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Chinese and Japanese
Painting and Calligraphy Books

Here is a little known fact - Will's Quills has sold Chinese and Japanese painting equipment for more years than it has sold western calligraphy gear. This page for books on these arts will show the broad range of this exiting subject. The history of Painting and Calligraphy in China has such a rich tradition over 100's and 1000's of years, that books can hardly represent its depth and quality. You can find here a broad range of books on all subjects related to Painting and Calligraphy. We do carry hundreds of books, but space here is limited, so this page is our advertised selection only. The whole range can be viewed/purchased at the shop. Besides the following books, a special books selection can be seen (click) here. Translation of Chinese characters (left), "Friends of the Literatae/Artists gathering place"

"To paint in Ling-Nan-Style (1) Theories, Flowers, Vegetables". By Lo Ching Yuen. This book is written entirely in Chinese, but there are pictures on every page in colour and as many as 5 pictures per page. The subject matter is one of the most popular styles of Chinese painting. Pictures in the book show stage by stage painting in most cases and start at the outline work in black. An excellent book. AUD$88.00 each. Soft cover.

"The Method of painting Animals. No.4". By Li Chi-Mao. The animals represented in this book are Horse, Donkey, Mule, Goat, Squirrel, Deer, Rabbit, Cat, Dog and Camel. The artist uses black ink with water for gray shades, but is just as fluid with colour painting. The techniques reflect the animals nature in his paintings, with guidance and tips throughout for every stage of painting finished work. Li Chi-Mao has held exhibitions around the world of his work, and this book contains the core of his techniques. AUD$88.00 each. Soft cover. Chinese and English text.

"Brush Writing calligraphy Techniques for Beginners".By Ryokushu Kuiseko. This book is dedicated to such enthusiasts of Japanese calligraphy who have searched for a basic and introductory guide in English to this traditional and challenging Eastern art. An invaluable guide to writing Kanji, a subject rarely dealt with adequately in language textbooks, as well as providing the fundamentals to decipher handwritten Japanese. The book explains secrets of writing attractive Hiragana, ensuring that the handwriting is clearly legigible, leaving the impression that it was penned by an adult Japanese hand. AUD$47.95 each. Soft cover. Japanese and English.

"Sumi-e, Just for you". By Hakuho Hirayama. Traditional "ONE BRUSH" Ink Painting. Everything you need to know is in this book. Sumi-e is an easy and entertaining way to express on paper, the moods and images of nature. From a description of basic equipment, and through the technique of brush skills, all lead step by step to full compositions. Dozens of sample pictures to copy and practise with, and illustrating photos of Hakuho Hirayama doing the brush strokes, make for a very complete book on the art of Sumi-e. AUD$49.95 each. Soft cover.

(OUT OF PRINT) "China Empire of Living Symbols". By Cecilia Lindqvist. This is a book for anyone who has ever wondered about the mystery of Chinese characters. Name pictures, the earliest roots of written language form the basis of this book. Cecilia's story blends legend, an art historian's eye, and innovative scholarship with witty and colourful observations from years of living in China. This 3000 year saga is illustrated with drawings, rubbings, paintings, and full colour photographs. For anyone studying Chinese language it is a godsend. AUD$89.95 each. Hard cover.

"Liu, Yueh shing: Sheng Figurative Paintings". By Sung Ching-i. This book has paintings of Liu Yueh-Sheng., Sung Ching-i has a forword in Chinese and English in the front pages that fully describes Liu's life and asparations. Every page has full colour pictures of figure paintings with their titles in Chinese and English. The work covers various periods of his paintings, but concentrates on the later period of his lifes works. AUD$71.44 each. Soft cover.

This book is now out of print & sold out - sorry. "Drawing Goldfish and Golden Carps. No.1". By Lin Hu-kuei. An excellent teaching book for anyone wishing to paint the traditional Goldfish and Carp found in so much Chinese painting through the ages. Complete breakdowns, starting at the basic line strokes and composition in black and gray shades. Developes into full colour methods, fully supported with tips on technique. AUD$75.00 each. Soft cover. Chinese and English text.

"The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of painting". Translated from the Chinese and edited by Mai-mai Sze. First published in 1701, this books popularity is attested by more than twenty editions published in China in the 18th and 19th centuries. The present edition is a facsimile, with translation, of the Shanghai edition of 1888. There are over 400 examples of brushwork, covering a blade of grass to the composition of a tree, village, or mountain. They clarify the text and enunciate the principles and standards of the tao of painting, showing how the painting techniques and traditions were handed down from period to period. AUD$109.60 each. Soft cover.

“An Introduction to Practical Chinese Painting”. By Ong Chen-Ru.  This book is the ideal answer to a beginners study in Chinese Painting. Completely illustrated throughout, with instructional strokes, and paintings from famous painters and some of the authors works, it covers the broadest range of painting subjects. Just a quick look at the contents page reveals - besides tools, structure, techniques and style sections - 9 main subjects covering fish, birds, people and landscapes. Plus a chapter on calligraphy and seals as used to finish scroll art work.  AUD$41.60 each. Soft cover book.

“Easy Ways to Learn Chinese Calligraphy”. By Ong Chen Ru. A new book on Chinese calligraphy. Learning to write Chinese characters is made easy in this book, beginners start with the main styles, the Kai, Zhan and Li styles. Each is developed through the stroke number and its particular brush movement. Extra sections of this book deal with brushes, seals, scrolls and brush holding techniques. AUD$41.60 each. Soft cover book.

This book is currently sold out - sorry. "100 FLOWERS Chinese techniques for painting flowers". By Yang O-Hsi. Flower and bird painting in spontaneous style plays an extremely important part in Chinese painting. Sometimes only Flowers are drawn in "Flower and Bird" paintings. Thus, the importance of flowers could be seen. Stones, insects, birds which are added are just to arouse liveliness. The vividness captured in a flower painted in this style is the important thing. This 100 flowers book shows the way to this advanced technique. AUD$67.76 each. Soft cover. Chinese & English text.

“A Gateway to Chinese Calligraphy”. Material and calligraphy by Y.C.Chen, English translation by Amy Huang and Gwen Foley. This is an illustrated teaching book, presenting various styles of calligraphy, techniques and practise models from the great calligraphers. Roughly divided into 5 sections the book outlines Chinese brushes, holding and posture, movement, detail on using the middle of the brush. The remaining 4 sections cover 19 further sub-sections on “SEI”, “GIO”, “SO”, and “LEI” styles of calligraphic writing. AUD$25.00 each. Soft cover.

“The Real Spirit of Nature – The Spirit and Works of eighty years of Master Lin, Yu-Shan”. By Yung Liu. Professor Lin, Yu-Shan was Taiwanese born, and taught as a lecturer on painting worldwide. He studied in Japan for a while and his works reflect both Chinese and Japanese influences. Producing grandiose brushwork infused with delicate elegance. He mastered animal, floral and bird painting techniques. This book shows many of his works and breaks down his techniques for the reader to learn from. He is publicly recognized as one of the most outstanding painters ever.  AUD$150.00 each. A hard cover book with a book cover.

“Flowers of Wisdom – The Heart Sutra in Five Scripts”. By Liang Xiao Ping. This book contains images from five scrolls, each twelve foot in length and each one in a different style of calligraphy. These are the Cursive, Official, Running, Regular and Seal scripts. Fully illustrated in colour with a complete section on details of each scrolls characters. Also the book has translations into Chinese, Japanese, English and Korean text. This book and the following on Chinese Calligraphy are both by Liang Xiao Ping, who also teaches Character Calligraphy locally in Sydney. AUD$48.40 each. Soft cover book.

“Sayings from Beyond - Chinese Calligraphy in the Brush of Liang Xiao Ping”. By Liang Xiao Ping. This book has the current works of Liang Xiao Ping. It includes finished scroll pieces that range from the strictest of scripts (Kai style) to wild and free style “Running” scripts. There are some well known poetic verses as well as some scrolls with large central single characters. AUD$130.00 each. Hard cover book.

“Dawo Miaomo Calligraphic Art: Re-Creating the Pleasure, Insecurity and Excitement Encountered in Dreams”. By Zhang Dawo. Miaomo is a unique oriental abstract art, with unsurpassed quality (Ke Wenhui). 52 colour plates of Dawo's work are shown in full page view. Many extra chapters are included at the end of this book, written by various Chinese authorities on art, which elucidate the artwork selection and abilities of Dawo as an artist. AUD$120.00 each. Soft cover book.

“Zhuangbiao”. By Scroll mounter and Calligrapher Sun Yu. Mounting a hanging scroll is presented on this DVD in the most complete way by SunYu, the conservator of Asian art at the Art Gallery of NSW. The Chinese history of scroll mounting for painting or calligraphy is over 1500 years old, the skills and knowledge of mounting techniques developed during this time has been handed down to present day Zhuangbiao specialists. We find a transmission of knowledge on this DVD that will improve the skills of even an experienced scroll mounter. The cost is AUD$85.00 each, DVD running time 103 minutes.

“Ancient Art of the Chinese Seal”. By Yunn Pann. A beautiful miniature book and seal set. The set has a black silk draw string bag, in which fits the ceramic pot containing vermilion red seal mud and four small wood seals, carved with the seal script symbols for 'Prosperity', 'Joy', 'Peace' and 'Good Luck'. The small booklet in the set has 88 pages, filled with the history and allure of Chinese seals and their uses. The contents cover the subjects; History, Types of Seals, Four basic Writing Styles, The Chop, Modern day Seals, and Your Seals. The cost is AUD$20.80 each.

"South Jiang Zhi River Scenery paintings, using New Australian painting techniques". By Shen Mo. A softcover book contains 30x of Shen Mo's pictures in full colour. This shows off the traditional painting style and the use of modern background techniques to illustrate the surrounding scenery areas. Very inspirational to see and a worthwhile book that preserves the old and adds the new, in each picture. Cost AUD$25.00 each. Wording in Chinese only.

"Jiangnan-Color upon ink". The latest book from Shen Mo. Written in English and Chinese, so that westerners can benefit as well as Chinese. This book expands on the painting shown in South Jiang Zhi River Scenery (above). 48 full colour paintings are included in this book. More use of colour is apparent in the pictures modern backgroung painting techniques, this make the viewing of each picture a visual pleasure to the eye. Cost AUD$30.00 each. A softcover book.

“A Concise Course of Chinese Calligraphy”. English translation by Wang Rongting. The official Australian Correspondence College of Chinese-Painting and Calligraphy book about Chinese Calligraphy. This book is translated from the original Chinese for the benefit of Western students who cannot easily read Chinese. Chinese chapters are included and these are aimed at overseas Chinese students. # This book is the one chosen by Franz Cheung the teacher of Chinese Caligraphy at Macquarie University, for his students to learn from during his classes. AUD$39.95 each. Soft cover book.

“Tranquil Waters - Australia”. By Ian Carlson. Here is a book with a difference. It is a picture book of Australian scenery, beautifully photographed by Ian Carlson, most pictures in the book occupy a double page spread, to fully harness the pictures broad and wide subject matter. Along with this collection of pictures, are verses of Chinese poetic calligraphy from ancient China, with subjects that are stimulated from the pictures. English translations are also included. The calligraphy work is done in many styles of Chinese character writing by Franz Cheung. AUD$39.95 each. Hard cover book.

“The Art of Mirra Hainsworth”. By Mirra Hainsworth. A book of many of the paintings by Mirra, also explaining the ways she has approached Chinese style painting and applies it to Australian subjects. A brief history of Mirra's early years, exhibitions and awards, is also included. AUD$25.00 each. Soft cover book.

“Brush Painting the Chinese Way”. By Mirra Hainsworth. A DVD of Mirra's painting classes, for beginners learning Chinese painting. The Techniques of Chinese Painting are revealed lesson by lesson in this easy to follow course. Lesson 1. A brief introduction to Chinese painting and the equipment needed. Lesson 2. The basic brush strokes required to paint in the Chinese style. A foundation of Chinese painting is found in "The Four Gentleman". These are demonstrated and taught in great detail in the following four lessons. Lesson 3. The Bamboo. Lesson 4. The Orchid. Lesson 5. The Plum Blossom. Lesson 6. The Chrysanthemum. Lesson 7. Mounting paintings for scroll making or framing. Lesson 8. Conclusion, looks at painting other subjects with the newly learned Chinese painting techniques. A set of double-sided samples of each of the Four Gentleman is included in this package, illustrating the methods used in this video. Based on Mirra's VHS "Brush Strokes of China", it sells for AUD$49.95 each. The DVD in an A5 size soft cover, with 4x painting instruction sheets. A 93 minute long, PAL format video.

“The Happy Brush, The Joy of Chinese Painting” with DVD. By Chou Hong. The contents of this book list the approach to Chinese painting methods. Sections outline; Tools & Materials, Brush holding & execution, Line & Dot, etc. Then chapters on Straight & Curved line practise. With 5x major sections in the Comprehensive practise chapter. With an enlarged appendix & a DVD to help in the learning process. The book costs AUD$63.00 each. Soft cover, with attached DVD in the back cover pouch.

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Last updated October 2008