Calligraphy is also an art applied to blank space.
In any case, a calligrapher can't express the artistic taste contained in his inner world without the specific expression of "black and white". These two monochromatic colors, black and white, can form a wonderful work of art through calligrapher's handwriting. The sense of black and white is not won by magnificence and dazzling, but can form bright and profound calligraphy. The reason why the Chinese nation is so partial and sensitive to black and white has its aesthetic psychological roots. The descendants of the Chinese people are born with black eyes and white eyes, and they also choose black and white for Tai Chi and Go. The ancients not only discovered and used the beauty of black and white, but also created black and white paper, which made it indissoluble. Without the clever correspondence of black and white, without the artistic expression of reality and falsehood, there would be no calligraphy art, and it is precisely because of the distribution of black and white that the unique spatial beauty of China's calligraphy is formed.
In excellent calligraphy, a very important feature is balance. Neat or strewn at random blank, giving people a visual feeling, all contain a kind of balance. Of course, white also depends on black. Da Zhongguang said in the book "Raft": "A painting like a golden knife can be cut clean, and it is as white as jade." Where there are strokes, it is neat and clean, and where there are no strokes, it is neat. Here refers to the specific pen operation, which is a subtle part between white and black. But before writing, the key consideration is still white. Look at white, based on black. The contrast and change between white and black also set off each other to balance and harmonize the whole between white and black.
Harmony is black harmony, white harmony, black and white harmony, especially black and white harmony. The form of calligraphy is completed by black and white, and it is the comprehensive image of black and white that affects people's visual experience. Only black or white will not have calligraphy, and the imbalance between black and white is not good calligraphy, which is difficult to bring aesthetic pleasure to people. But most people tend to pay attention to the black line and ignore the blank space, so they can't consciously pursue and create the overall harmony of calligraphy. "Counting white is black" reminds and requires people to treat white and black equally, which provides a premise for creating the overall harmony of calligraphy, and its positive role is obvious. In this regard, future generations continue to discuss. For example, Hu Xiaoshi said, "Where there are words, it is ink, and where there are no words, it is white. Ink is a word, and white is also a word ... There are words and no words, which are of equal importance. " Zong Baihua said: "Blanks should be counted in the form of a word, and they should be properly distributed and have the same artistic value as strokes." China's Aesthetic Thought of Calligraphy can be regarded as an affirmation and development of Deng's theory of "taking white as black".
The bottom of the book with calligraphy modeling layout is flat, and the initial direct function of calligraphy lines is only to divide this plane into a boundary; There is a color contrast between the black of the line ink and the white at the bottom of the original book, and there is an area contrast between the divided areas and even between the boundaries. They all need harmony. But this is only a superficial form, and there is a deeper meaning behind the primary beauty. The aesthetic value of "taking white as black" goes far beyond this.
In the art of calligraphy, it greatly embodies the truth of the coexistence of reality and reality. Just like painting, on a piece of paper, ink is black, where there is no ink is white, white is the basis of black, black is the basis of white, and black and white complement each other. The right black and white is amazing. It turns out that everything has become so detailed, even more delicate than your eyes can feel. And this exquisiteness makes the natural landscape that you have heard so many times become quiet, holy and distant in an instant.
In the aesthetic process, the role of black and white is two-way, resulting in the relationship between breathing and movement, giving the viewer a smart aesthetic feeling. In a book, black has the power to move and expand to white, and white also has the potential to move to black. The isomorphism of the two forms the beauty of breath and movement in the whole work. If you stand in the black position, pen and ink have a moving atmosphere that expands to the blank, and the blank seems to be shrinking, as if pen and ink have taken the initiative. Blank provides space for the movement of the qi of pen and ink, and pen and ink create conditions for the movement of blank. In essence, there is no difference between blank and pen and ink in expression form and aesthetic value, but the expression form of color is different. In fact, after the blank and pen and ink are solidified on the paper, the shape and position can no longer be changed. The sense of movement we feel is only the result of psychological action. Only when black and white blend together can we produce a kind of advanced aesthetic value with life, emotion, interest and charm.
Calligraphy pays attention to "density", concise and blank. Being able to leave blank is the real skill. The structure and layout of the characters must be dense, so as to break the flatness, uniformity, ups and downs, contrast, contradiction and harmony and obtain good artistic taste. When doing calligraphy, we should not only pay attention to the black part-the dense part of glyph strokes, but also pay attention to the sparse part of white between calligraphy and painting and between lines. The black places should be carefully written, while the white places-the arrangement between the lines should also be handled properly, so that the density is good, and the two set each other off.
A piece of white rice paper can only be regarded as a plane in people's field of vision before it is used as a calligraphy material. Once cut into a certain format, such as banners, stalls, fans and so on. It has entered the art category. When the black line falls and forms a certain shape, the blank created becomes a part of the calligraphy form. Blank and black line are integrated, which has obvious influence on black line. The blank at this time is no longer a simple plane, but a space with depth. We don't think that the black line lies flat on the paper, but more like it is suspended in the air. It is to make full use of this visual change as a means of artistic expression to create a more distant and ethereal artistic conception.
Black and white, the combination of reality and reality is the spirit of China culture, and it is a concentrated expression of "the unity of heaven and earth, the nature of Taoism". The ethereal beauty of calligraphy naturally depends on blank space, but it is not limited to blank space itself, and it is also inseparable from the shape of lines. The modeling image of lines becomes three-dimensional, dynamic and ethereal because of the participation and foil of blanks. Without the foundation of line modeling, its ethereal beauty cannot be displayed. What is emphasized here is only the influence and restriction of blank on modeling. As Feng Wu said in the True Story of Calligraphy in Qing Dynasty: "Empty people, in black and white: one word, one line, one drawing."