Public
Apr 15, 2012
Japanese calligraphy (書道 shodō)
If you wonder what a Japanese calligraphy class looks like, I found this photo set on Flickr. This is the class I went to in Brussels, between 2006 - 2007. Sadly, our teacher Kyoko Machida sensei has passed away.
I think I was about halfway through Remembering the Kanji when I joined her class. I may have already started the website development then, I don't remember (>_>). I do remember that I was ~3/4 into the book when I created the website to help with reviews.
The class took place very close to Brussels' center so it was great to stroll around the city center after so much concentration! It was a very small place, with paper hanging on the walls and lying on the floor everywhere :)
The first kanji you learn are 一, 二, 三 ... unsurprisingly, as the simple straight line is one of the basic strokes. The simple "one" 一 character is already complex for a beginner: you'll note that it's never perfectly straight in calligraphy. You already learn how to handle the brush, how to begin and end a stroke. Pulling the brush away from the paper without leaving a drop of ink is an art that I never quite perfected! I was always amazed how Kyoko sensei managed to get just the right amount of ink in the brush..
After some basic kanji and kana eventually you work on "eternity" 永 for quite a while. Kyoko Machida sensei saw that I was familiar with the characters and told me she let me skip lots of repetition. If I remember well, that character is a classic exercise because it contains the main types of brush strokes: the drop at the top, the thick to thin stroke, the thin to thick stroke, the hook at the bottom...
We were given lesson books about once a month that came from a school in Kyoto. The samples in the books were produced by the founder, Harada Kampo, a leading calligrapher of the twentieth century. That said while we used those samples for reference, our main reference was always Kyoko sensei's demonstration, which she would do tirelessly and effortlessly for every student in the class.
Every student worked at their own rhythm and with their own lessons. Once in a while Kyoko sensei asked us to make a "test" piece and she would send it to Japan for grading by her own teacher.
I never really got to know her much but will always remember her fondly.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seikinsou/sets/72157603758319335/
If you wonder what a Japanese calligraphy class looks like, I found this photo set on Flickr. This is the class I went to in Brussels, between 2006 - 2007. Sadly, our teacher Kyoko Machida sensei has passed away.
I think I was about halfway through Remembering the Kanji when I joined her class. I may have already started the website development then, I don't remember (>_>). I do remember that I was ~3/4 into the book when I created the website to help with reviews.
The class took place very close to Brussels' center so it was great to stroll around the city center after so much concentration! It was a very small place, with paper hanging on the walls and lying on the floor everywhere :)
The first kanji you learn are 一, 二, 三 ... unsurprisingly, as the simple straight line is one of the basic strokes. The simple "one" 一 character is already complex for a beginner: you'll note that it's never perfectly straight in calligraphy. You already learn how to handle the brush, how to begin and end a stroke. Pulling the brush away from the paper without leaving a drop of ink is an art that I never quite perfected! I was always amazed how Kyoko sensei managed to get just the right amount of ink in the brush..
After some basic kanji and kana eventually you work on "eternity" 永 for quite a while. Kyoko Machida sensei saw that I was familiar with the characters and told me she let me skip lots of repetition. If I remember well, that character is a classic exercise because it contains the main types of brush strokes: the drop at the top, the thick to thin stroke, the thin to thick stroke, the hook at the bottom...
We were given lesson books about once a month that came from a school in Kyoto. The samples in the books were produced by the founder, Harada Kampo, a leading calligrapher of the twentieth century. That said while we used those samples for reference, our main reference was always Kyoko sensei's demonstration, which she would do tirelessly and effortlessly for every student in the class.
Every student worked at their own rhythm and with their own lessons. Once in a while Kyoko sensei asked us to make a "test" piece and she would send it to Japan for grading by her own teacher.
I never really got to know her much but will always remember her fondly.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seikinsou/sets/72157603758319335/
