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                               The Art Of Calligraphy


           Calligraphy is an art of the visual kind. It is derived from the Greek words kallos and graphe, meaning 'beautiful art/writing'. It is more of an expressive and artistic way to write scrolls, scripts, and documents. From hieroglyphics to birth and death certificates of today, it has been present in many cultures. The most popular of calligraphic art, in my opinion, is the East Asian Calligraphy. Other popular forms of calligraphy are Islamic and Western. We will be covering all three.


                    East Asian calligraphy is a very important and respected aspect of their culture. The three types of East Asian calligraphic art I will discuss are Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. The tools used in East Asian writing art are often referred to as 'The Four Friends/Treasures of The Study' which include the ink, brushes, paper, and inkstone. In history, many art schools in Asia would let the students practice by using sand and tools such as sticks. Only when ready, which is on par with the work ethic of the East Asians and the limited amount of resources to produce scripts, the students would move to paper and ink.


              There are many factors that go into the art form that contribute to the finished script. These of which include the type of brush, the color and density of the ink used, and the type of paper used. I would assume that ink, brush, and paper makers were highly respected. Also the actions of the artist influences the final result. The techniques include the size, direction, and pressure of the brush strokes which I think would regard the talent of the artist. The alphabets used in East Asian art are hiragana and Hanguel, among others. This style is very well-known in America due to pop culture, which has resulted in many East Asian calligraphy tattoos.


                Moving on to Islamic calligraphic art, which is just as important to Islamic religion as East Asian art is to its culture. With canvases ranging from paper to mosque walls and ceiling, it is very expressive of their love for God. The Koran is a big inspiration of the calligraphy that is produced. The art is highly regarded because of its links to all languages of Muslims to provide a consistent message from the Islamic religion.


                The last form of calligraphic art I will be discussing is the Western form, which is what we see in America. Like most other calligraphy the Western style uses the brush, but also the pen. It is found in most every advertisement and things such as fliers. Along with engraving, it is found almost everywhere you look. Western style calligraphy uses the Roman alphabet, which first appeared over 25 centuries ago. Some of the most famous of this style is found in the Bible. The ruled paper is also a big part of this style. When the Gothic script was evolved from the Carolingian script it made for more text per page due to ts compactness. Even the font type used to type this was derived from Western calligraphy.

              In conclusion, calligraphy is an art, and regardless of the classifications and rules, I would like to think everything I write is a calligraphic piece of art. This is my contribution to an art form that is thousands of years old.