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Brush Writing
 
 
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Brush Writing [Paperback]

R. Kuiseko
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
Price: £18.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

  • Paperback: 104 pages
  • Publisher: Kodansha America, Inc (Aug 1988)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0870118625
  • ISBN-13: 978-0870118623
  • Product Dimensions: 29.7 x 21 x 0.9 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 47,986 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ryokush? Kuiseko
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Product Description

Product Description

For many a deep and lasting interest in Japanese culture, its people and its language, begins with a fascination for beautifully drawn characters produced by a master calligrapher. Compared with the squarish, regular representation of Chinese characters reproduced in books, newspapers, and magazines by modern printing techniques, the appealing brush strokes of a handwritten Japanese scroll, letter, or menu is often considered a work of art, and associated with the aesthetic and mystical. Brush Writing is dedicated to such enthusiasts of Japanese calligraphy who have searched for a basic and introductory guide in English to this traditional and challenging Eastern art.
Any learner of Japanese will almost certainly find this book an invaluable aid to writing kanji, a subject that is rarely dealt with. adequately in language textbooks, as well as providing fundamental clues to decipher handwritten Japanese. Through nearly fifty model characters, Brush Writing teaches the basic techniques of writing almost any kanji. For each character, we have clearly shown the correct stroke order, major readings in romanized Japanese, and meanings in English. Advice on balance and other practical tips on writing kanji have also been included. Equally important to all non-native learners of Japanese, this book explains the secret of writing attractive hiragana, the key, in fact, to ensuring that handwritten Japanese is clearly legible and leaving the impression that it was penned by an adult Japanese hand.
But it does not end there. Brush Writing is more than a kanji guide for students of the Japanese language. After working through the systematic instructions carefully explained in this volume, anyone, with an appreciation of the beauty and art of quality brush work, should find little difficulty in creating fine calligraphy of their very own, even if the meanings of the shapes themselves remain a mystery. This volume begins with a comprehensive, but brief introduction to the history of Chinese and Japanese characters to satisfy the curiosity of the enthusiast. For novice calligraphers, not only have we explained how to use the necessary materials and equipment, such as brushes, paper, and sumi ink, but we have also appended a list of stores selling calligraphic supplies throughout the United States.
For Japanese language students and aspiring calligraphers alike, Brush Writing is the perfect introduction to the art and technique of shodo, Japanese calligraphy.

Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
The origin of Chinese characters is obscure and, as with many ancient things in China, shrouded in a curious mixture of myth and fancy. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

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Average Customer Review
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful book, 8 Oct 2009
By 
J. Washbrook (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Brush Writing (Paperback)
Lovely examples of brushwork. I found it the most helpful source so far for learning how to use the brush - and I haven't felt the need to look further. It is a lovely book to browse. It makes me happy just to think about it. If I had a coffee table (and may be a hard back copy if one were available) this book would be on it! I got it as part of my study of Chinese, and although it is a Japanese book the brushwork is the same, at least at my level.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com: 4.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Good beginning brush technique book. Beautiful examples., 6 Dec 1999
By Liralen Li - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Brush Writing (Paperback)
This is a good beginning book for learning brush technique for Japanese calligraphy of the pictographs that are based on the Chinese characters. She goes through everything from basic setup and rubbing ink through a couple dozen characters, so if you already know stroke order and have some idea of the characters you want to do, this book focuses on how to make the brush strokes for plain 'block' characters work, with some hint as to the possibilities with script characters and more artistic forms. There is a single page for how to form the phonetic characters as well.

The sample characters are big, bold, and easy to learn from and have the easier posture of a native calligrapher, rather than the squared-off posture of most American renderings.

It's a very good starting place for someone wishing to make characters with more personality than can be done with a normal pen or pencil. But is only a beginner's book if you already have some experience with a brush and ink.


24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great for beginning students, 2 May 2000
By Angel Lee "Liocorno Amethyst Moonstone" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Brush Writing (Paperback)
This is a good book for beginning students learning to write Kanji and Hiragana. The large format makes it easy to see how to form the character correctly.

The instructions are excellent, showing you step-by-step, how to write each symbol in detail. Though cursive script is shown, it is smaller and detailed instructions for writing it are not given.

Each character's reading and meaning are shown as well. However, since less than 75 words are covered, it is not intended to teach you to read Japanese.

The book also covers materials, techniques, & a brief history of Asian calligraphy. There is a beautiful calligraphy appreciation section in the back. It shows some of the characters reflecting their meaning.


14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars As promised: Basics for beginners, 28 July 2003
By Mikko Tuohiniemi - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Brush Writing (Paperback)
The title well describes the content. The focus is on the techniques with a short intro of the essential equipment. The reader is guided through a selection of some 50 characters with the emphasis on how to proceed stroke by stroke and how should the result look like.
This book is a good quick start but won't serve as a long-lasting reference. As soon as you find the art of shodou as the thing for you, you'll be looking for more in-depth and covering texts on the subject. Although somewhat narrow, all the content is useful - except a list of the equipment suppliers in the US.
 Go to Amazon.com to see all 5 reviews  4.0 out of 5 stars 
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