Book Description

What is a florilegium?What is an incipit?What is batarde script? This book--part of the Museum's popular Looking at series--offers definitions of these and numerous other techniques, processes, and materials used in medieval illuminated manuscripts.Concise and readable explanations of the technical terms most frequently encountered by the museum-goer are presented in an easily portable format.With numerous illustrations, many of them in color, this volume will be invaluable to all readers wishing to increase their understanding and enjoyment of illuminated manuscripts. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A Bible for beginning codicologers
This slim volume by Michelle Brown is an excellent resource for anyone who is interested in the study of books and manuscripts (codicology). In a succinct dictionary format, Brown gives definitions of all of the major terms that may give trouble to someone visiting a museum or reading a work by such major writers in the field as Chris DeHamel. Suitable as both a textbook and a companion to books on manuscripts, this book is nearly indispensible to the beginner and the intermediate in allowing some understanding into the complex technical and art-historical vocabulary used in the field.

A great little dictionary of illumination.
This little volume provides brief definitions of all the important phrases and terms used in the study of illuminated manuscripts including forms, techniques, themes, and periods.

Great for understanding the differences between an historiated initial and an inhabited initial - or between an antiphonal and a gradual.

Most of the representative images are in color and are well chosen to illustrate the definitions. Perhaps their only drawback is their small size due to the size limitations of the book itself.

A great companion while reading to "Medieval Illuminators & their Methods of Work" by Jonathan J.G. ALexander or "A History of Illuminated Manuscripts" by Christopher De Hamel.

Must-Have glossary of terms related to medieval manuscripts.

EXCELLENT reference for the student of medieval manuscripts. This book provides short descriptions of hundreds of terms associated with medieval manuscripts and their production. While this book is particularly relevant to those beginning a study of medieval manuscripts, it is also a handy tool for anyone who loves the subject, no matter what his or her level of knowledge.

The format is easy to read, and the book itself is lavishly illustrated with color examples. You'll enjoy it.

... Read more

Amazon.com

Taken from a 16th-century manuscript now housed in the GettyMuseum, the intricate illustrations in this tiny volume arecharacteristic of Renaissance art: each letter is surrounded byreligious and political imagery, as well as fanciful creatures and afragment of a Psalm beginning with the respective letter. The warm,rich colors and the juxtaposition of elements such as crabs, asps,grapes, disembodied wings, crests, irises, and flags imbue each platewith a sense of divine haughtiness and humor. Besides the drawingsthemselves, the accompanying notes describe the evolution of differentfonts, providing information that helps the reader interpret the wealthof information in each drawing. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Enchanting Eye-Catcher
I happened upon this true gem of a book at The Getty, while on a trip to Los Angeles, and simply had to have it. Anyone with an appreciation for words and letters and the challenge of combining them as perfectly as possible, will love this! It is a constant delight and one with which I gift special friends. ... Read more

Book Description

The magnificent pages of medieval missals, books of hours, brevaries, and bibles sparkle with detail illuminating the world in which they were created. This splendid volume, featuring some of the finest illuminated masterpieces from the exceptional collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, details the remarkable collaboration and craftsmanship that went into the creation of these delicate treasures.

Close-up details show the intricacies of the various techniques used to create these fragile and rarely seen works. By helping the reader to appreciate the individual elements of illumination--the initials, borders, illustrations, script, and binding--Rowan Watson brings the world of the scribes, illuminators, and book dealers to life, and sheds light on the cooperative religious communities in which many of them worked. Watson also looks at the survival of illumination after the printing press and its revival in the 19th century in the hands of such pioneering designers as Owen Jones and William Morris. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Unveiling the intricacies of Chinese characters
If you respond to the beauty of Chinese calligraphy then this book is an enlightening introduction. Having no formal background in the subject, I can't debate the merits of Fazzioli's scholarship, but for aesthetic reasons I give it five stars.

A fairly good introduction to the Chinese writing system.
This is a fairly good introduction to the Chinese writing system providing insight into its origins and current use. While the calligraphic representations of the modern forms of the characters may be somewhat off, much of the background information is fine. The romanisation system is the officially recognised pinyin romanisation scheme developed by Russian and Chinese linguists during the 1930s and updated in the 1950s; it is generally employed in the transliteration of Standard Chinese into Latin letters. There is no need to worry over what 'dialect' the transliterations belong to because the vast majority of any given publication concerning China and the Chinese language will be in Standard Chinese, the national normative based on Northern Chinese. There are seven to eight Chinese languages with a myriad of dialects each, and it would be illogical to favour the others over the national standard. With regards to the evolution of characters, the sources from which the author bases the evolution is explained in the background information towards the front. I would recommend this as a wonderful coffeetable book, art book, and general introduction to the Chinese writing system, but not as an ultimate foundation in learning the Chinese script. If one is seriously interested in learning good handwriting, I recommend Johan Bjorksten's «Learn to write Chinese characters» from the Yale Language Series. It's inexpensive and perhaps even more useful than the volume on sale here. Both books use pinyin romanised Standard Chinese -- and usually with the tones noted, too! Most books, unfortunately, tend to leave them out. Bjorksten's work should be used as a supplement to a full on course in Standard Chinese (biaozhun hanyu... or, as many may say, putonghua); however, it can stand alone for those who are simply curious about the writing system itself and would like an appliable introduction.

An interesting study
I like this book, and so I'm giving it 4 stars, but that is not to say that the criticisms of it are without merit.

Firstly, this book has absolutely nothing to do with learning the Chinese language. You will not be able to read Chinese from buying this book, and it will be impossible to study the language, since there is no systemitized presentation of the language. What this book instead does is presents an interesting geneology of some fairly common, culturaly relevant, or visualy interesting characters. For people who already know some Chinese, or for people who are interested in evolutions of writting systems or graphic design, this is not a bad book.

There are some strange inconsistencies, but I have a theory that explains them. First, the book inconsitently presents some characters in simplified form, while others are in traditional form. Second, criticisms of the caligraphy are fair. They have heart, but it is not really outstanding, and certainly not something to be emulated.

From these two problems, I concluded that the book was not a product of the Chinese mainland, Xiang Gang (Hong Kong), or Taiwan, since such inconsitencies would have been corrected. If you do some checking, that's because it isn't. As you probably could have guessed by the author's name, it's an Italian book. The Italian author worked with a Japanese illustrator to compile the book.

Japanese Kanji are Chinese characters adopted into the Japanese language, but they have been isolated from Chinese for centuries. As a result, some of the more complex characters have been simplified. Simplification of Chinese characters started long before Mao made them standard in the PRC. Infact, they are generaly based on cursive and calligraphic short-hands developed by people who had to write a lot, or who were not educated enough to constantly be in need of writting formal characters.

Many characters have been simplified from their original forms even in the so called "Traditional" character set (Fanti Zi) such as the numbers, and the Tai in Taiwan. The original, complex numbers used in formal Chinese can still be found on currency, mostly to confound counterfiters. Some characters, such as Li, meaning 'inside,' or Zhen, meaning 'real' can be found written one way, but typed in a less simplified way.

Simplification in pre-Mao Chinese was common, but not standardized. When Mao standardized all the characters for the PRC, he took all of the commonly simplified characters, as well as simplifying some other, more complex characters with whole new sets of visual symbolism, some time to enhance the 'phonetic' part of the character, so that it is easier to guess the sound of the word. The characters 'ren' and 'shi,' together meaning 'to come to know' are great examples of this.

Japanese characters are written without these contemporary simplifications since they were linguisticly isolated from Chinese by the 20th century, but reflect many common older simplifications. An prime example of this is the character 'ya' used in 'yazhou' for Asia, or otherwise just meaning second. It is rather dificult to write aestheticaly in Traditional Characters, but in Simplified Characters (Jianti Zi) it is much much easier, if not as beautifull. On the other hand, the correspondent Japanese Kanji is written in the old hand-written style.

Needless to say, the Japanese also have different aesthetic standards from the Chinese. The use of Japanese is not at all uncommon in earlier European Sinology. Ezera Pound, for instance, in translating the works of Li Bai (Also called Li Po, or Li Bo, as it was pronounced during the Tang Dynasty) actualy translated an Italian manuscript which itself was translated from a Japanese copy of the Chinese Poet's famous writtings. This circuitious route would explain some of the, er, to put it kindly, eccentricities of Pound's translations, and it explains some of the inconsistencies in this book.

There are many things this book is not: it is not an introduction to Chinese. It is not an instructional book on how to paint calligraphy. It is not a comprehensive academic study of the Chinese system of writting.

As long as you accept it for what it is, though, and don't mistake it for something it's not, this is a pleasant book. The characters are more or less acurately explained, and they are organized according to important cultural themes. Thus, it is a nice primer on the subject of the esoteric meanings and evolutions of Chinese characters for the casual (not academic) student. There are better books I've read on the subject, but they are all in Chinese.

... if you know what you're doing.
I was ecstatic to find this book! It is more than just a dictionary reference with cut-and-dry Pin Yin to English translations. For each of the 214 radicals, you get a nice story explaining the history of the radical along with illustrations of the character's evolution from ancient pictographs to its current form. There is also a step-by-step demonstration on how the strokes are arranged including what order and what stroke (if they do not already come naturally to you). And if all that weren't enough, each page has short list of characters that use a particular radical so you can see the radicals in action. This book is definitely useful if you are fascinated by the cultural depictions in traditional Chinese writing. You will be learning things even literate Chinese folks don't know. However, this book probably won't help you much if you are an absolute beginner. For best results, you should at least have a working knowledge to build off of.

Childish Scripts
I am Chinese and I have practise the art. The scripts on the book look unbalanced, as if a child has written it. My advice to the author is:
read the masters, ... Honestly, the modern "standard" (Kai Su) style is the hardest to master, harder even than the "grass" or "walking" (cursive) styles, because the balance between stability and fluidity is very subtle.
The best way to start is from either "Sun Su" or "Dae Su", which are more stable and solid, where balance is easier to obtain, and whose strokes are also simpler. ... Read more

Book Description

Magnificently embellished letters of the alphabet—approximately 40 to a page—plus one page of roman and arabic numbers—primarily taken from Jones’s illustrated The Psalms of David. Meticulously crafted Victorian designs range from small to large, simple to spectacular.
... Read more

Reviews (2)

Wonderful reasource
You can't beat a Dover Publication for quality of information, quantity of information, and a fantastic price. This book is filled with well 1001 Illuminated letters. I have gotton many ideas from this book for my own Illuminations. This book is filled with many different painting styles and designs that you can get many ideas from. I definately would recommend this book to anyone trying to see what a wide variety of different painting techniques actually looks like.

calligraphy words
i never have read the book i just need to see it for a school projec ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Frrom someone who should know...
Chris DeHamel works researching books for Sotheby's. That is all he does, and his numerous books on the subject show his mastery and command of the subject. Everyday he goes to work, he is getting time to research, free of teaching committments that fetter the ability of other scholars to pursue their writing. His research and ability shows in this beatiful and well-written book, which is an excellent introduction to the history of the book and to the processes and culture surrounding the book as an object. His book progresses, chapter-by-chapter, through the different groups that books were designed for, describing where and why they were made, and the special challenges of each. Chock-full of photographs of lavish manuscript writing and art, this volume is not only an extremely suitable textbook for art history and history classes dealing with the book or commodity-culture, but also is a great personal or coffeetable volume, and supremely reasonable at the price it is provided at, considering the cost of so many art texts.

Spectacular teaching tool
This is the first illumination book I encourage my students to purchase (with Drogin's history of calligraphy). This is an entirely reasonable price with abundant color and b&w pictures.

Unlike many tretises on the topic, this doesn't limit you to post-1200 Anglo-French. This gives you a true oversight of western european illumination of the entire span of the middle ages (spanish, moorish, greek, latin, etc...)

Added to the benefit of examples, de Hamel doesn't subject you to the same pictures you've seen in every other 2-bit book (yes, Victoria, other books existed before 1200 besides the Book of Kells).

The text is thoughtful without being dry and boring. This is written for an audience which is expected to appreciate the subject, without assuming you've devoted your life to it already.

Walk, do not run, to get this. A must for anyone who is learning how to illuminate.

Sumptuous
A beautiful book, lavishly illustrated to explain and enhance the text. Many of the images are from private collections thanks to the author's work at Sotheby's.

The text is very accessible for the non-expert. The reader's understanding and appreciation of the art and craftsmanship which went into illuminated manuscripts will be greatly increased.

Worth every penny.

Wonderful Images
This book is an excellent overview of changing Illumination through the Middle Ages and Early Renaissance. The images are gorgeous and varied. My only real complaint is one of size and proportion. The book fails to give the original sizes of the pages so that the reader has an understanding of scale. Sometimes it can be difficult to determine the origin of the page, if you do want to follow up on size and additional pages.

outstanding teacher source!
This book provides a good introduction into illuminated pages. I found it useful in writing a lesson for art history. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Calligraphy in the Copperplate Style
This is a fabulous manual for beginners, explaining the 17th century calligraphy technique which imitates copper etchings of the same, using a fine nib. A great buy with nice detail. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A solid introduction to fundamental letter forms
This two-volume set is one of the most user-friendly calligraphy books available. It contains a good reference volume, with plenty of rich details about the history and function of various hands, and also contains a useful workbook to help guide the student towards mastery of various letterforms.

The art of calligraphy is one with long history and great usefulness. If only more books made the practice more accessible. This two-volume set is one of the most user-friendly calligraphy books available. It contains a good reference volume, with plenty of rich details about the history and function of various hands, and also contains a useful workbook to help guide the student towards mastery of various letterforms.

The art of calligraphy is one with long history and great usefulness. If only more books made the practice more accessible. A valuable introduction. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A must have for caligraphers
If you want to have a collection of some of the best calligraphic works in one book, this is the book for you! ... Read more

Book Description

Here is a comprehensive guide explaining everything you need to know to master the skills and techniques of beautiful writing. Beginning with a review of Western calligraphy from antiquity to today's electronic age, The Art of Calligraphy helps the reader choose equipment ---- brushes, pens, pencils, papers, and inks ---- and then shows exactly how to hold and angle the pen to produce every letter of the alphabet in a number of different scripts. Key elements of letter anatomy are explained in detail ---- step--by--step constructions show each essential step in creating the distinctive characteristics of 26 styles. All the major Latin--based scripts are included ---- from Roman Imperial and Caroline to Gothic, Renaissance, and Copperplate scripts. The Art of Calligraphy features the very best historical and contemporary examples of each style, offering guidance and inspiration in this age of computer--generated type. Soon you will be ready to use your exquisite penmanship to personalize stationery or enhance other special gifts and objects. Combining instructional diagrams with outstanding examples from Western masters, The Art of Calligraphy is a unique introduction to hand lettering. It is an authoritative reference as well as a source of inspiration for any artist. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Excellent Book
If you want only one book to learn about calligraphy, this is the one. Trained by a master calligrapher of the Queen's Court many years ago, I recommend this book very highly to anyone who wish to develop skill and proficency in this art.

While I didn't pursue this field career-wise, I found this book to be an excellent reference to reignite the skill I thought was lost.

F.Lee

Just Get It
Not only is this an excellent introduction to calligraphy the beauty of the manuscripts used as examples will make you fall in love with the art even more.

Excellent book of exemplars
There are so many books on calligraphy; it is extremely difficult to write one that will please everyone. This one will please you vastly if you are looking for a book full of well-laid-out, very clear ductus' pages, with minimal instructional material and beautiful color reproduction of historical examples.

This book is basically about directions for writing historical hands. The DK style of minimal text supported by captioned pictures makes for a lot of visual learning, but this does cut down on the scope of information included. The information is historically basic, then, and the instructional section quite minimal. If you need beginner's instruction for the first steps of calligraphy, you may not find the depth of information you desire here.

The real stregnth of the book is in its breakdown of historic hands. The step-by-step breakdown of each letter of each hand is most helpfully produed in color, allowing the areas of overlap to be clearly seen; this is much more definite in visually presenting the letterforms than the traditional method of providing black and white exemplers. Further, each hand is made with different calligraphy tools; markers, reeds, quills, dip pens, et cetera, allowing you to compare the look of each tool.

There is a very helpful appendix, providing each alphabet in the book in simple, er, "abc form;" a skilled calligrapher could open the book to this two page spead and have every hand presented in the book available for visual reference.

In all, a very, very useful book for those who are looking primarily for instructions for writing historic hands.

Beautiful but......
As with all Dorling Kindersley products the book is beautifully produced and laid out. However it does has some flaws. The style of the text is somewhat 'strained' and reads like a text book which doesn't not seem,in my mind to fit in with the usual user-friendly DK style. Secondly there appears to be a section of the book missing, in that the book leaps from a rather cursory look at what is required straight to the different styles, without discussing any basic techniquesof penmanship(penpersonship?) Further more I use the word 'cursory' since there is no mention of INK! How can a book about calligraphy not discuss types and colours of ink, gouache etc! I would suggest that the revised version of this 'practical guide' (sic) ought to consider this major oversight!

Very Informative with GREAT Illustrations!
The Art of Calligraphy by David Harris was extremely helpful to me, and its content very useful. There is just enough history in the book to make it informative, but not too much to make it wordy. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A jewel
This is a lovely facimile of a book hours in the bodleian library in oxford. This book of hours was made by "the master of Mary of Burgundy" in the early 16th century. In additon to the 'carpet pages' of this manuscript, various text pages are also reproduced. Many of the illustrated pages have gold leaf on them and an gold ink is used to reproduce this effect. My only complaint with this book is that this ink has in some places obscured details of the manuscript and made pages look heavier than I think they probably do in the orginal work.

If you have read any books on illuminated manuscripts in the past, you might be suprised by the number of pages you will recognise in this book. In size the book is quite small. Quite litrely the size of your palm, and this is a reflection on the actual size of the manuscript in Oxford. The publishers have tried to reproduce the facilmile as close as possible to the orginal where they could.

If you are interested in illumanated manuscipts this book is worth having. ... Read more

Book Description

Instructions and tools for practicing the ancient art of Chinese calligraphy have never been easier or more affordable. Growing interest in Asian arts, coupled with a trend toward creative self-expression, make this a timely how-to kit. Contains everything needed: pot, ink, stone, spoon, brushes, paper, and an instruction book. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Beautiful kit and excellent intro to the art!
I can't believe how beautiful the items are in this kit! I expected something kind of cheap considering the price, but that's not the case at all. It has a beautiful stone, ink stick, brush, paper, and a sweet little china bowl - the works. The little book is interesting and clearly written, offering a great introduction to the art of Chinese calligraphy. I was surprised that with a little practice, I was actually able to duplicate the characters in the book pretty well. This kit is a lovely stocking stuffer and the perfect way to find out if you want to really study this art thoroughly. Highly recommended! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellant book
Creative calligraphy was just that . . . creative.The ideas are fresh and inviting.The photos in it are top quality.I really enjoyed this book!One of the best Calligraphy tools out there. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Following a history of Chinese calligraphy—going all the way back to the pictographic beginnings of Chinese writing more than 4,000 years ago—the author explains the basic construction of individual characters and the ways in which calligraphy is used by Chinese artists, including calligraphic seals and inscriptions on paintings. The final chapters are devoted to detailed, step-by-step instructions for using Chinese painting equipment and for mastering the techniques needed to create stunning examples of brushwork calligraphy. Many b/w illustrations. Bibliography. Index.
... Read more

Reviews (2)

I was right !!!
In this book, Jean Long introduces us to Chinese calligraphy. As he explains, even though "calligraphy" only means "words written by hand", to the Chinese it is an art with a long history. He affirms that "the characters not only convey the language of thought but also, in a visual way, the artistic beauty of the thought".

In the introduction to "The Art of Chinese calligraphy", the author says that the purpose of the book is allowing the readers to delight in the intrinsic beauty of Chinese calligraphy, even if they haven't yet mastered the Chinese language. Also, J. Long points out that in this book he provides the instructions that allow the readers who want to try their hands at Chinese calligraphy to do so. The instructions include a step by step guide to using the necessary equipment, and all that is needed to learn the different brushwork techniques. Finally, he also expresses his hope that "a greater understanding of the art of Chinese calligraphy will provide a clearer insight into the character of the Chinese people themselves".

The book is very well divided into interesting chapters that are easy to read and contain a lot of information even though they aren't overly long. The 1st chapter is titled "The development of Chinese calligraphy", and deals with the history of this art. It is worthwhile mentioning that this chapter and all the others include many useful illustrations, specially photographs (for example, a photograph of a ritual vessel from the 10th century BC, inscribed with characters). The 2nd chapter, "Chinese calligraphy as an art form", explains how it developed to an art form, from the merely functional act of writing. The 3rd chapter is "Language as a way to the understanding of Chinese thought", and the 4th is "The calligraphic seal". Chapters 5 and 6 deal with "Chinese porcelain and ceramics" and "Inscriptions on paintings" respectively, and chapter 7 centers on "Chinese painting equipment and how to use it". Lastly, chapter 8 is about "The techniques of Chinese calligraphy".

When I bought this book I was not exceedingly interested in attempting Chinese calligraphy, but I wanted to know more about it and the importance it has for Chinese culture. I decided to buy "The Art of Chinese calligraphy" because I considered it would be able to answer my questions... And thankfully, I was right!. This book is a great introduction to the subject, and it is highly likely to be useful not only to artists but also to readers like me who don't want to paint but love to learn about other cultures.

On the whole, I think this book is a keeper, and I highly recommend it :)

Belen

Practical instruction in Chinese calligraphy
Jean Long's Art Of Chinese Calligraphy provides practical instruction in Chinese calligraphy, blending in historical background and explanations of how the characters are used in Chinese art. There's a healthy dose of background information on methods and development. ... Read more

Book Description

An updated and expanded edition of the hugely successful 1997 book American House Now, this richly illustrated volume showcases twentysix of the most extraordinary examples of residential architecture designed in the United States in the last twenty years. The collection represents established American architects, such as Richard Meier and Charles Gwathmey; such internationally known contemporaries as Stephen Holl, Mark Mack, and Arquitectonica; and newcomers Carlos Zapata and UKZ. Superb exterior and interior photographs, as well as plans of each house, are accompanied by individual essays and captions. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Where are the Northwest architects??
Works by outstanding firms from the Pacific Northwest are totally omitted. (Miller/Hull, Cutler, Olson Sundberg Kundig and Allen...anyone?) An otherwise fine book.

great photos
This book is smaller than I thought, I thought it was going to be like a coffee table book. no it is like 7 inches tall, or maby I am getting bigger like in that movie where the guy gets big after drinking that stuff. I dont know.

Small But Delightful Book
This small but delightful book discussed about the modern American architectural, not modern in terms of Classic Modernism but contemporary via fusion of Classic Modernism & Post Modernism. The author stressed that USA, being a relatively young country has a "can do" attitude, open minded & daring to explore new ideas. It also mentioned that America isn't obsessive or overzealous in the interpretation of architectural stylistic movements. Rather, it only takes what it needs, reminding me of Japanese doing the same thing to technology, that is refining existing technology to make it better. There are 24 buildings (all of them are for residential purpose) here signifying where USA is at in terms of modern architecture. Notes rather than essays are utilised to explain the buildings. The pictures do most the talking in this instance. Notable architects are Stephen Holl (deriving his work via America's literary content), Richard Meier, Antoine Predock, Owen Moss, Arquitectonica, RoTo, Carlos Zapata, Morphosis, John Lautner, & so forth. The choosing of the works here should be of a subjective rather than objective nature because there are other architects which I believe do fit the bill in creating the so-called American architectural but have been overlooked such as Frank Gehry (his Californian style despite his Canadian origin), Ricardo Legoretta (the latest AIA Gold Medal laureate), Philip Johnson, etc. Still, this is a wonderful book to look thru.

Now if only America would catch up....
This is a refined collection. It demonstrates clearly that visions of architecture that aren't "homey" can still be exceedingly beautiful. If I were trying to convince someone to build a home that makes a lasting statement (and I am), this is the first book I would buy for them.

you better have two
It's one of those books that it's better buy two copies. One to keep safe on a bookshelf. The other to use, read and carry along wherever you go, until it desintegrates. And the size is 5 stars too. ... Read more

Book Description

Master artist, teacher and scholar traces historical development of techniques and styles from 14th century B.C. to present; analyzes aesthetic concepts, criteria, and schools associated with specific aesthetic qualities; and provides comprehensive, in-depth guide to materials, technical principles and major brush strokes.
... Read more

Reviews (1)

Discover Art in the Oriental Brush
Mr Kwo's book was my introduction into the use of the oriental brush and water based black ink. His book, read over time, brought me into my great appreciation for the skill of the brush. In this work the author describes the use of the brush from a historic point of view. He also shows how brush technique and written language developed and explains to his western readers how to "see with oriental style", with the use of the brush and ink as a tool, the oriental concept of space and lines. Though an artist using a simple brush and water-based ink creates a far different scene than considered typical by western standards, the oriental use of empty space, reserved for the viewers imagination to complete the scene, is very refreshing. It sparked my interest into this subject and from there I went to japanese sumi-e. Thank you for your excellent book Mr. Kwo! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Amateur!
I am so tired of seeing calligraphy "how-to" books put out by folks who don't really have the background and knowledge, but I guess it makes them money. I wish the author would take the time to truly learn good calligraphy letterforms before passing hers on to the unsuspecting public.

YIKES!
Not the greatest letterforms for beginners to be looking at... don't use this... please!

The best book for learning calligraphy I have seen.
I found this book to be very comprehensive, easy to follow and will recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn calligraphy. ... Read more

Book Description

In the best-selling tradition of The Spirit of the Chinese Character comes a beautiful companion, The Nature of the Chinese Character. Masterfully crafted earthly symbols are displayed throughout these rich, colorful pages--from sky and wind to water and sand. Each is accompanied by a graceful drawing illustrating the organic form that inspired the calligraphic representation and an enlightening description of the meaning, lore, and construction of the character. At once an inquiry into centuries of thought and a paean to the oldest functional art form, The Nature of the Chinese Character is exquisite in its own right-an elegant keepsake that both informs and enchants. ... Read more