I have been studying calligraphy for 11 years, let me express it. Calligraphy is divided into brush calligraphy and hard-pen calligraphy. If you are referring to hard-pen calligraphy, then there is not much need to learn from the ancients, because there were no hard-pens in ancient times. Although the writing brush and the hard-pen calligraphy have similarities, there are still big differences in how to use the pen. Therefore, many people now do not I know how to write with a calligraphy pen, but I can still write well with a hard pen! If you are referring to the writing brush, then it is conceivable that there are far fewer people writing writing brushes now than in ancient times, and most of the famous works of calligraphers nowadays are cursive or running cursive, or seal script. There are very few regular scripts. It can be said that no matter how good your regular script is, it will be difficult to win high prizes in current competitions. And the reason why today's calligraphers can create such works is because they have studied a lot of famous calligraphy from various ancient calligraphers, studied them thoroughly, integrated them, and created with their own understanding, thus forming their own style. . If you are a beginner, there are so many fonts that you can only learn regular script first, because regular script is the foundation, and if you don’t learn regular script well, you won’t be able to learn other rows, cursive, seal script, and official script well at all. Only by learning regular script well can we accurately grasp its shape and structure when learning cursive script. Although the strokes are sloppy and elegant, the spirit remains.
To learn regular script, the regular scripts of Ouyang Xun, Liu Gongquan and Yan Zhenqing of the Tang Dynasty can be regarded as classics. Since ancient times, those who learn regular script must learn one of the three. As for the official script, we should learn from the official script of the Han Dynasty, and the seal script from before and after the Qin Dynasty. There are many running scripts and cursive scripts, from the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the Tang and Song Dynasties and later. Regular script had been formed in the late Han Dynasty. The Wei and Jin Dynasties were a period of turmoil and open-mindedness, so there was also a situation where a hundred schools of thought contended. The same is true for calligraphy, among which Wang Xizhi, the sage of calligraphy, is one of them. Since Wang Xizhi, the sage of calligraphy, is called the sage of calligraphy, naturally many future generations will absorb the essence from him. Wang Xizhi's cursive calligraphy is a peak in the history of calligraphy. Therefore, if future generations want to be accomplished in cursive calligraphy, they must learn a certain level of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy!
As for if you want to learn Su Shi’s calligraphy, I still think you should learn regular script better first, so that you can learn Su Shi’s calligraphy more easily!