Long Time Expat In Japan
I started Shodo four years ago as a way to help my youngest on her kanji tests in school, never with the intention of pursuing it seriously. Something about how my Sensei teaches, and the regularity of studying together every week changed my attitude. Below is my official certificate that I reached shodan, first dan … Continue reading Shodan
The best part of the level up test is when you can write free hand. Normally, I have to copy as perfectly as possible. That can be fun but a little boring. Of course, Sensei always helps with composition, but I really do have a free hand. This time, the assignment was the following waka … Continue reading Kana Level-up Test
Some smart person in marketing must have figured out the low carb craze. Then they married zero carbs with Chu-hi, which is made of Shochu, a Korean cheap alcohol. Then they made it twice as strong as beer. Unsatisfied with just one flavor they started in on lychee and yes, mango. The result? A quick … Continue reading Japan is Awesome- Chu-hi
Sensei tells me that I'm finally getting my lines straight. I love how she says it. It's onomatopoeia, "Pshee!" Which means like wicked straight. I must admit, the following is probably the most "Pshee!" I have ever written my kanji. Kana is still my strong suit, but I had a hell of a time this … Continue reading June Shodo, aka “Pshee!”
Tobikyu \ˈtō ˈbē ˈkyü\ Verb (used without object) 1) To tobu a kyu 2) No really, you tobu completely over a kyu to the next kyu 3) so tobu means to jump or fly, and kyu is a level, so it means jumping up more than one level at a time. Kind of like skipping … Continue reading Shodo – Tobikyu
April I feel pretty good about kana. I used to worry about where to move my brush and when. Now, it seems to just happen. I also used to bend my brush at a little bit of an angle. Now, I'm pretty much straight up and down. I'ts been a long time since I wrote … Continue reading April Shodo
I did some new Japanese Calligraphy in March. The work we write in March gets submitted around week two of the following month. This is a little late to post about, but I like what I did so I'm sharing it now. Kana is my best area. It flows and connects from one word to … Continue reading March Shodo
If you read my bibliography, you'll know that I try to write fiction. I got the bug, so to speak, two years back, maybe a little more. I sold one story so far, trying to sell more. There are a bunch of professional magazines for the type of fiction I want to write, maybe 10 … Continue reading The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction – and How They Won Me Over
Hey, it's been forever since I've been able to show some progress, but in the March issue of Shodo Geijutsu, the magazine for my Shodo group, you can read that I made it to yukyu. This is up from 1 kyu. Check out the cover of the mag: My name has a big old circle … Continue reading Level Up – Kana
I kind of like my kanji submission this month. I still feel awkward and clumsy with the size, especially with the non-cursive style I have to use. But this month was fun if not skillful. Below is my kana submission. While I think I could have done better, I feel like I know more specifically … Continue reading January Shodo
B.S. Donovan 