Calligraphy in the Arab world is regarded as one of the highest forms of art, since the religion doesn't allow figurative art. Letters are symbols of power, integrity and beauty and decorate many objects, including furniture, in the Muslim world. Calligraphers write the Arabic letters starting from left to right. They write letters using ascending verticals, descending curves and temperate horizontals. The full alphabet consists of 28 letters, mostly representing consonants, but only 18 distinct letter shapes exist in the alphabet and the neighboring letters influence the way they are written. The calligraphy styles may be divided into cursive, including Naskh and Thuluth, and the angular writing such as Kufi. Persian, Urdu and Malay also use adaptations of the Arabic calligraphy style.
Chinese and Japanese are the best-known oriental calligraphy styles. Each type of oriental calligraphy is divided into different styles. For instance, Chinese calligraphy includes the seal, official, regular, semicursive and cursive styles. Calligraphers choose a style according to the purpose of the document. A series of single brush strokes represent the elements of a Chinese or Japanese character. The calligrapher holds the brush straight up and down when performing horizontal lines, vertical lines, dots, sweeping downward strokes, sharp curves and other types of downward strokes. Chinese calligraphy contains seven types of strokes or mysteries. Both Chinese and Japanese calligraphy require a certain order in which the strokes are performed.
Western calligraphy employs the Roman alphabet, which is why the style is also known as Roman calligraphy. Just like in the case of oriental calligraphy, the order of the strokes was important in traditional Western calligraphy. Modern calligraphers no longer consider the stroke order. However, the strokes have to form regular letters and a rhythm in the writing. Calligraphers create characters using vertical pen strokes, curves, dots, downward strokes and hooked serifs.
Western calligraphers typically use pens, while Arabic and oriental masters choose brushes to create characters in ink. High-quality, porous paper is also necessary for calligraphy. The size of the brushes influences the appearance of the strokes and master calligraphers use different brushes according to the desired effect. For instance, Japanese calligraphers use a large brush when creating the main characters and a smaller brush for signing their names. Brushes that are made of animal hair are more suitable for precision strokes than artificial hair.