Shodo Online Lesson 11, radical “water” - Shodo with a Brush Pen

First, download and print a practice sheet here.

Today, you are going to learn how to draw radical "water" (さんずいへん sanzuihen).

This radical stands for a stream of water, and of course, kanji with the radical "water" is related to water.



Draw the radical "water" in the 40% area as pictured below, just like the other radicals.


The first stroke and the second stroke are the dot type A.
The third stroke is an ewxtended dot type B. Put the brush on the paper at an angle of about 60°, and make a slightly-long hook.



Put the first stroke and the second stroke close together.
Put the third stroke at a distance from the other two.
Place the second stroke closer to the left side than the first stroke.
Make the tip of the first stroke and the third stroke line up.






Now let's write the following characters.



stroke order
1. Dot type A
2. Dot type A
3. Dot type B (extended)
4. Horizontal stroke
5. Vertical stroke

On-yomi	じゅう ju
Kun-yomi	しる shiru
Meaning	soup

This is a combination of the radical "water" and "ten".
Make the fifth stroke long enough to make some space on the bottom of the left part.





stroke order
1. Dot type A
2. Dot type A
3. Dot type B (extended)
4. Continued line
5. Horizontal stroke
6. Left sweep
7. Right sweep

On-yomi	けつ ketsu
Kun-yomi	き(める) kimeru
Meaning	decide

Make the bottom tips line up as pictured above.





stroke order
1. Dot type A
2. Dot type A
3. Dot type B (extended)
4. Continued line and hook
5. Vertical stroke
6. Curve and hook

On-yomi	ち chi
Kun-yomi	いけ ike
Meaning	pond

This kanji is a little bit difficult to balance out.
For the fourth stroke, the first part is angled upwards, and the second part is angled inwards.
The fifth stroke starts from upper place than the sixth stroke.

For this kanji, make some space on the bottom of the right part.





How was this lesson?
All the contents that I introduced today are on the practice sheet.
Please download it from here.

Shodo Online Lesson 10, radical “person” - Shodo with a Brush Pen

First, download and print a practice sheet here.

Today, you are going to learn how to draw radical "person" (にんべん ninben).
This radical consists of two strokes, a "left stroke" and a "right stroke", so I think you can draw it easily.

As I showed in this article, draw the radical in the 40% area like the picture below.



After completing the left sweep, start the vertical stroke from the middle of the previous stroke as pictured below.





Now let's write following characters.



stroke order
1. Left sweep
2. Vertical stroke
3. Horizontal stroke
4. Horizontal stroke

On-yomi	じん jin
Kun-yomi	-
Meaning	humanity

Make the second line cross over than the right part to create some space on the bottom of the right part.





stroke order
1. Left sweep
2. Vertical stroke
3. Horizontal stroke
4. Vertical stroke
5. Left sweep
6. Right sweep

On-yomi	きゅう kyuu
Kun-yomi	やす(む) yasumu
Meaning	rest

I already introduced how to draw "tree" in this lesson.

However, this time make the second stroke shorter than the fourth stroke to create some space on the bottom of the radical "person".

As seen above, there are different way of drawing the radical to balance out the kanji.





stroke order
1. Left sweep
2. Vertical stroke
3. Horizontal stroke
4. Curve and hook
5. Dot type A

On-yomi	だい dai
Kun-yomi	か(える) kaeru
Meaning	substitute

This kanij also needs some space in the bottom of the radical.
A tip to make the kanji look better.
Draw the second stroke shorter, which makes the fourth stroke appear longer.



How was this lesson?
All the contents that I introduced today are on the practice sheet.
Please download it from here.

Shodo Online Lesson 9, “curve and hook” - Shodo with a Brush Pen

First, download and print a practice sheet here.

Today's stroke is "そりはね sorihane", meaning "curve and hook".

They are roughly divided into the following three types.







Now, let's start with the first type.
At point A, put the brush tip on the paper.
From there, apply pressure gradually to make the line thicker.
Drawing a smooth curve, move the brush to the point B.
At point B, move the brush upwards, while decreasing pressure.





Next is the second type.
The start of the stroke is the same as a usual vertical strokes. Please refer to the link below.

“Horizontal Strokes” and “Vertical Strokes”

Move the brush from A through B to C, making a smooth line.

If the middle of the stroke is thinner (around B), it looks good.
To do that, decrease pressure from A to B, and increase pressure from B to C.
At point C, move the brush upwards, while decreasing pressure.




Lastly, the third type.
This stroke is largely the same as the previous stroke, the only difference is the direction of the stroke.
Move the brush downwards, make the line thinner around B, and move it upwards at C.

Now let's practice the following characters!




stroke order
1. Dot type C
2. Curve and hook type1
3. Dot type B
4. Dot type A

On-yomi	しん shin
Kun-yomi	こころ kokoro
Meaning	heart

stroke order
1. Horizontal stroke
2. Curve and hook
3. Left sweep
4. Dot type1

On-yomi	か ka
Kun-yomi	ほこ hoko
Meaning	spear

stroke order
1. Vertical stroke
2. Dot type B
3. Dot type D
4. Horizontal stroke
5. Left sweep
6. Right sweep

On-yomi	こう kou
Kun-yomi	ひかり hikari
Meaning	light

How was this lesson?
All the contents that I introduced today are on the practice sheet.
Please download it from here.

Shodo Online Lesson 8, “hook” - Shodo with a Brush Pen

First, download and print a practice sheet here.

Today's stroke is "はね hane", meaning "hook".
Let's take a look at some typical "hook".

Hook type A

It is a normal vertical stroke until point A.
Slowly trail off to the left.

Hook type B

This stroke is similar to the "continued line".
Please refer to the past lesson shown below.

Continued line

It is a normal horizontal stroke until point 1.
As shown in the "continued line" lesson, apply pressure at point 1.
Sweep shortly to the lower-left.


Now, let's practice some kanji below.




Stroke order
1. Horizontal stroke
2. Hook type A
3. Dot type A

On-yomi	すん sun
Kun-yomi	-
Meaning	measurement

stroke order
1. Dot type A
2. Dot type B
3. Hook type B
4. Left sweep
5. Right sweep

On-yomi	けつ ketsu
Kun-yomi	あな ana
Meaning	hole

stroke order
1. Combination of continued line and hook
2. Left sweep

On-yomi	りき riki
Kun-yomi	ちから chikara
Meaning	power

stroke order
1. Hook type B
2. Curve and hook
3. Horizontal stroke

On-yomi	し shi
Kun-yomi	こ ko
Meaning	child

How was this lesson?
All the contents that I introduced today are on the practice sheet.
Please download it from here.

Shodo Online Lesson 7, “dot stroke” - Shodo with a Brush Pen

First, download and print a practice sheet here.

Today's stroke is "点 ten", meaning "dot".

Although the stroke is "dot", there are several variations of them.
In this lesson, I'll explain the four typical ways of drawing "dot".


Type A


When you draw the "dot" stroke, the main point you should keep in mind is to move the brush a little after putting it on the paper.
For type A, put the brush on the paper and move it downwards, while decreasing pressure.


Type B

For type B, have the brush trail off of the end of stroke.
This technique is called "はね hane", or "hook".
I'll explain it the other article someday.


Type C

For type C, draw a shape similar to a triangle as pictured above.
Move it to ①, while increasing pressure.
Keep the pressure the same, and move to ②.
Finally, move it upwards to the starting point, while decreasing the pressure.


Type D

For type D, put the brush at an angle of 45° and sweep it to the lower-left.


Now let's practice the following characters!



Stroke order
1. Horizontal stroke
2. Left sweep.
3. Right sweep.
4. Dot type A

On-yomi	けん ken
Kun-yomi	いぬ inu
Meaning	dog

Stroke order
1. Dot type B
2. Dot type D
3. Left sweep
4. Right sweep

On-yomi	か ka
Kun-yomi	ひ hi
Meaning	fire

stroke order
1. Dot type C
2. Curve
3. Dot type B
4. Dot type A

On-yomi	しん shin
Kun-yomi	こころ kokoro
Meaning	heart

How was this lesson?
All the contents that I introduced today are on the practice sheet.
Please download it from here.

Shodo Online Lesson 6, Kanji Sample 林 woods - Shodo with a Brush Pen

First, download and print a practice sheet here

.

Now let's try kanji with radicals.

You are going to write a kanji with "木" ki (tree).
When you look at kanji, you may notice that there are some common parts.
For example, "村" mura (village) and "机" tsukue (desk) have the same parts on the left.
These common parts are called "部首" bushu (radicals).
Depending on the radical, it is on the left, right, top, or bottom.
This radical, 木, usually comes on the left.
As you might guess, kanji with radical "tree" are related to a tree.
Let's take a look at the kanji below.




This is today's sample "林" hayashi (woods). Two "tree" stands for "woods".
You may think it's just two "tree", but the left and right parts have some differences.

In general, when you draw radicals on the left, draw it within the 40% as pictured below.



It looks better if the right side of radical lines up on the 40% line.



This theory also holds true for other radicals as shown below.



Now Let's go back to "woods".
In terms of the "tree" on the right, it is drawn the same way that I showed in the past article.
Please refer to the link below.

Shodo Online Lesson 3, “Left Sweep” and “Right Sweep”

The "tree" on the left is not symmetrical.
The left half is longer.
And also make sure the fourth stroke is "stop" (止め), and not "sweep" (払い).



How was this lesson?
If you would like more practice, I prepared a practice sheet for radical "tree".
Please download and print the practice sheet.

Shodo Online Lesson 5, Kanji Sample 王 king - Shodo with a Brush Pen

First, download and print a practice sheet here

.


Today's kanji is "王 ou", meaning "king".



This kanji consists of simple strokes: three horizontal stokes and a vertical stroke.
Please refer to the past articles that show how to draw horizontal strokes and vertical strokes.

Shodo Online Lesson 1, “Start of Strokes” and “End of Strokes”

Shodo Online Lesson 2, “Horizontal Strokes” and “Vertical Strokes”



The stroke order is ①horizontal stroke, ②vertical stroke, ③horizontal stroke and ④horizontal stroke.
There are two things that you have to be careful about.

First, make sure the stroke ① and ② are almost the same length, and the stroke ④ is the longest.



The second thing is directions of the three horizontal strokes.
The stroke ① curves slightly upwards, the stroke ③ is flat, the stroke ④ curves slightly downwards.
This way, the character looks well-balanced.





This technique can be applied to other letters : 「三」、「玉」、「羊」

Please try writing these characters!

Shodo Online Lesson 4, “Continued Line”

Shodo Lesson4!

All Kanji consists of strokes.
In the previous lessons, you have learned Horizontal Strokes(横画 yokokakau), Vertical Strokes(縦画 tatekakau), Left Sweep(左払い hidariharai) and Right Sweep(右払い migiharai).
I believe you can already write various Kanji!
Now you are going to learn how to draw a "Continued Line（転折 tensetsu）".

Step 1

Draw a vertical stoke, however, this time, make sure the line is a little inclined.

Step 2

The next stroke is the main theme of the lesson. First, draw a normal horizontal stroke, and when the brush reaches where you want to turn, put pressure on the brush(A).

Step 3

Without lifting the brush off of the paper, move it downwards.
The vertical line should be thicker than the horizontal one because of the applied pressure at point "A".
And this vertical line must also be a little inclined.
This makes the character well-balanced.

Step 4

Draw a horizontal line to "close the mouth".

How to Learn Shodo easily

Let's start Shodo!

You may think it's difficult to start Shodo, but there is a easy way to start for beginners.

What about the tools!?

There are a lot of things to prepare for Shodo.
We have to buy some specific tools to start traditional Shodo, such as brushes, sumi, paper and suzuri.
But you don't have to worry about it!

You can start with a brush pen!

You can practice shodo with a brush pen and regular paper.
Brush pens are obtainable on Amazon. If you practice Shodo with brush pens, it is okay to use regular paper, like copier paper. You don’t need to buy specific paper like Japanese Hanshi.
We have a free PDF file, on which there are some guides that you can easily practice our lessons.

Click here to download the PDF file.

Or, we also recommend a Magic Hanshi!

Magic Hanshi is a very convenient item that you can write on with water many times.
The letters disappear when the water dries. Since Sumi is not necessary for the Magic Hanshi, there is no need to worry about stainning your hands,table, room, etc.
Magic Hanshi is also obtainable on Amazon.

Of course, practicing with a regular Shodo set is also okay in our lessons.