D+P Studio News

Love 愛 Ai in Shodo calligraphy

Brushing Love 愛 ai in the old tensho style of Japanese and Chinese calligraphy with deep orange-red sumi 🙂 Ai is also fun to brush in the more flowing sosho grass style of shodo calligraphy, in a much more simplified form. As well as love or… Read More »Love 愛 Ai in Shodo calligraphy

Tenkoku styles Blair Thomson D+P Studio

Dynamic lines at Tenkoku seal engraving

It was an easygoing and peaceful 篆刻 tenkoku (seal engraving) group where we each worked on designs for stamps (in 印) or worked on our stones or erasers (the keshigomu method). Thanks for taking part ? There was some time to look at the very varied… Read More »Dynamic lines at Tenkoku seal engraving

Creative time - delighting in autumn colours

Creative time – delighting in autumn colours

On the West Coast of Scotland here in Glasgow the autumnal colours have been rich and changing from day to day.  ? For this fun creative time challenge we photographed some of the colours and shapes near us.? Please send us any photographs, poetry and… Read More »Creative time – delighting in autumn colours

Shodo - Brushing the wonderful with Myouhou

Shodo – Brushing the wonderful with Myouhou 

妙法 Myouhou – all life and things wondrous – was captivating to brush in the kaisho and sousho styles of Shodo calligraphy 書道. On its own myou means mystery, or excellent, strange or wonderful and hou can mean method, teachings, dharma, or process ✨ It was… Read More »Shodo – Brushing the wonderful with Myouhou 

Carving seals and stamping onto calligraphy and artwork

Here is an example of stamped calligraphy (this is kokotsubun shell and bone style). You can stamp on your shodo calligraphy, artwork, poetry or sutra copying, or anything else you fancy ? This example is of stamped artwork by Blair was inspired by the dynamic… Read More »Carving seals and stamping onto calligraphy and artwork

Exploring vast spaces through small stamp designs

Exploring vast spaces through small stamp designs

At our first regular 篆刻 tenkoku (seal engraving) group on zoom we had fun pioneering Japanese and Chinese stamp making online! This time we mainly worked on designs for our in 印 stamps. After a short intro by Blair to the practice, his experience of… Read More »Exploring vast spaces through small stamp designs

Practicing intuitive wisdom with each small stroke

Practicing intuitive wisdom with each small stroke 

We gently traced and copied the famous and inspiring Mahayana Buddhist Heart Sutra, or to use the full title, the Great Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra. After Blair and the group discussed about the Shakyo practice and some of the meanings and structure of the sutra,… Read More »Practicing intuitive wisdom with each small stroke 

Eternal peace with the eight strokes of 永 Ei - Yong

Eternal peace with the eight strokes of 永 Ei – Yong

At Zen Brush we worked with the graceful eight strokes of eternal eijihappoh 永字八法, also known as the eight principles of yong – getting a feel for them and having some fun with the flow of the brush. Inspired by some Japanese haiku and old… Read More »Eternal peace with the eight strokes of 永 Ei – Yong

Creative time - From late Summer to early Autumn

Creative time – From late Summer to early Autumn

As the season gradually changes from summer towards autumn and we reach out for more jumpers and get cosy during the darker nights, let’s take a moment to notice the atmosphere and what going on around us. And write a haiku or short poem about… Read More »Creative time – From late Summer to early Autumn