Here is another photo from a Chinese calligraphy photo shoot with a Japanese model Asuka. They say that picture says a thousand words, so it would seem appropriate to let the photo speak for itself. In addition, here is a translation of the first chapter of this classic, transcribed Nathan Sturman, MA.

Click learn more about cursive script.

My teacher was asked once by a student:

- Sensei, I cannot write with the hanging arm technique because my hand is shaking too much

to which he replied:

- It is not your hand that is shaking. Calm your mind, and the hand will follow.

That is right. Practice, practice, practice! I found out that writing with the hanging arm technique is improving my skills twice or even three times as fast. Natually, pillow hand and bucket palm, etc. should be taken into consideration during your studies, but hanging arm technique is the bread and butter of calligraphy studies. Do this with a small brush and it will be even more challenging.

間時要有喫緊的心思、忙処要有悠間的趣味 / hanging arm technique, small brush.
photo - Mt.Fuji post processed in photoshop

I have finally found the time to re-edit and put together my poetry, and I should be able to release the book this year, and to be more precise - this month. It will be a tome gathering all of my best poems written during the years 2007 - 2013., and it will be published under the Ryuurui's Art Studio banner. The book contains over 110 of my poems (c. 125 - 130 pages in A5 format), which are divided into three chapters: love, passion and frustration. You will also find there three of my new calligraphy works, which I will publish only in this very book. So, you will not find them online. I will make the book available in hard and electronic format, and, in time, it will be purchasable via Amazon and Barnes & Noble online stores. I will also create a book preview so one can have a peek inside before buying. This is the first publication out of four books that I would like to see published this year.

Below is a book cover project. Let me have your thoughts!

First of all, I would like to thank all who visit my site, and say that I greatly appreciate all the positive feedback and support that I am receiving, whether it is in in regards to my art and learning materials on the Japanese and Chinese calligraphy, or the artistic projects that I am developing.

As you can see, I have completely overhauled the Ryuurui's Art Studio website, and gave it a new look and feel. I did that for a few reasons. One was that I have created so many calligraphy and photography art for past few years, that it was simply too much to post it all, and too confusing for you to navigate through. So, I removed all the galleries and created a portfolio tab instead, which shows the scope of the art that I create. All the artwork that was in my art gallery is not gone from the internet forever. I will be republishing my art in the blog section, with educational articles and interesting information for all of you who wish to learn more not only about Japanese and Chinese calligraphy, but also the art photography.

In regards to the learning tab of this website, I will keep all the information as it is, but I will reorganise it in a way to accommodate some room for photography tutorials and tips. It is highly possible I will also start sharing some information regarding photography post processing, software and so on, especiall;y that I am venturing now into the HDR photography, photoshop art, composite photography, and so on.

In addition, my art will also focus on merging the ancient world of Japanese and Chinese calligraphy with the digital photography and digital art. Naturally, I am still involved in studying classical calligraphy and research, calligraphy exhibitions in Japan, etc., so there is no change in this area, it simply gets expanded.

I had some questions regarding my publications. My book on etymology of Chinese characters and Japanese kanji is complete (volume 1), and my Japanese literary agent is in the process of suggesting the book for publishing houses in Japan. My poetry book should be published this year, I have the entire text ready, I am now deciding on which calligraphy art I should add to it. In regards to my calligraphy book - this will have to wait, for two reasons. One is that I have two calligraphy books written. The first one is more philosophical and the other one is more factual and history related. I am considering combining them both into one volume, and at the moment I simply do not have the time to do this. I plan on finishing it after I am done with publishing the poetry tome.

In regards to other projects of mine. The Japan in photography now has a new blog. It will be a daily photo blog with pictures of my travels around Japan, and short articles with interesting facts regarding Japanese culture, traditions, interesting places, events, and so on. Majority of those photos can be purchased in a form of fine art prints at my store on Fine Art America. I have large plans for Japan in photography in motion, but it is still in early stages, so I will share more when it is all ready to go. The digital art store area will also be expanded.

Ryuurui Foto Studio is a site exclusively for my work as a commercial photographer in Japan, which purpose will probably remain unchanged.

Last but not least, the Ink Treasures project, which we have started last year with the ink painter Mariusz Szmerdt. The project was on hold for a while, but we are already discussing its future, including rebuilding the site to give it a new look and more focus on the artwork.

This will be a very busy year for me, but since it is The Year of the Horse, I think it should be. If anyone has any suggestions, ideas or wishes to share his or her thoughts in regards to any of my projects, please feel free to leave you comment below, or contact me at ponte@ryuurui.com.

I wrote this poem last year. I really like it, so I asked my friend to help me with the Chinese translation. I was planning to write a Chinese calligraphy using this text, but I did not have enough time to do so, till now. For me, writing calligraphy is always a journey through time and space. I dive into the classics and masterpieces, and search for proper Chinese character forms, to push my calligraphy skills even further. This text took me approximnately 20 hours of research and studies, including writing several drafts with a ballpen. This is the first copy with the ink and brush, but I am sure it is not the last one.

Buy this artwork in printed form at my store on Fine Art America.

Many thanks to my dear friends, Snow Forest and Terry Chan, for their help with translating and editing of the Chinese text.

A short poem which I wrote last year. It was inspired by one of the works of possibly the most cherished Chinese poet, Li Bai (李白; 701 – 762 C.E.). He lived during the Tang dynasty, the golden age of Chinese poetry, but also golden age of art in general, including calligraphy.

English text:

Bright moon illuminated the night skies
Concealed in haze of vast sea of clouds
Wind that travelled a few thousand miles
Fluttered my mind light as silk

Chinese translation:

明月照夜空
藏蒼茫雲海
風游幾萬里
心舞如白糸

Chinese translation by Yuki Mori (森由季).

You can view this calligraphy in a larger format in a gallery, here

According to the most recent archaeological findings, the bronze inscriptions (金文) preceded oracle bone script (甲骨文) by at least 100 years.  It would mean, that bronze inscriptions appeared during the last years of the Xia dynasty (夏朝, 2070 - 1600), the first historically verified dynasty of China.

Bronze inscriptions were in official use for hundreds of years, throught Shang (商朝, 1600 – 1046 B.C.E.) and Zhou (周朝, 1046 – 256 B.C.E.) dynasties. Most of the texts were written in a clay, prior to casting on bronze items (bells, vessels, etc.). This script was mostly of an ornamental nature, whereas oracle bone script had more of an official use (for rituals, recording state events, etc)

This pictured calligraphy is one of my poems, translated into Chinese (translation by Yuki Mori / 森由季), written in brozne inscriptions. Below, you will find both English and Chinese versions.

Body is our temple
Life is a prayer
Will is our power
Desire is a weakness
Mind is our freedom
Future is a memory
Love is our child
Born to be wild

身體是聖殿
生命是祈禱
意志是動力
慾望是弱點
心靈是自由
未來是記憶
心愛是孩子
天生的野性

You may view this calligraphy in larger format in a gallery on this site, here.

This is a calligraphy of one of my poems, written in oracle bone script (甲骨文), a script that started to evolve in early Shang dynasty (商朝, 1600 – 1046 B.C.E.), approximately 3500 years ago. Writing in this particular script may be challanging at times, as out of 4700 character in total, "merely" 2000 were deciphered by the scientists.

Since the oracle bone script forms of the vast majority of Chinese characters (there are more or less 90,000 of them) simply do not exist., to be able to write this poem in this particular script, I had to create those forms from scratch. It took me nearly half a day of researching of the etymology of some of the radicals of characters in question, their forms in bronze inscriptions (金文 ) and seal script (篆書), but it was a great experience.

Below, you can find the full text of the poem in English and Chinese (translated by Yuki Mori / 由季森)),.

Shade of whisper sneaked upon
Teasing night with silver moon
Depth in eyes reflecting mine
Shy world hidden in cocoon
Drop of nature dipped in bliss
As playful breath on naked skin
Sound of smile brushing lips
I am possessed by wicked sin

耳語輕拂面
明眸照對嫻
寒夜戲銀月
羞怯繭中憐
吾欲盡酣暢
快意任流淌
暖息澤玉膚
罪惡心中響

You may view this calligraphy in larger format in a gallery on this site, here