session 5 readings

[Anonymous]

Learning about the art of calligraphy and the the art of painting from the Chinese perspective was interesting. I feel that the time and practice implemented in both an be implemented in the classroom and applied to several criteria. I would like to implement a lesson where we go over the history behind the two and discuss the particular rules for each. I think the students would find the 6 rules for painting interesting and I think that they may also find it, "weird" as they say. This could lead to some real discourse about what rules we apply to important parts of our lives and how painting was highly significant to the Chinese. This also opens up the topic of discussion of it's importance to certain cultures and civilizations. What do paintings mean at different times to different people? Next I would like to discuss the art of calligraphy and how writing now has gone through so many changes. I think it's important to look at the evolution of writing and the cause and effects. Now that we are in an age of typing/texting how does this change ? Is there an art of typing/texting?

I would like to tie it all together by looking at the process of each and it's significance. I think that the historical background and analysis would allow students to then apply those skills of practice, patience, and pride into other parts of their lives. They can be transfered to writing papers, it can be transfered to their hobbies, etc. I think this would be interesting to work with my teenagers and see what they would be passionate about to actually make into their "art".

[Anonymous]

I enjoyed hearing the professor lecture about the order of importance of poetry, painting, and calligraphy. Also the 3 different types of painting literary, academic and artisan. I also learned the Chinese preferred to use ink verses oil paint and would mostly paint on silk which is why most of their artwork has not survived. Which explains why some of the artwork looks dark and tainted. This session made me think about my curriculum and how I can incorporate their teaching into my painting lessons. Normally I start by having students mix colors, adding mediums and experiment with brushes. However, I now plan on adding to this section by having students practice the 6 principles of Chinese calligraphy. Students will learn to use posture, knowledge of tools, control, rhythm and balance. May have them translate their name in Chinese, http://www.chinese-tools.com/names/search.html, and have them copy it several times until they are ready for the final. I would review some of the quotes I highlighted from the reading and have discussion on their thoughts. Afterwards, have a discussion on how writing and penmanship is considered a dying art since the introduction of technology.


I especially connected with the idea that being a good poet, painter and calligrapher has nothing to do with how well your copy but how well your capture the spirit in life and in objects. Goes beyond duplication but capturing the essence on what you are doing which is something I always take into consideration as a visual art teacher when grading students work.

[Anonymous]

After reviewing my notes and reading other posting it made me reflect on how important penmanship is. I teach at a high school and I noticed that many students get a low grade simply because I cannot read their writing. Let us put aside grammar for a second, many students cannot write their name in a straight line or they simply write big letters and gradually go smaller where it is hard for the teacher/viewer to read. While researching calligraphy lessons I thought back to my own education. I recall that my penmanship was practiced in primary and middle school. I even took a calligraphy class that they offered. However, once I entered high school there was so much to cover that we never spoke about penmanship until I got to college. I took a typography class that really helped me dissect letters and styles. Since the 21st century standards were introduced and pushed on many teachers, teachers have chosen to incorporate technology more into their curriculum that the simple art of writing is no longer considered important. Since I am the department chair of my school and the only visual art teacher for k-12, I now feel more responsibility to stress the importance of the art of writing. At the very least for teachers’ sake in grading students handwriting.

What do you guys think?

[Anonymous]

• One of the ideas that stood out to me the most during today’s lecture was Matteo Ricci’s take on Asian art. Professor Ye explained Ricci’s interpretation of Asian art as not so positive. For example, he was not impressed because the Chinese selected to use other mediums instead of oil, and he made an observation on the lack of movement conveyed by the figures in the art. On the other hand, the Chinese seemed to have an interesting take on European art. For example, they seemed to be impressed by their craftsmanship and their effort to attain perfection, however they noted how their work could not be called art. In listening to these interpretations, I would like to device and activity for my students in which they analyze and interpret two pieces of art. On the one hand, I would like them to examine a western piece of art to see what they noticed and what their interpretations are, and I would like to have them examine an Asian piece. I would then ask them to compare and contrast what they might have noticed. I could probably device an activity in which they examine what might have influenced them to analyze each piece as they did. This could be a great lesson on teaching my students about perspective.

edited by nramon on 6/23/2016
edited by nramon on 6/23/2016

[Anonymous]

• Upon looking at Chinese art, I always wondered about the purpose of stamps, and their meaning. Professor Ye revealed that stamps represent pride of ownership and each marks a different owner that has owned this piece. In hearing about this practice, I thought about the way in which students engage in this process. In driving around the community of my students, it would be interesting for them to point out how different community members show ownership of different places in their community, what this means to them and how this impacts the way these places are perceived. It would be interesting to make connections about a singular practice within two very different contexts.

edited by nramon on 6/23/2016
edited by nramon on 6/23/2016

[Anonymous]

RE: Teaching students with the 6 principles of Chinese Calligraphy
Ms. Jimenez, I really like your idea of incorporating the 6 principles as part of your instruction in art class. Over the past three years I have had the opportunity to teach art as an elective (despite the fact that I am not credentialed in art), and I usually focus on different art styles, art theory or methodology. I typically don’t teach my students about the intricacies of posture, balance, rhythm, etc. I can only imagine this would greatly impact their practice as creators or art. While in China last summer, our group had the opportunity to participate in an art lesson with a master calligraphy, and I learned how deceivingly easy calligraphy seems to be (it is actually really hard!), and the integral role of proper posture. As a pseudo art teacher, I often don’t think about how these affect an artist’s practice.

edited by nramon on 6/23/2016
edited by nramon on 6/23/2016

[Anonymous]

• RE: Penmanship as a dying art

Ms. Jimenez, I wholeheartedly agree with your observation on the dying art of penmanship. Aside from having more legible writing, I think there is much to be gained from allowing students the opportunity to disconnect themselves from all the technology and challenging them to be present in an activity that forces them to focus on the small details of handwriting. I would imagine that despite driving our student crazy with the lack of technology, it will allow them to relax and it will teach them a thing or two about delayed gratification…something that our students are not too acquainted with these days. Overall, I feel it is important for students to be tech savvy and get used to submitting typed work but at the same time, we must also teach them the art of letter writing and allow them to see the effect and personal touch of writing to someone by hand.
edited by nramon on 6/23/2016

[Anonymous]

I really enjoyed learning about the different styles of paintings and typology. One of the topics that interested me was a painting with the woman in red. In this painting, there was a woman with smaller women beside her. In my Mesoamerican History class in college, we also studied the arrangement of positions and size of objects and people in the paintings of the Spanish in their experiences with the Aztec people. I find it interesting that across various cultures, size is used to show power. I wonder if this is a doing of the human psyche or an idea that was passed along.

[cgao]

Please download and reading the PDFs below in preparation for Monday's session on March 7.
edited by cgao on 3/2/2016

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[Anonymous]

I really appreciate the introduction of calligraphy. Growing up I loved art and was taught how to do some calligraphy. This article can be intriduces to students in order to better understand the significance of calligraphy as a form of expression and art. It was very interesting to read about how paint brushes should be held in order to write calligraphy. Sun Chien also describes how calligraphy symbols are often associated with how the mind feels when painting a specific symbol. I though this was such a beautiful anecdotal piece that can be incorporated in both art and history.

[Author]

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