Information
| Title: |
光劔 JP: Kōken “Lightsaber” |
| Media: | Ink on paper |
| Size: |
24 cm by 43 cm (framed/mounted size: 43 cm by 63 cm) |
| Date: | 2025 |
Description
- Style: Gyōsho (principal characters) and reisho (inscription).
- Inscription in the upper right reads 「愿原力與你同在」 (JP: Genryoku nanji to tomo ni dōzai gennari (I think!); “May the Force be with you”).
- Written using very dilute ink.
I wrote this piece for the 2025 Belper Arts Trail. The trail began on May 4th, so the unofficial theme was Star Wars – you either get the reference or you don’t…
One of the other artists at the 2025 Belper Arts Trail?
As a massive fan of Star Wars since I was about four years old, I had no shortage of ideas for pieces of calligraphy. After quite a bit of umm-ing and aah-ing, I decided to go for 「光劔」(“Lightsaber”).
I wanted to recreate the flaming edge of Kylo Ren’s lightsaber with the strokes in the piece, so I decided to use very dilute ink. Just adding water to ready-made ink, however, is not sufficient to create the effect that I was after.
Liquid ink is made up of tiny soot particles suspended in water. Over time, the particles clump together. Larger, heavier particles do not bleed through the fibres of paper; only water molecules and the few remaining very small soot particles do.
To make good dilute ink, you should first rub solid ink in a few drops of water on an inkstone. The ink should be rubbed very gently to ensure that the soot particles which are scraped off are as small as possible. The ink should be rubbed until it is thick and sticky.
Next, add a few drops of water to the ink and rub the mixture with the tip of your finger to break up the soot particles further. Continue doing this until you have as much ink as you can safely fit in the reservoir of your inkstone.
I actually end up rubbing through the skin of my index finger, so there are a few drops of my blood in this work! True artist. (Note to self: don’t do that again.)
For the piece itself, I envisioned the first four strokes to be like the slow, deliberate movements that Yoda makes when he finally takes out his lightsaber in Episode II: open the cloak with the left hand and hold out the right, use the Force to make the lightsaber jump from left to right, and then ignite the saber.
I decided to run the the fourth stroke (horizontal) of 光 into the first stroke (left downward sweep) of 劔 so that I could get a longer blade on my weapon.
The duel begins with the fifth stroke (left downward sweep) of 光. After a couple of bold slashes, the fighting moves close in and the strokes become more rapid. We end with a double pirouette to bewilder our imaginary opponent before delivering the death stroke…
I thought that the piece needed an inscription, and what better than a traditional Chinese rendering of “May the Force be with you.” I wrote this using a slightly elongated, spiky form of reisho to give it an outlandish, alien appearance.