Three elements, namely brushwork, glyphs and composition.
When appreciating a calligraphy work, generally speaking, one should first look at the overall picture. At first glance, what impression does the entire work give you? Is it beautiful or not? Here, the primary question is the composition, that is, the overall effect of the layout. The composition plays a preconceived and decisive role in the viewer.
1. Composition, also called layout, refers to the overall arrangement of a work, also called layout. If the overall arrangement is not appropriate, a work will not look good. When creating, it is absolutely not advisable to just pick up a pen and write. Instead, you must first consider the arrangement of the composition. The position of the main text and signature text should be arranged according to the format and size of the paper, the number of words to be written, and the size of the font.
The best way is to make a prototype first and then write it after planning. This is the so-called plan layout. In the arrangement of the signature text, the location of the seal must also be considered. If you don't do this, you will often end up with unsatisfactory results, resulting in a waste of time, pen, ink and paper.
The overall layout is good and the organization is beautiful. This is the first impression. It is very important and must not be ignored.
The creation of calligraphy relies on the sequential flow of pen and ink to complete the overall layout. After the viewer is attracted by the entire work, they will naturally follow the author's flowing ink and lines to appreciate the structure of the characters, that is, the glyphs and brushwork.
2. Font shape refers to the structural arrangement of characters, also called structure. The key to how to write a word so that it looks good lies in the arrangement of the frame structure. If it is arranged properly, the words will look good; if it is arranged interestingly, the words will be interesting; if it is not arranged properly, the words will be crooked and unsightly.
People who are new to writing always have to deliberately imitate the structure and strive to write like it in order to master the skills; while those who practice calligraphy often worry about writing like others and hate it. I can’t write in a unique style. Calligraphy is an art, and it needs to pay attention to the flavor, so it is necessary to put more effort into the structural arrangement of the glyphs.
Whether the structure of the glyphs is arranged well or not has a lot to do with the grasp of the brushwork. In other words, the study of glyphs is actually the mastery of calligraphy. It can be said that everyone has his own characteristics when writing. The posture may not be beautiful, but it is full of vitality. Traditional brush-using techniques are the basic means to complete the meaning of brushwork, but it is not advisable to be conservative.
To go beyond techniques and create a unique meaning of pen and ink, the best situation is to express the author's temperament in each stroke, making the lines full of life. By doing this, the handwriting will be sublimated. Some people say, "The unique brushwork is a measure of a calligrapher's artistic practice, an important factor in measuring the author's creative power, and a mature sign of style formation." This is indeed true.
3. As far as calligraphy is concerned, the ancients only wrote on album pages or hand scrolls, and the fonts were not large. Generally, they only needed to hang their wrists. Nowadays, all works participating in exhibitions must be large in size, at least three feet wide. Therefore, just hanging the wrist is not enough, you also have to hang the elbow, or even move the entire arm to write. Therefore, the method of holding and using the pen must be broken through. The key to "unique brushwork" is that practice makes perfect.
To sum up, as far as a calligraphy work is concerned, the composition is the macro picture, while the font and brushwork are the micro form, but the three cannot be ignored, so I call them the three elements of calligraphy. The predecessors said: "There are two things to learn about calligraphy, one is the brushwork, and the other is the shape of the characters." This is just speaking and writing. When talking about calligraphy, you must not lose the rules.
When creating, you always have to start from a stroke by stroke and write it down word by word. That is to say, you start from a micro perspective first, but you must first consider it from a macro perspective. Once the arrangements are made, you can start writing with the overall situation in mind. "The writing skills are not perfect, even though they are good, they are still bad, and the shape of the characters is not wonderful, even though they are familiar, they are still raw." This is absolutely true when it comes to writing.
But as far as calligraphy is concerned, if the layout of a work is improper and the composition is ugly, then no matter how good the brushwork is and how wonderful the fonts are, it will still be unsightly.
Extended information
Calligraphy is a unique oriental art variety based on Chinese characters. Through the organic combination of monochromatic (usually ink black) lines and color blocks of Chinese characters, With Feiling's brushwork, rigorous structure and consistent charm, it strikes the viewer's vision and gives people a sense of beauty.
Among the five calligraphy styles of seal, official script, regular script, running script and cursive script, running script not only takes into account fast and flexible writing techniques, but also maintains the rigorous structure of Chinese characters, and has a unique aesthetic appeal.
When appreciating the famous calligraphers and monuments in history, we will find that the same word appears in different works or in different places in the same work. There are great changes in size, thickness, and even interest (famous artists seem to pursue this kind of change more in their creations) to meet the needs of the layout of the article and even the expression and venting of the author's emotions at that time.
It should be said that some works are indeed carefully prepared creations, but most of the works are just notes and notes, and some are even improvised after drinking. There is no more time to plan the layout, but they are It does not affect the artistry of the works, so whenever I appreciate these masterpieces, I always think that calligraphers should have a simple rule of composition to follow.
If not, it is impossible to form a work of art, and if the rules are too complex, it will definitely affect the smoothness of the writing. So I think there must be a simple rule of structure that most calligraphers follow.
Baidu Encyclopedia - Structure