Chinese New Year Couplet Calligraphy Without Brush

By
It's been more than 30 years since I last practised my Chinese calligraphy, as well as last owned a Chinese brush or ink! But Lunar New Year is just around the corner and I really want to put up a spring couplet (春联) on the door, just to get into the mood. I've even written a few sets of my own couplets - not from the usual ones that had been published for many years which everyone else is using 😁

There are or course, professional calligraphers at shopping malls to write these on the spot for any paying customers; but as usual, I'm cheap 😜😂! And I still hold on to the idea that - if I can do it myself, I shall try not to pay someone else to do it. So I thought I'd try - with or without the calligraphy tools.

I began with the sourcing of the "Four Treasures of Chinese Study" (文房四宝) around town, in all stationers and book stores I can get to by public transport (yes, I don't own a car), but to no avail. Well that's a lie - I did find the brush and the ink (ready to use ones so obviously I won't need the ink slab) but not the right paper, and it is rather late to order the paper online either.


I then decided to - cheat. No, not getting someone else to do it, or even printing it from the computer; that would've been too easy!

I probably did the hardest ever way to get around it:

I bought a piece of slightly textured, shimmery red gift wrapper (finally found it at Metrojaya - thank you for such beautiful stock!), measured the length and divide it by 7 (7 characters for each side of the couplet), which is about 11cm.

Next is to draw a circle of 11cm diameter on some used (previously printed on) A4 paper, and start 'drawing' each character in my own calligraphy style. When it's done, I turned them into stencils by cutting out the characters with a craft knife:


I then cut two long strips off the red gift wrapper length way (keeping the remaining, I might need it later - whenever), and arrange the stencils onto the strips, each secured by some Faber-Castell Tack-it. This allows me to trace the characters onto the red paper neatly with a fine nib permanent black art pen, then finish off with a thicker nib art pen.


And voila, my brush-less Chinese calligraphy spring couplet is done and ready for the Lunar New Year.

Cost: RM3.90 for the gift wrapper, everything else - ready stock in the house 😁

Wishing you all a very warm and cheerful new year; as my couplet says:
"Evergreen in four seasons,
Full house of peace and joy"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Don't throw away that broken Umbrella just yet. Make a bag with the fabric.

By
Image
A new addition has just been added to our home for old and forgotten possessions, after having a few tweaks here and there. Meet our new shopping bag: But If I don't tell, I don't believe that anyone would've guessed its previous life, would you? Here's a little hint: the material is rain/water proof, and heat resistant to some extent; and is very light. That's right, it used to be my favourite umbrella which was crippled by the crazy wind in Nottingham during my last visit in June (2017). I always have this strange sentiment towards umbrellas, and I get really attached when I find one with prints that I really love (which is often not easy). Most of the time, when one breaks, it's the metal frame that's gone and the fabric is often still intact. And me being me, I absolutely hate to throw it away knowing that it could become something useful, somehow. Of course, there had been numerous deceased brollies in my life but never knew what to do
Read more

Handmade Decorative Lanterns from Used/Old Red Packets Ang Pow

By
Image
Ang Pao envelopes  a.k.a. the red packets , a must have's for Lunar New Year but also a thing that will become clutter over time. We can never get the right amount of a certain design, and we'll often be left with too many unused/odd ones. Although I've handmade some this year but there is still a stack too many from previous years and some of them have specific year or zodiac design on which can't be used for the following year. Growing up, we used to lots of fun making little lanterns with old red packets as festive decoration, and I think it's time to relive that sentiment. Instead of the usual squarish designs, this is one in a spheric form, using just 1 basic modular shape: Cut red packets (ang pao packets) into equal circles (about 8cm diameter) and draw an equal triangle on the reverse side. Fold on the triangle outlines, then glue the shapes together to get these: The 2 round shapes are for the top and the bottom, whilst the long strip goe
Read more

DIY Flash Drive Organizer

By
Image
Due to work, I have to keep quite a few flash drives - each for a different type of job or client - in my bag. Although there are small compartments in my bag, I still find myself having to ransack through other stuff in the same pocket to get to the right flash drive. I've looked everywhere for a flash drive organizer but I just can't find one that I like; and most importantly, I do try not to make unnecessary new purchases. So I went to get some inspiration and help from my sewing box, and made this: I found some fabric scrap big enough for my flash drive organizer pattern, an old zip I saved from some old clothes, and an old and partly used Ikea fleece blanket (which I've used some for the snake stuffed toy ). Here are the few simple steps of the making of the flash drive organizer that's now happily residing in my bag: 1. Little pockets sewn onto the inner layer, then wrapped around with the fabric.   2. Secure the sides with a basting stitch,
Read more