Chinese Calligraphy & Brush Painting

Visual Arts Scotland Annual Open Exhibition 2012

2012-01-25T06:53:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends, art lovers, supporters and students,

I am pleased to let you know my Chinese brush painting artwork been selected for (VAS) Visual Arts Scotland Annual Open Exhibition 2012. I would like to invite you to attend the opening of the exhibition on Sat 4th February. You are welcome to bring your friends or pass this information around. I will be in the gallery all day from 10 to 5 and will be glad to see all of you there.Exhibition is FREE and run from Sat 4th February – Thurs 1st March RSA Upper Galleries, The Mound, Edinburgh.

亲爱的朋友们，艺术爱好者，我的支持者和学生们，

很高兴能和你们分享我的好消息。我的中国画作品被被选中参加苏格兰艺术家协会2012联展。我邀请您在2012年2月4日周六前往苏格兰皇家协会美术馆参加展出的开幕活动。我2月4日全天都会在美术馆，希望能届时见到大家。十分感谢支持我，鼓励我，给予我建议和意见的朋友。我会更坚定的走在艺术创作的路上，给大家带来更好的作品。

http://www.weibo.com/u/1452721845

2012-01-23T02:55:00.000-08:00

张弛在苏格兰爱丁堡给大家拜年！感谢在过去的一年支持和帮助我的人。愿海内外的亲人，朋友及所有关注我的人龙年吉祥，幸福快乐！附图：近期书写的各种‘龙’。Wish everybody a happy Chinese new year and welcome to the year of dragon! Loves and best wishes from Chi Zhang in the chilly Scotland capital. Image attached: Chinese Character Dragon in different styles.

2012-01-15T11:13:00.000-08:00

Title:DecemberSize 150x150mm,Medium:Chinese ink/brush painting color on Chinese rice paper.Mounted and framed.Edinburgh Castle under snow. Chinese brush painting style.This artwork is for sale, please contact for more information.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

2011-12-23T17:54:00.000-08:00

Calligraphy and Chinese Brush Painting Classes Jan-Mar 2012

2011-12-14T13:37:00.000-08:00

This popular evening class in calligraphy and brush painting running starting on Tuesday 17th January 2012 can now be booked. Led by Chi Zhang this class accepts both beginners and improvers. Term begins on Tuesday 16th January with beginners running from 18.30-20.30 and improvers from 19.00-21.00. For full details of the class and to download the registration form which should be sent with a cheque payment made out to the University of Edinburgh, please visit here.

2011-12-13T14:14:00.000-08:00

Edinburgh Caslte in festive season - painting on Chinese rice paper

Style with artist's emotion

2011-11-08T07:07:00.000-08:00

Cursive style is the most difficult style in Chinese Calligraphy. It is also the most expressive style, abstract and full of pace and contrast. See the photo of Cursive Style calligraphy write on cotton bags, which are tiger and dragon, two of the most important animals in Chinese culture. They both means courage. The dragon in China is different in Europe. The legendary dragon king lived under water, control rain, hurricane and floods. Dragon in China symbolize power. Chinese Emperor usually uses dragon as a symbol of his imperial power. You could also refer to my previous article about 'add eye to the dragon' story.

2011-10-10T15:13:00.001-07:00

Mop-sized Brush

2011-10-10T14:17:00.000-07:00

Mr Chi Zhang demonstrate the most expressive format of Chinese writing – cursive style with a mop-sized brush.

Chinese characters in different styles:
虎(Hu)Tiger
象(Xiang)elephant
鹿(Lu)Deer
From Pictography to regular style or cursive style.
All three chracters on the left were 象形字 which means 'imitation of pictures', a completed drawing of the thing following its shape and curves.

Autumn 2011 Calligraphy Class

2011-09-09T02:32:00.000-07:00

Discover the serenity and fascination of Chinese calligraphic painting in our ten week Autumn programme of calligraphy classes.

Over the course of the ten weeks, Chi Zhang your tutor, will lead beginners and improvers on a journey of discovery which will ensure insights and enjoyment in equal measure.

Beginners sessions run from 18.30-20.30 while improvers run from 19.00-21.00. The term will begin on Tuesday 27 September.

Click for more information >

I teach calligraphy in Scotland

2011-06-13T14:19:00.000-07:00

China Radio International English Channel report:

Picasso once said that had he been born Chinese, he would have been a calligrapher not a painter.

But now, foreigners can access Chinese art and culture in their own countries as more people are promoting Chinese culture around the world.

Today, we are going to meet a 29-year-old Chinese man, Zhang Chi, who is teaching Chinese calligraphy in Scotland. Zhang Ru has more:

To listen click here >

2011-06-12T05:06:00.000-07:00

As the 200th anniversary of Robert Burns approached, Natascha Gentz, Director of the Confucius Institute for Scotland was reflecting on the cultural and heritage of Scotland and of China.

Recognising that the Chinese love of poetry and wide-spread appreciation of Robert Burns’s poetry in China held great potential for cultural fusion, she decided to create a Chinese edition of Burns poetry as a fitting project to mark the links between Scotland and China. There are numerous renditions of Robert Burns poetry into modern Chinese, but Natascha Gentz decided, in the best of academic traditions, to return to the earliest translations in semi-classical style, reflecting the lyrical style and romantic spirit of the original Scots poems.

The famous Chinese poet Su Manshu was the first to translate a poem Burns into Chinese as early as 1909. In researching earliest translations, the publication owes a debt of gratitude to the scholarly journal Critical Review (Xusheng) which in the 1920’s published a special collection of Burns poems in Chinese in a single volume. The translations selected by Su Manshu, Wu Fangji and Liu Pu offer us eleven of Burns’s poems in semi-classical Chinese verse.

The use of traditional characters, as published in Xusheng, is another gesture recognising that appreciation of Burns’s poetry in China stretches back more than 100 years. Since then numerous poems have been translated into modern Chinese and even today, Chinese students still study these translated works.

To mark this volume further as a very special edition, Zhang Chi, the Institute’s calligraphy teacher and a distinguished artist in his own right, was asked to create an introductory calligraphy page for each of the eleven poems. Three of the beautiful original calligraphies commissioned now hang in the Institute, and plans are being made to auction some of the original calligraphy for charity at a future suitable event.

The Institute’s ambition to create a publication which could be a token of the long-standing friendship between China and Scotland was close to becoming a reality as the slim volume was being finalised. An official stamp of approval came when the Scottish Government sought a share of the first print run to enable the First Minister to use the publication as an official gift when visiting China.

In 2010 the limited print run of just 800 copies of this slim volume came off the presses. Used by the Institute, the University and the Scottish Government as a gift item, it is also offered for sale at £25.00 available through the Institute’s office.

www.confuciusinstitute.ac.uk
www.chicalligraphy.blogspot.com

Selected Poems by Robert Burns in Chinese Calligraphy

2010-12-06T15:00:00.000-08:00

Book published by Edinburgh University Press in 2010, collects eleven well-known poems written by Burns, in their original texts and fine translations in Chinese. Every translation is presented on its illustration page with Chi’s beautiful calligraphy.

This project was funded by Confucius Institute for Scotland and the Scottish government and is of cultural significance. The book is usually presented as a gift for guests who visit the Scottish government or the University of Edinburgh, and it was brought as a gift by Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland, when he visited Expo 2010 in China. This book, with its literary and artistic value as an exquisite presentation of Burns’ poems in Chinese translations, is also produced as a token of the long-standing friendship between China and Scotland, reflecting people’s love for literature and poetry in both countries.

Left: Comin Thro’ The Rye mono; Right: Ca’ the Yower to the Knowes.

2010-12-06T14:58:00.000-08:00

Left: Willie Brew’d a Peck O’Maut; Right: High Land Mary.

2010-12-06T14:55:00.000-08:00

Left: John Anderson, My Jo; Right: I Love My Jean.

2010-12-06T14:53:00.000-08:00

Left: My Heart's in the Highlands; Right: McPherson’s Farewell

2010-12-06T14:48:00.000-08:00

Left: Love is Like a Red, Red Rose; Right: Scots Wha Hae.

2010-12-06T14:36:00.000-08:00

Digital Drawing of Edinburgh Castle

2010-07-09T06:24:00.000-07:00

A digital drawing of Edinburgh castle, view from Grassmarket.

With brush stroke style, added Chinese Ink painting and Chinese Calligraphy techniques into the drawing, give a feeling of classic and also contemporary.

Arthur's seat in Chinese Brush Painting Style

2010-05-25T05:06:00.000-07:00

View from south east of the city

Using Chinese Brush Painting technique to reflect my impression to Arthur's seat, an extinct volcano, famous Edinburgh landscape.

Applied both dry brush technique and ink wash technique, bring more textures into the mountain itself. With the media of Chinese ink and brush, you are able to draw something very quickly, but it needs long time consideration before the Chinese brush actually touch the Xuan paper. Once it done, you created depth and space in a flat paper, give a kind of imagination with some spontaneous effects and represented the natural scenery in an abstract way.

Limited places still available for Tuesday Evening Class

2010-04-28T02:47:00.000-07:00

After Easter break, beginner level and advanced level Calligraphy & Brush Painting Class will resume from this week. This semester will last for 9 weeks and finish at the end of June. The class start with the practice of basic strokes, simple characters and then progress to more complexes writing such as student’s name. Each student gets plenty of personal attention and printed handouts help the students to practice at home.

For the advanced level, each student has an opportunity to pursue their own interest in the field of Calligraphy and Brush Painting. The class will be tailored to fit each student’s individual needs and include tutorial, demonstration, group discussion, final project.

Start date: Any Tuesdays until 29 June

Time: 6.30pm-8.30pm

Fee: £20 per evening or £100 for 8 evenings

For more details of the class please fill the contact form

or visit Confucius Institute in Scotland site.

Story of Chinese freehand painting

2010-03-23T07:01:00.000-07:00

In an old Chinese legend, an artist named Zhang Seng You 張僧繇 was asked to paint a mural in a temple. He painted several dragons but left out the pupils from their eyes. The Abbot asked him why. Zhang explained that if he painted the pupils, the dragons would come alive. When the Abbot insisted, Zhang proceeded to paint the dragons’ eyes. As soon as he finished the pupils on one of the dragons, it roared to life and flew away in a thunderous flash of lightning. This story embodies the philosophy of Chinese freehand painting. The goal is not simply to reproduce the appearance of the subject, but to capture its soul.

2010-02-18T13:49:00.000-08:00

人淡如菊-CALLIGRAPHY WORK

2010-01-25T11:06:00.000-08:00

Chinese Seal - a perfect gift

2010-01-22T04:11:00.000-08:00

Chinese Seal - a perfect Valentine's gift for your lover!

It is carved by famous Chinese Seal Carving Master on stone or marble, represent eternity love and best souvenir. Seals can also be valuable gifts for your friends, parents, kids, family members.

Chinese Seal Carving has a venerable history and seal stamps, also known as ‘chops’, are still in regular use in China.

Each seal is unique and will contain e.g. a name, poetical saying, a design or a symbol. The seals are pressed into a pot or tin of cinnebar paste, a scarlet red colour, which is then block printed onto plain paper or Valentine's card, wedding card, letters or books.

One of my student ask me to do a seal for his forthcoming wedding, carved their name in Chinese Traditional characters on stone, also carve "永恒 " or "爱" which means eternity and love forever.

You can join one of our workshops in Edinburgh in summer time to learn how to carve the Chinese Seal. If you don't want to wait, just simple select the word you want to carved and I will translate into Chinese Traditional Characters and do the rest work for you

Please contact zc.beijing 'a' gmail.com

Zhang Chi, Edinburgh based Chinese Calligraphy & Brush Painting artist, his works have been exhibited internationally.

marlborough college summer school

2010-01-14T08:45:00.000-08:00

I will travel to south England this summer, deliver a one week Chinese Calligraphy and Brush Painting workshop. Thanks for the staff in marlborough college summer school invited me to lead the workshop. It is my pleasure to share my knowledge and experience on Chinese Calligraphy, I am confident the forthcoming workshop will running successfully.

More details please visit workshop link on marlborough college summer school website.

2009-07-17T13:20:00.000-07:00

Example of Calligraphy and Emotion

2009-05-26T10:52:00.000-07:00

祭侄文稿

A draft of a funeral oration for Yan Ji Ming, Yan Zhen Qing's nephew. Yan Ji Ming was killed by An Lu Shan. His arms were cut off before he was killed. This is draft was wrote with grief and indignation.
The calligraphy is powerful with unconstrained brush. Grief and indignation appear between the lines.
Xian Yu Shu of Yuan dynasty said :" this is the second best Xing Shu calligraphy under the sky. Lan Ting Xu is the best." The style of Lan Ting Xu is totally different from Ji Zhi Wen Gao. It's hard to say which one is the best, which one is the second best. Maybe we should say these two are all the best.

Process of practicing Chinese Calligraphy

2009-05-16T11:40:00.000-07:00

The effective, traditional process of practicing handwriting consists of three steps: mo, Lin and xie. Mo means tracing. There are two ways to trace: Trace the calligraphy printed in red in the copybook, or use the model in the exercise book to trace the character on semitransparent or transparent paper. Mo means to practice wielding the brush. You must acquaint yourself with the process of basic stroke writing and the order in which you write your strokes. In practice, attention should be focused on the strokes of your model, the structure and the style of calligraphy. This lays the foundation for the next step, Lin, which is to put the model on the desk for you to copy.

Proud of student win the national calligraphy competition top award

2009-05-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

Proud of student win the national calligraphy competition top award

Francesca recently won a national competition in Chinese Calligraphy. She came first in the category for non native speakers, using brushes rather than pens, which is considered to be more difficult. There were a total of 473 participants from 39 schools, 22 of which were Chinese schools. The work of the first prize winners is being displayed around the country, arriving in London on 28 June.

Chinese Brush Painting Demonstration

2009-05-02T09:51:00.001-07:00

Chinese Brush Painting Demonstration at Edinburgh Corn Exchange Exhibition Centre

23th April 2009

The painting process starts out with the application of ink to frame out the forms. Later, color can be applied in a wash process. The brush stroke must be applied with deliberation and without hesitation. In the ideal process, the forms should just flow naturally from the mind out of the brush onto the paper. The painting process itself has a spiritual dimension to it. It requires a mental state of effortless focus, a Zen-state of calm and awareness.

four treasures 文房四宝

2009-05-02T09:26:00.000-07:00

The four treasures of a Chinese calligrapher's (or scholar's) studio are paper, brush, ink stick, and ink stone. Paper is one of the most famous Chinese inventions. Chinese practice calligraphy on Xuan Paper that is used uniquely for calligraphy and painting. Chinese calligraphy brushes have such a long history that prehistoric painted pottery, bamboo slips, and silks are all writing materials for brush. The characteristics of softness and unrestrained freedom of a Chinese brush make Chinese calligraphy look more vivid, spirited, and rich in different styles. The ink stick is the unique pigment used for Chinese brush painting and calligraphy. The raw materials of ink stick are pine, oil, lacquer, and etc. A good ink stick can produce beautiful shades of ink density on a good and smooth ink stone. The nuances of ink textures make Chinese calligraphy look more diversified and rich in expressions.

2009-04-16T04:00:00.001-07:00

Calligraphy has always enjoyed an important position in Chinese Art. Historically, many philosophers and scholars loved it, not only as an art, but also as a mental discipline since progressing in this art demands both concentration and perseverance. If calligraphy was practiced for a long time, it would dispel boredom, dismiss worries and relieve emotional stress.

Ou-Yang Sau (1007-1072), one of the Eight Great Scholars of the Tang and Sung dynasties, was a leading official at the imperial court who had extremely complex duties. Yet, in his leisure time, he often practiced calligraphy. In one of his essays, he explained why he never abandoned it. “In my childhood, I had many hobbies, but upon reaching middle age I gave them up, either because they no longer interested me, or because I am physically unable to engage in them. The only one that remains, and in which my interest grows with the passage of time, is Calligraphy… I therefore realize why so many scholars in the olden days have paid so much attention to it.”From an artistic point of view, the practice of calligraphy is the beginning of cultivation of the Chinese arts. It enables a learner to acquire a sharp perception of all things in the universe, from simple lines to complex forms and movements.

Class Feedback

2009-04-15T01:49:00.000-07:00

Chinese Calligraphy classes become more popular these years in Scotland. Chi Zhang had delivered classes to different groups of students who interested in Chinese Calligraphy & Brush Painting, beginner level or advanced. All of the students enjoyed the learning experience. Listen to what the students are saying about the class,

"The best part of this class is the teacher."

"That's great class, we had experienced the traditional Chinese culture."

"I learned how to write my name in Chinese using a Chinese brush. It is fantastic!"

Group Photo Spring 2008 Term Calligraphy Class

Blog created!

2009-04-14T15:36:00.000-07:00

This Blog created by Chi Zhang, Chinese Calligraphy & Brush Painting artist. Chi is also a teacher in Confucius institute for Scotland in Edinburgh University. Chi Zhang endeavors to promote Chinese traditional culture in Scotland. He holds variety of courses and workshops on Chinese Calligraphy, Chinese Brush Painting and Chinese seal carving.