Shodo Online Lesson 13, "Sun and Moon” - Shodo with a Brush Pen

First, download and print a practice sheet here.

Contents

• Sun and Moon
• 日 hi
• 月 tsuki
• 月日 tsukihi
• 休日 kyujitsu
• 月光 gekkou

Sun and Moon

Today you are going to learn two kanji, 日 (hi) and 月 (tsuki), or sun and moon.

日(hi) originally represents the shape of the Sun.




月(tsuki) also stand for the shape of the crescent moon.



Now let's check how to draw them.

日 hi

stroke order
1. Vertical stroke
2. Continued lineand hook
3. Horizontal stroke
4. Horizontal stroke

On-yomi	にち nichi
Kun-yomi	ひ hi
Meaning	the sun

Draw this kanji's length slightly longer than its width.
Look at the bottom right part, stop the last stroke before it goes through the vertical line.


I drew 口(mouth) in this lesson, but for the kanji 口, the last stroke goes through the vertical line.



As seen above, there is a difference between the bottom right part of 日 and 口, so please be careful.

月 tsuki

stroke order
1. Vertical stroke
2. Continued line and hook
3. Horizontal stroke
4. Horizontal stroke

On-yomi	げつ getsu
Kun-yomi	つき tsuki
Meaning	moon

Draw this kanji vertically-long as well.

Consider the two vertical lines as human legs.
People look good if their legs are long, right?
For the same reason, draw the 月's legs long to make it look nice.





Now let's practice the combinations of kanji.

月日 tsukihi

yomi	つきひ tsukihi
Meaning	days

休日 kyujitsu

yomi	きゅうじつ kyujitsu
Meaning	a holiday, a day off

月光 gekkou

yomi	げっこう gekkou
Meaning	moonlight

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

Shodo Online Lesson 12, radical “roof” - Shodo with a Brush Pen

First, download and print a practice sheet here.

Today, you are going to learn how to draw the radical "roof"

This radical originally stands for a house with a roof.




Characters with the radical "roof" are related to houses.

The radical consists of two "dots" and a "hook".




First, draw a dot type A on the center guide.
The second stroke is dot type C
The third stroke, which is hook type B, starts from the start of the second stroke.

Draw them in the 40% area as pictured below.





Now let's write the following characters.



stroke order
1. Dot type A
2. Dot type C
3. Hook type B
4. Horizontal stroke
5. Hook type A
6. Dot type A

On-yomi	しゅ shu
Kun-yomi	まも(る) mamoru も(り) mori
Meaning	protect

I already introduced how to draw the bottom part, "寸", in this lesson, please refer to it.





stroke order
1. Dot type A
2. Dot type C
3. Hook type B
4. Left sweep
5. Horizontal stroke
6. Curve and hook

On-yomi	たく taku
Kun-yomi	-
Meaning	home

The last stroke, which is curve and hook, starts from the slightly-left side of the center guide.





stroke order
1. Dot type A
2. Dot type C
3. Hook type B
4. Horizontal stroke
5. Horizontal stroke
6. Horizontal stroke
7. Left sweep
8. Right sweep

On-yomi	じつ jitsu
Kun-yomi	み(のる) minoru み mi
Meaning	fruits

I want you to pay attention to the three lines on the center part.

Remember what I mentioned in this lesson.

I would call it "three lines principle".

Use the "three lines principle" when you see three vertical lines in a row.

Stroke ④ curves slightly upwards, stroke ⑤ is flat, stroke ⑥ curves slightly downwards.
This way, the character looks well-balanced.




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