A Day in the Life of Serena (IB1)
Every Sunday, I attend a Chinese calligraphy and brush painting class at a local community centre with my friend, Jaslin.
Chinese calligraphy is usually done with wolf hair or goat hair brushes on rice paper. Traditionally, ink sticks are ground on wet inkstones to produce high-quality ink, but as an amateur calligrapher, I use bottled ink. I hold my brush so that it is nearly vertical above the paper and control my movements with my wrist and elbow.
I’ve definitely taken advantage of the IB Diploma’s CAS requirements and mandatory language course in order to learn more about my own cultural background. On top of studying Mandarin Ab Initio, I’ve also tried to consolidate my learning by attending these classes. I often practise the brush strokes for vocabulary learnt in class; it’s one of the ways I remember how to write characters.
Aside from learning the names and methods of controlling each brushstroke, I also practise different words on different mediums. My favourite things to write are abstract feelings or values, such as love or faith. My teacher often brings us examples of calligraphy masters’ works and gives his own demonstration in order to show us the technique. He also teaches us the seal script – the ancient writing style that modern Chinese is derived from. This is particularly useful as it often shows how a character came to be – for example, the word for hand’s (手) seal script looks quite like a hand with 5 fingers and a wrist. Learning about the illustrative origins of each word helps me to remember both the stroke order and radicals (sub-components of a character) involved in each word.
“…In the end, the pieces of art I’m able to create are definitely worth it.”
At home, I practise on a reusable scroll – I dip my brush in water, and once it dries, I can write on the scroll again. Although this is different from the traditional mediums of ink and rice paper, it still enables me to practise without ever running out of resources. Reusable scrolls are a cost-efficient and convenient way to practise Chinese calligraphy, so I definitely recommend them for people just starting out.
Calligraphy requires a lot of patience – sometimes I have to practise each individual stroke dozens of times before I get it right. But in the end, the pieces of art I’m able to create are definitely worth it.