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 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.