Chinese Cacography: Lunar New Year Blessing 年年有餘

Pen: Noodler's Neponset Music Nib
Ink: J. Herbin Emerald of Chivor

Brush: Platinum Natural Weasel Hair Brush Pen
Ink: Noodler's Raven Black

Since it's Chinese New Year, I thought I would do something a little different and just focus on one New Year greeting. I went with something other than the usual "Gung Hay Fat Choy" (or "Gong Xi Fa Chai").

年年有餘 means "May every year end with ample surplus". The final word in the phrase sounds like the Chinese word for fish. Hence, this saying is usually illustrated with fish. I had a little fun drawing fish with the brush pen but I don't know how to do Chinese brush painting. I'm satisfied with how it turned out though.

For this piece, I used Tomoe River paper. It's amazing how thin this paper is but it handles fountain pen ink really well. And, best of all, it really brings out the sheen in Emerald of Chivor.

Chinese Cacography (i.e. chicken scratch) is my attempt to combine using fountain pens and Chinese characters writing practice. Unless otherwise noted, the paper used is always Baron Fig Apprentice Dot grid.