1. Technical essentials of seal cutting:
1. Evenness and evenness
This is the most basic essentials, that is, to make the seals arranged evenly and properly. However, it is worth noting that strokes can't fill the space in a zigzag manner, and they can't be as rigid as type. Generally speaking, those who have too many strokes are unaware of their complexity, and those who have too few strokes are unaware of their scarcity. There are many excellent works among Chinese, Indian and famous artists, which can be carefully understood.
Second, the density is unified
For the seals with great differences in the number of strokes on the printing surface, the ancients sometimes treated them with the method of "width can be taken as a step, but density can not be allowed as a needle", and they did not allow more strokes to occupy more land, but gave more status to less strokes, thus making the contrast between density and density stronger and giving people a deep impression. Sometimes we can adjust the variant and traditional characters, and artificially arrange the density (such as ten thousand, none, first class) to be unified with each other.
third, skillful and clumsy, thick and thin
The styles of seals should be diversified, and "skillful" and "clumsy" are two different styles. But the pursuit of "cleverness" can't be lost: the pursuit of "clumsiness" can't be lost. If there are many clever words in the seal, you should be clumsy, and if there are many clumsy words, you should be skillful. In traditional art, "beautiful" is not a good word, and it is often used as a derogatory term. Authors do not want their works to be rated as "too beautiful". The thickness of the seal is related to the author's calligraphy and epigraphy. We should pay more attention to and analyze the natural treatment of line thickness in imitating ancient seals and famous seals.
IV. Addition, subtraction and repetition
In order to print properly, it is sometimes necessary to add or subtract some words, but it should be noted that you must not add or subtract word by word in a print, and you must not add or subtract too many strokes; Increase or decrease will not hinder the meaning of the word, without losing the seal style. If it is changed into another word after the increase or decrease, or if it is unnecessary to increase or decrease it, it will be self-defeating.
In printing, repeated words appear one after another, which are generally replaced by two dots. If they don't appear one after another, seal cutting should be changed to avoid similarity and monotony.
5. Move aside and echo
Move aside is a method to expand the position of the characters and move the position of the characters' strokes when the characters can't be filled in when they are free, or when the strokes of a character can't be made flat, square and straight, so as to broaden the momentum of the whole printing. Echo here mainly refers to two identical parts in composition, including space, which are artificially emphasized to make them play a different role. Generally, there are "diagonal echo", "head-to-head echo", "winding echo" and "leaving red echo".
VI. Bend and change
Some fonts have square potential, some have round potential, some have inflexion and some are straight. In order to coordinate the composition, individual characters can be treated as Fiona Fang, but everything depends on the printed text. For the same content, if continuous printing is required, it is necessary to change the font, or increase or decrease, adjust its font structure and position, or add a printing frame, or change the genre style, change vermilion, etc., so that it is not the same. Even for several parallel lines, it is necessary to make changes in thickness, thinness, length, twists and turns, setbacks and slopes to break through the dull and stagnant situation.
VII. Interpolation and pen
Sometimes, in order to break the rules of the tablet and make the words look at each other, the strokes in it tend to expand and contract with the potential, and the upper part is connected with the lower part to achieve the potential connection. However, this method should be used cautiously to avoid self-defeating. Sometimes there are too many trivial strokes or too many parallel lines in the white text printing, so the text can be treated as a "pen" to make the whole printing muddy. The combination of calligraphy and painting is equivalent to the "ink infiltration" in calligraphy and painting, but it often ends to a certain extent. It is necessary to prevent bloating in the periphery and keep a narrow eye in the heart, rather than being able to achieve it at will. When printing, you should pay attention to learning the brushwork in the name seal.
eight, leave red, blank
the blank space of the seal is called red in white and blank in Zhu. In particular, the white text, leaving a large piece of red, can give readers a strong impression. Seal cutting pays attention to the square inch of land, which is the most important thing. For example, before building a house, the position of doors and windows must be determined, and when designing Yin Gao, it is also necessary to plan where to leave blank. This example is not uncommon among ancient seals and famous artists.
9. Clutch and deformation
Separation is to separate those whose glyphs are too cramped and spread the messengers; The combination is to connect those whose glyphs are too loose, so as not to cause the feeling of a few words. However, it is good to have a coherent clutch, not to be separated, and not to be cramped. Some characters have different strokes and different lines, so it is necessary to change the position of part of their fonts to make them grow into squares or squares, so as to achieve unity and harmony and give people a sense of freshness.
X. Text and combined text
Generally, the seal characters are arranged from top to bottom and from right to left, but sometimes for the needs of layout, the characters with different complexity and simplicity are arranged diagonally symmetrically, and the order of the characters is treated counterclockwise, which is "text". Sometimes, it is called "combined text" to arrange a single number as balanced as a double number, or to treat a simple and complicated text or two simpler words from only one word.
Xi. Characters outside the script of Cao, Li and Kai
Other characters except seal script have been printed since ancient times, so it is necessary to refer to the materials such as "Yuan Ya", "Longmen Twenty Pieces" and "Han Bamboo Slips" to make them interesting. Even if foreign characters are printed, they should also be treated with Chinese character structure transformation to make them integrated with others. It's very important to read more about traditional materials and famous works.
12. border marking
in the creation, in order to make the form of a complete set of printed music varied, various boundaries and borders can be made in the seal according to the form of ancient seals. It should be noted that it is neither fish nor fowl to fill in the Chinese-Indian characters or the Song-Yuan characters in the Zhou-Qin format, which is consistent with the traditional system of seals.
XIII. Ten Appropriate and Ten Bogeys
Ten Appropriate: 1. Prints with more strokes and words should be arranged peacefully; 2. Prints with fewer strokes and words should be arranged calmly; 3. Fang Bi square characters should be full; 4. A round pen or a round pen should be stiff; 5.? Those who have nothing to rely on are quite and slightly astringent; 6. Words with the same strokes should be compact and arranged irregularly; 7. The word with multiple turns should be flexible; 8.? The horizontal or straight strokes of the characters should be carved in a vigorous way; 9. Zhu Wen should generally be beautifully carved; 1. Generally, the vernacular should be carved in a simple way.
ten taboos: 1. avoid the board when the strokes are square; 2. avoid slipping when the strokes turn round; 3. If the number of words is small, avoid being sloppy; 4. The number of words is too messy; 5. avoid being delicate and charming; 6. jealousy and madness; 7. The strokes are thin and thin; 8. The strokes are fat and bloated; 9.? Avoid exposing corners in stroke turning; 1. From the beginning of the word, the final pen should be sharp and sharp.
2. Copying famous works:
Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the seals of famous schools have been another peak in China's brilliant seal cutting heritage. The different characteristics of various factions show different styles in the square inch of the seal. According to the principle of "taking the law is the best", one can choose a kind close to one's own character among Huizhou School, Zhejiang School, the four masters in the late Qing Dynasty (Wu Rangzhi, Zhao Zhiqian, Huang Mufu, Wu Changshuo) and other famous seals such as Zhao Shuru and Zhao Guni. Beginners should generally choose a more neat one. Zhu Baiwen should be present, and he should also memorize the characteristics, compare them carefully and apply what he has learned.
Third, necessary inspection:
Beginners can't engrave seals at once, although they are careful when engraving, there may be some shortcomings. At this time, it can be used to refer to the pat printing surface dipped in thin ink, and then compare the original printing with a small mirror to find out the differences and modify them, so as to make the original printing cool. The broken effect of the original seal can be imitated by means of tapping and grinding. The process of contrast printing is a process of improvement, and it takes one-third of all the time to study the contrast.
The predecessors said, "Be careful with the ink, and play the knife boldly", and the revision is secondary. If it is a creation, we should concentrate more on the idea of composition. If the composition is not good, the whole printing will fail, and no matter how hard it is, it will not be changed.
When you write Yin Gao in the future, you should do the following: If the seal is not satisfactory, you'd rather grind it off and rewrite it than use a knife casually. If the seal is really bad, you might as well save it for next time. Don't choose a seal to practice this time.