The Art of Chinese Calligraphy ─ The Essential Stroke-by-Stroke Guide to Making over 300 Beautiful Characters

Practice the ancient art of Chinese calligraphy with this step-by-step guide to rendering more than 300 individual characters for use in arts, crafts and design projects. With characters as beautifully decorative as they are meaningful, this elegant script can be used to embellish just about anything and a single character can convey myriad thoughts and emotions.

Organized into sections embracing themes such as celebrations, blessings, love and meditations, you can easily select an appropriate character to express that special sentiment. Each character is accompanied by an explanation of its meaning, and features clear illustrated instructions on the order and direction of strokes. The failsafe way each character is constructed lets beginner calligraphers duplicate what they see. Includes advice on the tools and techniques for graceful application, from the correct way to sit and hold the brush to the rhythm and quality of the line.

Yat-Ming Cathy Ho is a professional Chinese calligrapher and painter. Cathy has exhibited her work in Hong Kong, London and Liverpool. Since the eighties she has taught both Chinese calligraphy and Tai Chi, an activity that she regards as an instrument for perfecting Chinese calligraphy.