Excellent stationery not only contributes to the development of calligraphy skills, but also is a kind of psychological enjoyment. "If a worker wants to do a good job, he must sharpen his tools first." Learning calligraphy skills actually includes how to fully grasp and give full play to the performance and specialty of calligraphy tools. Different calligraphers have different artistic styles because they use different writing tools. Innovative exploration, improvement and change of writing tools in calligraphy should also be an important aspect.
I. Pen
Our ancestors invented the writing brush, "a magnificent tool for feasting the world", which determined the characteristics of China's calligraphy. China's calligraphy has become an art because the tool is a writing brush and its characters are square ideographic Chinese characters. In Ming Dynasty, Tu Long said, "Sharp, even, round and healthy are the four virtues in the method of making pens." The words "sharp", "neat", "round" and "healthy" are not only the criteria for choosing pens, but also summarize the characteristics of a good writing brush.
Sharp-a pen with a sharp fingertip. Only when the pen tip is sharp can you write thin strokes, and then press the pen tip again to lie flat.
Paper, but also can write thick strokes. Because the nib is sharp, it can be hidden or exposed. If the pen tip is not sharp, it is bald.
Flush-refers to the pen tip is flush when it is spread out. Flush strokes can be rounded. If the brush loses its hair, it will be uneven and become a "broken front" Qi can ensure the use of central brushwork.
Round-the hair of the brush is conical, so the brush is also called "pen container". Brush and oil painting pen are flat, so their lines and strokes are flat. Writers who are good at using Mao, such as Mi Fei, have the word "eight sides out of the front", and their line stippling has a three-dimensional effect. Even if it is "as thin as silk and round", eight sides make it self-sufficient. This is the superiority of the circle.
Health-mainly refers to the elasticity of the pen. Being good at using the author is to use the movement of the pen tip to express the rhythm and tension, or to be frustrated or guided by the momentum, so that the stippling lines become traces of movement, full of life and movement.
In writing tools, the most important thing is to master the writing brush, which can be handy and used freely. This is not a day's work, it needs long-term repeated practice.
Wool and rabbit hair in the brush belong to soft hair, while wolf hair, moustache, deer hair and pig hair belong to hard hair. Double brushes are a combination of hard hair and soft hair. Although there are many names of brushes, they are all classified according to the hardness of strokes, the length of strokes and the size of pens. Different kinds of brushes have different feelings about stippling lines.
For the size of the brush, the general principle is that a large pen can write small words, but a small pen can't write big words. Of course, this is not absolute. You can't write lowercase with a big pen. Because the small pen must use the root of the pen to write big characters, although the change of brushwork is easy to control, the brushwork is weak and the strokes are thin, showing a "whirring" state. Larger pens and smaller words, although the lines are simple, are easy to satisfy. Of course, those with profound skills are not subject to this restriction.
Hard hair, doubled. Generally, the two kinds of brushes are not too big, only the wool pen has a large amount. Before the Song Dynasty, the brush was mainly bristles. Wang Xizhi's Preface to Lanting uses a mustache, and people in Tang and Song Dynasties generally use bristles. It was not until the Ming and Qing Dynasties that wool became popular.
Although long wool has many advantages, it cannot be overstated. We can't think that the longer the front, the better, and we can't think that only the long front can write well.
For beginners, double brush or soft millie can be used, which is suitable for practicing wrist strength. Of course, it is not absolute, but also depends on the specific situation. If you are studying European characters, then you should be suitable for double brushes or bristles, while Yan characters should be suitable for soft hairs. Yan body should be short, Liu Ti should be long. A good pen can be flexible, soft and strong.
The key to the selection and protection of brush is the brush tip. When buying a pen, there is a transparent part inside the pen called "Feng Ying". The longer this part is, the better. Bristles should be thin and supple, thick without sharp edges, and their sharp edges will be bad. When buying a new brush, soak it in warm water first. After each use, be sure to clean the brush, suck some water, straighten the nib, and then put it in the pen container or hang it. Good protection can not only prolong the life of the pen, but also make it easier to use. If you don't use a new pen, you should prevent insects. You can stick a little insect powder on the pen to keep it.
The new pen is soft and the old one is strong. The handwriting written by Bald Feng is old and healthy, but its shortcoming is unclear. The pen is not tightly folded, and its words are hard to accept.
Second, ink.
China's calligraphy is written in black ink instead of red and blue ink, which makes people tired of reading and feel colorful.
China has a long history of using ink. The ink patterns on painted pottery in the Stone Age and Oracle Bone Inscriptions in the Shang Dynasty were all written in ink. Of course, unlike the later "ink", it may be a natural carbon color. But judging from the bamboo slips in the Warring States period, the quality of ink has been greatly improved. Wei Wei's birthday is famous for making ink in the Three Kingdoms, and there are many famous ink makers in later generations. Huizhou, Anhui Province is the most famous Huizhou ink, among which Cao Sugong and Hu Kaiwen are famous until today.
The types of ink are pine smoke, oil smoke, pine oil smoke and lacquer smoke. The difference between them is that: pine smoke is made of burning pine branches, which is rather dull; The lampblack is made of tung oil or vegetable oil, which is shiny; Loose tobacco is a combination of the two; Paint smoke is as bright as paint. General oil smoke smell, pine oil smoke smell and lacquer smoke smell are suitable for calligraphy ink. The quality of ink is good or bad, with purple or cyan as the best. Besides cigarettes, ink is also made of medicinal materials, such as clove, musk, borneol, Polygonum cuspidatum, turmeric and so on. Ink is afraid of wet, easy to degum, easy to crack in the sun and wind, so it is preserved.
Pay attention to sun protection and moisture protection, and wrap paper outside the ink when using, which can prolong the use time of the ink.
With the development of science and technology, the production of ink has made great progress. In addition to ordinary ink, there are also high-grade inks for painting and calligraphy. The advantage of ink is that it is convenient and simple, especially for writing large characters, which saves a lot of time and energy in grinding ink. But ink also has two shortcomings: first, the life of works written by ink is not as long as that written by grinding ink; Secondly, the gloss and change of ink color is not as good as grinding ink. Therefore, if possible, we should use grinding ink to write formal calligraphy works, or grind them on the basis of adding water to the ink, so that the ink is better. Easy to look good.
Third, paper.
The legend of paper was invented by Cai Lun in the Eastern Han Dynasty. In fact, paper existed before the Eastern Han Dynasty, and was widely used only after Wei and Jin Dynasties. Before the Song Dynasty, the water absorption and air permeability of paper were generally not very strong, but after the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the water absorption and air permeability of rice paper were very strong.
Paper is also an important material for calligraphy. The so-called "integration of paper and ink" can increase the interest of calligraphers. There are two kinds of calligraphy paper, one is calligraphy paper and the other is Xuan paper for writing works.
Practice paper. Generally speaking, it is better to be strong in water absorption and slightly soft. Don't be too fluent in writing big words. Commonly used are hand-made paper such as meta-book paper and edge paper. This kind of paper is cheap, which is conducive to practicing brushwork, increasing wrist strength and being familiar with ink painting. When practicing calligraphy, avoid using machine-made paper with non-absorbent and smooth paper surface. These papers are hard and slippery, which is not conducive to practicing wrist strength. Because ink can't enter the paper, the lines written are easy to slip, and the psychological state when writing is also lack of relaxed and comfortable feeling. It is not good to practice calligraphy with raw rice paper, because writers often pay attention to controlling the penetration of ink, and it is difficult to achieve accurate brushwork.
The paper on which works are written is usually Xuan paper. Xuan paper is named after Xuancheng, Anhui. Now Zhejiang, Sichuan and other places also produce this kind of capacity paper, which is collectively called Xuan paper.
Xuan paper can be divided into three categories: cotton, cleaning and leather. The varieties are clean skin, jade plate, boiled silicon, rib, tiger skin, coral, cloud field, mud gold and cicada wing. In terms of size, there are four feet, no feet, six feet, eight feet or even two feet.
Xuan paper is divided into three categories: raw Xuan paper, cooked Xuan paper and semi-cooked Xuan paper.
Winning the election-this kind of paper can make the pen and ink unpredictable and has an effect that other kinds of paper can't replace. Shengxuan is difficult to master when it is first used because of its strong permeability to water. If you are proficient, you will make the brushwork rich and thick, and the ink color will change vividly. The effect of cooked paper is close to that of mounting, while the original paper is often wrinkled by ink. However, after mounting, the spirit of pen and ink has taken on a new look. There are two kinds of health propaganda: thick and thin. Thick paper is called folder promotion, and thin paper is called leaflet promotion. Writing with a clip is easy to have depth, but difficult to have elegance. Used to write big characters
The paper is not easy to break, and the ink is thick, which can produce lush and vigorous effects. However, a writer must have penetrating pen power. Single Xuan paper is easier to flow than double Xuan pen, but ink color penetration is extremely sensitive, so it is necessary to prevent lines from floating.
Cooked rice paper is made of alum glue, which is insoluble in water and suitable for fine print. Writing big characters with Chinese characters can also make the brushwork sharp and accurate, but it is easy to lose weight. It is also non-absorbent, but it is completely different from machine-made paper because it is soft and easy to write after cooking.
Semi-cooked Xuan-Xuan paper is between raw Xuan and cooked Xuan, and you can have both. This kind of paper is easy for beginners to master.
If you need it for work effect, it is good to write it on other paper occasionally.
Four. inkstone
The role of inkstone in calligraphy works is not direct, but it has great appreciation value. In the Song Dynasty, Su Shi and Mi Fei's love and appreciation of inkstone became a much-told story. It has become a fashion for ancient literati to hide inkstones from each other. Guangdong Zhaoqing Duanyan and Anhui Shexian She Yan are the best inkstones. If its inkstone was carved by a celebrity, it would be even more precious. A good inkstone is not only elegant in shape, but also delicate and moist in stone, so the ink can be polished quickly and delicately, without hurting the pen, and the ink is not easy to evaporate and moisten on the inkstone.
Now that ink has been widely used, writers should first choose ink stone based on practical value, and only require fast ink delivery and large ink storage. It is best to wash and cover the inkstone after use to prevent dust from staining. In addition to pen, ink, paper and inkstone, there are several auxiliary tools for writing calligraphy:
Mat-Sketch should penetrate, so you should put something under the rice paper, you can put absorbent paper on it, and paper that doesn't absorb water at all should not be used as mat paper. Of course, it's best to use a summer mat. The mat should be flat, not too thick, which helps to make books.
Paperweight-When writing or posting, you must rely on paperweight without help. You must flatten the paper firmly so that you can write freely and penetrate the back of the paper. The function of paperweight can not be ignored.
Water basin-open the pen to wash the pen, showing that the change of ink color is inseparable from the water basin. If necessary, you can prepare a plate to adjust the ink.
Ink line-the seal of calligraphy works, we must pay attention to inkpad. Good inkpad can set each other off with ink and have a refreshing and eye-catching effect. You can choose Hangzhou and Shanghai today.
Seal-After a calligraphy work is completed, it must be signed and sealed. Seals must be managed by experts, and different forms of seals should be prepared in several ways to meet the needs of composition changes.