Shodo - Jules Pretty

Shodo Calligraphy and Sumi-e ink painting

Introduction to my work

Shodo is the Way of traditional brush calligraphy. Sho means to write; Do means the way, the path, the arts, the Tao, life’s path. Shodo uses many of the aspects of “flow” found in tai chi.

There are three styles to Shodo.

Kaisho is block style, also called regular script. It dates to the 4th to 5th centuries CE.
Gyosho is a semi-cursive script, rounded technique, dating to about 200 CE.
Sosho is cursive, and is sometimes called grass script, as it is more free-flowing. It too dates to about 200 CE.

I use shodo to create and illustrate the koans that feature as central content to The Climate Chronicles series and my new book, Bamboo and Butterfly. Some are completed with a wet-brush, some part-dry. These are painted onto paper or silk scrolls. You generally read the script from top to bottom, and from right to left. Each of the examples in the gallery are titled in both Japanese and the English translation.

All are stamped in red with my seals. These came from Hangzhou in China in 1981, and from Japan and China in the 2020s. All seals are unique to the author/painter.

The sumi-e are ink paintings. Like calligraphy, space between and around things is as important as the thing itself. There are examples here of bamboo (strong and flexible); butterflies (flapping wings to cause whole systems to change); plum blossom (first signs of spring after cold winter); dragonflies; maples leaves falling; and combinations of plants and insects.

A sumi-e ink painting features as the cover of my 2027 book, Bamboo and Buttefly.

You will also see some oil pastel drawings, on a variety of gold, red and coloured ground.