Jack Wise often used a technique of paint application resembling Chinese calligraphy. The strokes of the brush in calligraphy use the contrasting qualities of thick and thin, fast and slow, wet and dry, which Wise found pleasing to the eye. His work displays this use of calligraphy in free form brush work, where he uses black on a white background. It is also seen in paintings, such as Sword in Stone completed in 1974, that use strokes of the brush to create forms that strongly resemble fields of calligraphic shapes, and in the undulating patterns found within his mandalas.

Untitled Jack Wise

Calligraphy was present in China from ancient times and brought to Japan in the 8th Century C.E.. There are traditions of calligraphy, or 'beautiful writing' in many written languages. However, the Chinese tradition is not simply writing, but the creation of the actual physical form of the word. The brush method and the structure of the characters are the key components of Chinese calligraphy, and the subtle, continuous lifting and lowering movements of the brush require confidence, concentration and focus. Mastery takes years of practice and concentration, often through study with a master calligrapher. Although Western artists most commonly adopted Japanese calligraphy, Wise studied Chinese calligraphy.

Wise would start every morning with non-character calligraphy exercises in black and white, to get his "brush hand moving". He had been engaging in brush stroke work for years when he met Lin Chien Shih, who, upon immigrating to Canada from China, found Wise to be a talented student and a true friend.

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