CALLIGRAPHY: VISUAL ART

       Calligraphy is a form of visual art. It is the art of making beautiful or elegant handwriting. It can also be called as the art of fancy lettering. It is derived from the Greek word “kallos” meaning good and “graphe” meaning writing. The main tool used by a calligrapher is pen, whether brush or flat nibbed or round nibbed. These days even steel brushed or multi-nibbed pens are also available. The ink used in the pen should be less viscous and water based. Paper so used would be best if it is highly porous as it gives clean lines and writings.

CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY

       Earlier when press was uncommon, it was the way the books were written with ink and feathers.  Modern calligraphy ranges from functional hand-lettered inscriptions and designs to fine-art pieces. Calligraphy continues to flourish in the forms of wedding and event invitations, font design/typography, original hand-lettered logo design, religious art, announcements/graphic design/commissioned calligraphic art, cut stone inscriptions and memorial documents. It is also used for props and moving images for film and television, testimonials, birth and death certificates, maps, and other works involving writing.

        Today there are three main types of calligraphy namely Western or Roman, Chinese and Arabic.  The western calligraphy is recognized by the use of Roaman characters. The history of letter-forms during the past 2000 years or so bears witness to the immense success of the Romans in launching the Capitalis Romana. Islamic or Arabic calligraphy is highly influenced from Islamic culture. It was considered as the primary way to preserve “Quaran”. Calligraphy has arguably become the most venerated form of Islamic art because the Arabic script was the means of transmission of the Quaran (Koran). Chinese calligraphy is basically used to   communicate the spiritual world of the artist using Chinese characters.  Chinese art is considered as having the beauty of image in painting, the beauty of dynamism in dance and the beauty of rhythm in music.

ARABIC CALLIGRAPHY

        Calligraphy has attracted the attention of the artist all over the world. We also can name other calligraphies such as Tibetan calligraphy, Nepalese calligraphy, Indian, Persian etc.  Thus we can rightly state that calligraphy is a gem in the world's art treasury.