushin motto)



龍涙 tears of dragon, my pen name (as in ink of the soul)



an old character for a dragon 龍



another tattoo design, 七転八起 - always raising after a fall

hello Ryruruii my japanese friend admires your calligraphy very much so that is praise indeed.

hi Babs, i really appreciate it.

the aim of writing calligraphy is for the calligrapher and the viewer to enjoy it, so i am happy it works that way :)

夢雲 dreaming cloud

Wow, these are epic. I really like them alot. Alot of expression and feel. Each one particular to the meaning of it's own. Very impressive.

really love these. I love clouds so much-- and I dream a lot also


Really superb!! Keep going as you are. You will be a star!!!!!!!!!!!!! Babs.

Thanks guys.:)

This one is the biggest i wrote so far, 910x1815mm.
Dragon in flight 飛龍 （ひりゅう）



here is the size reference

No wonder those pictures you posted looked so awesome. You are an expert calligrapher!:D

I am afraid I won't be an expert for another 20-30 years...or more.

Below my attempt in kana: 人生とは一瞬の幸福を追求する旅, life is a journey of seeking moments of happiness.

wel you are well on your way dear man.

Your dedication and enthusiasm shines and glows.

paper: 910x1815mm

12 hours of ink grinding, and 15 sheets of paper later...


雲 cloud



夢雲 dreaming cloud



another 夢雲 dreaming cloud



also 夢雲 dreaming cloud, but slightly wilder dream :D



龍 dragon



龍雲 dragon in clouds

These are beautiful! I enjoyed looking at them all:-)

Lilly

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that seems a good idea Ryuurui


Iwilldo that later.

seeing you kneeling to do that Huge example-- seems very difficult.

thanks for all of them and for sharing with us all.

and few small ones :) , all those 5 are 夢雲　dreaming cloud

HI ryuruui-- Its fascinating to see how you use the brush-- you have to know exactly in your mind before that very first stroke then continue.

do you not get back ache?


what paper are you using? the creases must prevent smoothness as you write.

Its great to see you at work. Thanks. More please when you have time or inclination.

The brush is quite large isn't it. thanks a lot. You are so good to share with us.

That was only 4 hours of writing, but last time when I was attending a whole day of calligraphy studying event I was sick the next day. 10 hours of kneeling and dragging emotions onto the paper completely wiped me out.

The smudges you see, called kasure, are cuased by few factors. One is paper and brush quality, and then there is the ink thickness. Finally, the way calligrapher presses the brush against the paper, the angle, force etc, are also crucial.

This paper is really good, 5 years old and very dry. It's a hand made paper for calligraphy and sumi-e. Brush is slightly hard, the line would be very different if written with a brush made of wool, not horse hair.

The brush is rather big, yes, although there are insanely gigantic brushes out there, 1.5　or 2 meter long, that can soak in up to 1kg of ink. That is why writing with a big brush is challenging, as it uses a lot of resources and time.

社長ブログ｜博多織の帯・着物などの伝統の博多織製品 ：筑前織物株式会社


Below are few pictures I took in my fav. calligraphy store, those are showing different types of brushes and the fortune that can be spent on them.

wool brushes (羊毛筆 ようもうふで), very soft and usually the most expensive ones


here you have larger brushes


and the smaller ones


quill brush


hard hairs brushes





the most expensive brush in the store, nearly $6000 (yes, six thousand, it is not a typo)
The wool it is being made of is so smooth, that feels to the touch like water. Line made by such brush must be superb.

price tag in old Japanese: 金四拾八萬圓 >>> 金額四十八万円, thus 480.000 yen

thankyou very much Ryuurui


My friend says she can understand why some brushes are so expensive.

I should think only a professional calligrapher would buy those.

Did you see the opening of the Beeijing olympics? where the performers rolled and danced, writing as they went? It must have been choreographed for many years to produce such incredible skill and art.

I cannot explain it properly-- but that was incredible.


It looks really hard work to do those large sheets as you have done.

I really admire your dedication.