Learn calligraphy: small seal script - rules of writing - part 2

To view the first part of the small seal script (小篆) tutorial, please see this article.

Continuing the thought from the part 1, the next important thing to bear in mind is that small seal script was a standardised form of great seal script (大篆). Consequently, the forms of small seal script characters are oblong and symmetrical.

Valid feature of this script is also the uniform thickness of the brush strokes, which may vary between characters in the same text, but should not within the same character. It is so, because some character may have many strokes, and some only few. For instance, in the video (below), and the picture (above) you can see the radical 士 (scholar, bachelor, also warrior), but it also is a stand alone character. This character has only three strokes. If you compare it with a complex character, such as 鳳 (phoenix), the thickness of strokes of both in the same calligraphy text written in small seal script will differ. Natural way of balancing those difference is increasing the thickness of the brush strokes in characters that have fewer strokes. In case of small seal script, however, it is not as obvious as in other scripts of Chinese calligraphy.

---

In part 3 of small seal script tutorial I will be explaining the techiniqe of writing curved lines, and how to position the brush tip during writing.

part 1

small seal script menu

part 3