Artist's Handbook

Author: Ma Dechun / Ma Yu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-11-01
Features: The "Practical Handbook for Calligraphers and Painters" was compiled over several years by renowned painter Ma Dechun and his daughter. It is a reference tool designed to assist artists and enthusiasts in their creative endeavors. The book is divided into two parts: "Inspiration for Calligraphy and Painting" selects exquisite quotes from ancient sages, serving as an anthology of inscriptions; "Miscellaneous Records of Ink Connections" organizes and summarizes knowledge frequently encountered and of interest to calligraphers and painters, including taboos of traditional festivals, inscriptional titles and humble expressions, naming conventions for ancient and modern times, and more.
Calligraphy and Painting Inscriptions:
Blessings and congratulations, philosophical and Zen sayings, famous quotes and proverbs, idioms and folk sayings, traditional oral and written greetings, age-related terms and polite expressions, inscriptions for invitations, red envelopes, wedding and birthday congratulations, mourning and epitaphs, ancient and modern poems and famous verses, landscape, flora, and fauna-themed inscriptions.
Calligraphy and Painting Related Knowledge:
Chinese traditional festivals and taboos, seasonal and monthly names, solar terms, traditional calendar and the Five Elements and Bagua, sexagenary cycle and Gregorian calendar conversion, inscriptional titles and humble expressions, seal usage and seal studies, aliases and studio names, various naming rules, poetry knowledge, art appraisal, the Four Treasures of the Study, framing styles, standard picture frame sizes, Western festivals and wedding age naming, national flower and national bird.