“We must ingest the Calligraphy of the past, as the silkworm chews the mulberry leaf and produces fine silken thread, in order to create something of our own for the present.”
“Calligraphy does for the eye and the imagination, what music does for the ear and the soul. It is a sophisticated form of visual, tactile and mental training. Shodou is not just for Orientals, nor is it just for artists. It is for anyone interested in exploring alternative ways of thinking and creative problem solving.”
Below are stylistically coupled examples of Chinese (left) and Inkslinger (right) calligraphy. Copying from the great Chinese and Japanese masters is the main component of training that all calligraphers must do. Starting with the Block Script to learn the eight basic brush strokes, the student then, over many years, slowly frees up the strokes, progressing to a semi-cursive then cursive.
A calligrapher's creative progression passes through three stages. The first is practising and mastering a range of great classical hands. I am still in this phase...
(Left) Hui-tsung, eighth Northern Sung emperor (reigned 1100-1125). [first section of] The Thousand Characters in Cursive Script. Ink on yellow silk. This piece shows how the cursive script evolved towards greater freedom, and is beginning to show the qualities of pictorial brushstrokes.
(Right) Merissa Walker, 1998
“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas.” Ink on Washi.
(Left) Ou-yang Hsün (577-641, T'ang dynasty)[A passage from] Thousand Characters in Current Script. Ink on paper.
(Right) Merissa Walker, 1997. "Proper words in proper places make the true definition of style." Ink on Washi. Quote by Jonathan Swift.
A slender tipped, stiff brush and trailing away endings to each stroke give this work an unorthodox, fanciful, yet elegant appearance. The text makes a comment on 'style', which the writer is obviously trying slavishly to evoke, thereby creating a piece which would make any Chinese Master turn in his grave.
(Left) Yü Yu-jen (1878-1964) [Part of the] Inscription commemorating the opening of the National Museum of History. Taipei, 1962. Simplicity and freedom in the cursive script by a contemporary master.
(Right) Merissa Walker, 2001."Thank heaven the sun has gone in and I don't have to go out and enjoy it." Ink on Washi. It is hard to create English calligraphy much simpler than this without losing too much clarity and rendering it utterly illegible.
(Left) The mad old monk, Fu Shan (1607-1684) Ming/Ch'ing. [Excerpt from] Poem by Tu Fu. Current script in a style verging on uncouthness. "Rather than clever, gracious, deft and proper," he wrote, "I prefer being awkward, unpleasing, disconnected, but true to myself."
(Right) Merissa Walker, 2000. "Instead of having the rug pulled out from under your feet, learn to dance on the shifting carpet!" Ink on Washi.
