The Japanese symbol for strength or power; 力 (chikara) is one of the most popular kanji tattoos to get.

It’s also a very easy character to tackle when you are first starting out with calligraphy.

In both handwriting and calligraphy, the lines are a lot rounder than they are in the typical computer font.

This is an example of three different approaches to drawing this character by calligrapher Juju_sosekido on Instagram.

 

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Wednesday class was 力, power. #japanesecalligraphy, #brushlettering, #brushwork, #kaisho, #gyosho, #sosho, #power, #書道, #筆文字アート, #力, #楷書体, #行書体, #草書体, #sosekido

A post shared by juju sosekido (@juju_sosekido) on Nov 2, 2018 at 4:10pm PDT

Drawing Order

The drawing order of kanji typically follow a pattern of left to right, top to bottom. This is no different for the 力 character.

Step 1

You will start with the stroke that starts horizontally and rounds off downwards to the right. Place your calligraphy brush a few cm left from the center of the intended size of the character.

Step 2

Follow through and finish the stroke, similar to a slightly squarer reversed C. (Remember, a little rounder than this.)

Step 3

Then place your brush a few cm above the every center of the horizontal part of your first stroke.

Step 4

Finally, follow through with the stroke in a rounded diagonal line. It should almost run diagonal to the first line.

All done. We’ve broken it down into 4 steps here, but really it is a simple kanji with only 2 strokes/movements.

Want To Learn More In-Person?

We offer personal/group lessons in calligraphy at our school located in Tokyo.

So if you are ever in town, feel free to drop by!