Use a Chinese Calligraphy Brush

Have you ever wondered how to properly hold a Chinese brush pen?

Using this technique, you will be prepared to write beautiful Chinese characters in the traditional manner.

Steps

Prepare a Chinese writing brush.
Soak it in a cup of water.
Take the brush out when it is soft.
Hold the brush in your right or left hand. Holding the brush higher creates weaker, softer strokes while holding closer to the bristles create solid, more defined strokes.
Use your ring finger, middle finger and thumb to hold the brush.
Keep your elbow above the table.
Dip the ink stick in water and grind against the ink stone until the ink has an oily consistency. See how to Grind Ink.
Bottled ink: Pour ink into the ink stone.
Begin writing characters, tilting the brush using the fingers, not the hands. Tilting the brush can add certain effects to the character that may or may not be desirable.
Finished.

1. Before you use your brush, submerge the tip until the water level ALMOST touches the base of the hair. Do not let the base come into contact with water too much, as the glue holding the brush hairs together will dissolve and you get a "shedding" brush.
5. NEVER play around with a dry brush. The hairs will be brittle and can break easily if you drag the tip on paper, causing "forked" tips which we don't want.
If you want your brush to last longer, here are some methods to protect it.
3. When writing, only 1/3 of the tip should be immersed in ink. Any more, and you'll have trouble washing the brush after use.
Do not put brush in your mouth.
Wash your brush every time you use it.
4. When cleaning the brush, make sure that ALL the ink is cleaned out. Chinese ink contains coagulants that damage the brush if left to dry while still wet with ink.
2. Before you start writing, quickly submerge the tip in water and take it out as said above, and leave it for 5 to 10 minutes. This way, the hairs of the brush will not so easily break.
Do not press too hard or paper will tear.