Seals are a very important means of expressing the art of seal cutting. A good seal can convey the spirit of the engraved seal and make people feel fresh and beautiful. A bad seal cannot accurately convey the meaning of the pen and the flavor of the knife, which will damage the spirit of the seal. It is directly related to the quality, dryness and wetness of the ink pad, the number of dips, weight and thickness of the ink pad, as well as the uniform, stable and light force of the seal. As long as you experiment a few times, you can get the hang of it.
Generally, there are several points that should be paid attention to during the mud seal sealing process:
1. Clean the printing surface
Before sealing, the printing surface must be cleaned. Do not allow stone dust, ink marks and other debris to be brought into the ink pad to cause damage to the ink pad.
2. Dip the mud gently and evenly
When dipping the ink mud, the seal stone should be lightly dipped, not too heavy. Turn it while dipping so that it is evenly dipped all around the printed surface. Of course, the amount of ink pad you use depends on whether the ink pad is dry or wet. A new and wet ink pad should be lighter. Over time or in the cold winter, the ink pad will become thicker and harder, so it can be slightly heavier.
If it’s too light, it won’t stick. If it’s too heavy, it’s easy for the words on the printed surface and the knife edge to be covered by mud. Generally, the white text seal is dipped in five or six times to make it slightly thicker, and the seal appears thicker when applied. The red seal seal is generally dipped in two or three times to make it slightly thinner, so that the seal seal appears clean and strong. If it is dipped too many times and too heavy, the white text will become thinner and the red text will become thicker when the seal comes out, and the spirit of the original seal will be lost. This is also related to the weight of the cushion and the force used to seal, and can be adjusted as appropriate when sealing.
3. Appropriate padding
The padding used for sealing should be of appropriate thickness, softness and hardness. Generally, seven or eight layers of smoother newspaper are used, one or two layers of thicker and smoother cardboard are used, or a harder rubber board is used, depending on the printing. Generally, the white text seal should be thick (about seven or eight layers of white newspaper), the Zhu text should be thin (one to three layers of white newspaper), the small seal should be thin, and the large seal should be thick. Under the cushion, it should be placed on a smooth table, not on a solid surface. Elastic or other thick and soft books to avoid deformation
4. How to obtain the seal lightly
When sealing, apply force evenly on all sides, place it vertically, and press the inscription three times. , five or six times of white text printing is enough.
If the sealing stone is slightly larger, it can be slightly tilted left and right after printing to make the force even and the seal should be clear. Large seals should be heavy. Sometimes small Zhu Wen seals do not need to be padded with paper, and only a layer of rubbing paper is placed on the glass plate. Sometimes the ink pad is dry in winter, and the paper can be rubbed after sealing. Before peeling off the sealing stone, turn it over with something soft and hard, such as a pen holder, or lightly rub it with your fingernails to make the sealing pad adhere tightly to the paper.
Sometimes, for the sake of clarity, If the ink pad is thick, you can use a "seal guide", that is, place the seal guide at the position where the seal is intended to be stamped, and then use the seal to close the seal with the inside of the seal guide. The seal guide will not move when you remove it (press and hold it with your hand). ), just take the seal, dip it in the ink mud, and cover it a second and third time until you are satisfied.
In short, the number of dips in the ink mud, the thickness of the dye, and the weight of the sealing pressure. , all depends on the object. If it doesn't work at one time, adjust it again until the ideal work is printed. After sealing, wipe it clean with new cotton or soft raw rice paper so that it can be maintained the next time. As is.