From the beginning of my stay in Japan, I understood that I would not be successful at learning the language within a year. I decided that the best way to learn about the culture and way of thinking would be through the study of an art. The art I chose, or more so the art that chose me, was calligraphy or shodo. I am very fortunate to have met and become the student of a very kind and proficient calligrapher and been able to practice with the Sekino family.
On the surface the art appears very simple, but its details are very complex. The artist draws a set of black lines on white paper to create the
characters. To create a character is very easy, but to draw power and spirit into the character takes much skill and mastery. To achieve this, one spends long hours, focusing his or her mind and getting a complete control of the brush.
The first step in creating a work is meditation. One must clear his or her mind of the world and focus completely on each line. Once the proper mindset is achieved, the calligrapher, grinds the ink out a sumi or inkblock, dips in his or her brush, sharpens the angle of the brushtip and begins (the process of extracting the perfect amount of ink and readjusting the brushtip must be done between each stroke).
The major elements of each character or each set of characters are form, balance and spacing.
A work with good form has lines with proper shape, width and angle. Such determines the power or feeling of each
character. For instance, the character for water, should have fluid and bending lines, while the lines for mountain should be strong and straight.
Good balance implies that the lines are in correct proportion to each other. If a character has too many lines off to one side, or has thick lines in one corner and thin in another, it is out of balance. A balanced character is a centered character, with equal weight above, below, to the right and to the left. If a calligrapher begins a character with thick lines, or a lot of weight to one side, he or she can compensate by making the subsequent lines thick or adding extra weight to the opposing side. Because of this, the work is not considered good or bad until the last line is drawn.
Good spacing means that the negative space of the paper is used well. This means (for the style that I have been working on) that the characters should be in the center of the paper, with proper space
between themselves, the edges of the paper and the other character.
Creating a work with all three elements in harmony is very difficult. One can understand how complete focus is necessary to draw with all this in mind.
Thus far, the study of shodo has taught me much. It has taught me about the importance of focus and attention to details. The art has also opened my eyes to see balance, powerful forms and the use of negative space in the art and architecture of Japan. They can be seen in gardens, in flower arrangements or even by viewing the layouts of the towns from a mountaintop.
I hope to continue to study and create calligraphy, and plan to write more about what I have learned in the future.
On the surface the art appears very simple, but its details are very complex. The artist draws a set of black lines on white paper to create the
characters. To create a character is very easy, but to draw power and spirit into the character takes much skill and mastery. To achieve this, one spends long hours, focusing his or her mind and getting a complete control of the brush.The first step in creating a work is meditation. One must clear his or her mind of the world and focus completely on each line. Once the proper mindset is achieved, the calligrapher, grinds the ink out a sumi or inkblock, dips in his or her brush, sharpens the angle of the brushtip and begins (the process of extracting the perfect amount of ink and readjusting the brushtip must be done between each stroke).
The major elements of each character or each set of characters are form, balance and spacing.
A work with good form has lines with proper shape, width and angle. Such determines the power or feeling of each
character. For instance, the character for water, should have fluid and bending lines, while the lines for mountain should be strong and straight.Good balance implies that the lines are in correct proportion to each other. If a character has too many lines off to one side, or has thick lines in one corner and thin in another, it is out of balance. A balanced character is a centered character, with equal weight above, below, to the right and to the left. If a calligrapher begins a character with thick lines, or a lot of weight to one side, he or she can compensate by making the subsequent lines thick or adding extra weight to the opposing side. Because of this, the work is not considered good or bad until the last line is drawn.
Good spacing means that the negative space of the paper is used well. This means (for the style that I have been working on) that the characters should be in the center of the paper, with proper space
between themselves, the edges of the paper and the other character.Creating a work with all three elements in harmony is very difficult. One can understand how complete focus is necessary to draw with all this in mind.
Thus far, the study of shodo has taught me much. It has taught me about the importance of focus and attention to details. The art has also opened my eyes to see balance, powerful forms and the use of negative space in the art and architecture of Japan. They can be seen in gardens, in flower arrangements or even by viewing the layouts of the towns from a mountaintop.
I hope to continue to study and create calligraphy, and plan to write more about what I have learned in the future.
(The characters from top to bottom are "freedom" (myself + reason), "water droplet" (water + dot) and "the sound of rain" (rain + sound).)
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