1) Seal cutting techniques - knowledge of edge inscriptions and seal sealing methods
Engraving text on the five sides other than the seal surface is generally called the Yin text as "style" and the Yang text as "knowledge". "The content is the author's name, age, date and place of engraving. It also indicates the source of the sealer's technique, expresses the author's artistic opinions, attaches engraved poems and even patterns, etc. The text is of various styles and forms. It is extremely rich and is an integral part of seal art. The engraving is like a bridge button. For a tile button, the two sides between the holes are the left and right sides. For an animal button, the engraver faces the tail of the animal. The main position for engraving is the left side. If it cannot be carved, it can be continued forward, right, and on the chest. There are also those only engraved on the top.
Before making a seal, you must first brush off the stone chips, dip it evenly in the ink mud, apply the internal force evenly to all parts of the seal surface, and then gently peel off the paper. After use, the seal should be wiped clean with a soft cloth. Only one side of the soft cloth should be used to avoid hand washing. It is better to use a bamboo stick to embed the ink pad into the seal and do not use metal sharp tools to engrave it.
How to engrave the edge pattern
The edge pattern can be carved with a double knife or a single knife. Most of the white inscriptions are made with a single sword, while the Zhu inscriptions use double swords. To practice engraving, you can first write on the stone tablet or the side of the seal and then engrave it. After engraving, pat the ink to check the effect. After you are proficient, you may as well ink the stone surface first and then engrave. Carving is done with a knife just like engraving. Use the upper edge of the knife to press it to form a "dot". Carving from right to left is a "horizontal" (see slightly higher on the right and lower on the left). Carving from top to bottom is a "vertical". , at the end of a vertical stroke, retract the knife slightly and press it again to form a "hook", the upper edge is carved diagonally to the left to form a "left", and the lower edge is pressed upward to form a "pin". The engraving methods of various fonts require more consideration and practice, so that you can draw parallels.
It is worth pointing out that the sentences and arrangement of the margins engraved by famous masters in the seals are worth learning from. If beginners have difficulty organizing sentences, it is better to sign only a single paragraph (author's name).
How to extend the edge of a model
1. Wash the engraved side with soapy water and evenly apply clean water or very dilute Bletilla striata water. Cover with Lianshi paper or thin rice paper to make the paper surface smooth.
2. Press the paper surface against it and the paper will absorb some of the water.
3. Cover it quickly with copy paper, lightly brush each part with the paper, and constantly replace the rubbing paper to keep it close to the seal stone, and strive to make the characters clear.
4. Remove the wet paper, spread it on a porcelain dish or glass, and apply a thin layer of ink of appropriate concentration (first pat off the first layer of thick ink on the waste paper), and then spread it on the paper. Pat the paper (the first layer of paper that is close to the stone surface) layer by layer, fold it from the wordless part to the worded part, and pat it repeatedly until the ink color is even and uniform (the shade and thickness of the ink can be controlled flexibly).
5. When the rubbing paper is completely dry and peeled off, it will be smooth and bright. If it is peeled off while it is still wet, it will become wrinkled.
Attachment: If the rubbing paper is free from the stone, it means that the oil stains on the stone have not been washed away. If it is partially peeled off, you can use saliva to lightly smear the peeled area to dry it and then reapply it repeatedly.
2 The method of making seals in seal cutting
The so-called method of making seals in seal cutting refers to another method besides the seal method, seal method and knife method. This method starts from The ancient seal production has been widely used in seal cutting creation since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but it has not been theoretically sorted out. The concept of knife technique was established by the sealers of the Ming Dynasty, and its core content is the "brush-passing technique". Another technique used to create a special stone effect on the seal surface is the sealing method. The difference between seal making and knife skills is only a conceptual difference. In specific techniques and specific works, they sometimes interpenetrate each other. Due to different aesthetic ideas, sealers have always had two attitudes towards sealing techniques. One has a negative attitude, such as Zhao Zhiqian, Huang Shiling, Qi Baishi, etc., while the other group of sealers from Wen Peng to Wu Changshuo use it extensively in the technique. Contemporary seal cutting creation is undergoing great changes. The traditional knife technique program and the concept of knife technique that simply conveys the meaning of the brush can no longer meet the needs of the pursuit of new forms of sealing surfaces. Seal cutting people use various seal cutting techniques unscrupulously to make seals in contemporary seal cutting creation. show an important role. Changes in seal cutting techniques are closely related to seal cutting aesthetics and even the aesthetic trends of the entire era.
The so-called seal maker in seal cutting refers to another method besides the sealing method, composition method and knife method in seal cutting. This method is not original in this article, but is used in seal cutting. It has existed in creative practice for a long time, but no one has ever proposed this method of sealing as a method. In short, stamping refers to various special techniques used to create stamping effects in addition to knife techniques.
The manufacture of ancient seals is a craft, and the beauty of seal carving is demonstrated through craftsmanship. The "making" in craft production is the technical means. The manufacture of ancient bronze seals starts with making a model, and then follows a set of processes such as mold making, molten gold casting, and sand cleaning and trimming. This process may be composed of Many people complete the work in a streamlined manner. Even for chiseling, according to the general process, not every line is chiseled with one knife, and after chiseling, the burrs on the printed surface should be smoothed and trimmed. The jade seal is not carved with a knife, but is made by repeated grinding. The production of ancient seals was completed through special techniques, and there was no so-called knife technique in it. The concept of knife technique was proposed relatively late. The "Thirty-Five Moves" written by Wu Qiu Yan in the Yuan Dynasty has not yet discussed the issue of the knife used for seal cutting. It is very likely that the seal cutting works were completed by Wu Qiu Yan after seal sealing and handed over to the workers. After the carving was completed, my family had no experience in carving, so naturally I couldn't talk about knife skills. In the Ming Dynasty, Zhou Yingyuan proposed the important role of the seal cutting knife in his "Seal Theory". The concept of knife technique comes from the literati's own hand-engraving, and from the comparison with the brushwork in calligraphy. "The Seal" compares calligraphy and sealing, knife and pen:
Writing and writing Such as sealing mud, drawing sand with a cone, traces of leaks in a house, or breaking hairpin strands. Although it is true to the body and is actually proficient in seal script, it is also the same when using a knife. And the mud seal is more intimate than the seal script... The method of painting sand with a cone and painting stone with a knife are the same.
The establishment of the concept of knife technique comes from the literati's aesthetic view of seal cutting. Seal engraving artists in the Ming and Qing Dynasties believed that the art of seal cutting was done by the "iron pen". The intention of the brush should be expressed through the intention of the knife, and the meaning of calligraphy should be expressed through the square dimensions of the seal. . Jin Guangxian of the Ming Dynasty first used the term "sword technique" in "Seal Theory": "The sword technique of the husband values ????the meaning of the brush, and the operation of the blade is like the operation of the brush." ??The technique of the knife and the technique of the brush, and the operation of the knife and the operation of the brush are closely related and exist side by side. of. Zhu Jian said: "Those who are skilled in sword skills should also teach brushwork skills." This directly explains the essential characteristics of sword skills.
Although the seal makers of the Ming and Qing Dynasties emphasized that using the sword is like using the pen and using the sword technique to pass on the brushwork, they also knew that the brushwork in calligraphy cannot replace and is equivalent to the knife technique in seal cutting. Zhu Jian said in "The Book of Seal Engraving" "Wang Shizhen's seal theory is quoted in "The seal theory":
The seal theory is not based on the knife but on the book, just like the word seal theory is based not on the edge but on the bone. The sword is not without its ingenuity, but one must first have calligraphy in mind to be able to solve it easily.
He emphasized that the edge of the blade is equally important as the edge of the pen. It is equally absurd to consider the strength of the bones in calligraphy without the edge of the pen, and it is equally absurd to consider the intention of the pen without the edge of the seal carving. The calligraphy in the heart must be expressed by the skill of the knife in the hand. The "calligraphy" in seal cutting is in the mind of the creator, and what should be reflected on the sealing surface should be the refreshing knife meaning with clear beginning and end. The aesthetic feeling of the brushwork should be conveyed through the specific knife meaning. Zhu Jian further discussed the relationship between the sword and the pen in "Yin Jing":
What I call the sword technique is like the ups and downs of characters, their turning points, their gravity, and each completes the meaning of the strokes without being able to make waves. , it is not a carving or carving, it is a blunt knife that is ancient, and a broken one is a strange knife. Those who are skilled in sword skills should also pass on the skills of brushwork. The knife and pen are blended together, no trace can be found, it is a divine product. A pen without a knife is a wonderful product. If you have a knife but no pen, you can taste it. Apart from the sword and pen, there is something special and unique. It has a blade that looks like a saw-toothed swallow's tail, which is a heretic. Without a blade, it looks like a black pig or an iron wire, which is a mediocre workmanship.
Knife skills are the expression of seal cutting, and the meaning of calligraphy is its connotation. Zhu Jian said that those who emphasize the expression of sword skills are capable, while those who emphasize the connotation but not the expression are called wonderful products. Only those who use the sword and pen to blend in and leave no trace can be regarded as divine products, while those who exaggerate the sword skills to become pathological are destructive. Those who are heretics in brushwork and those who simply pursue the technique of engraving are mediocre workers who have lost the skill of brushwork.
Knife technique, specifically the method of using a knife. Of course, this method of using a knife has certain calligraphy attributes and is not purely craftsmanship. In the long-term practice of using a knife for seal engraving, different styles have been formed. Different knife techniques create different artistic effects of printing lines, conveying different characteristics of "brushwork". Seal carving is accomplished by carving stone with a knife, and seal carving itself contains a certain degree of craftsmanship. Therefore, the seal carving knife method and the seal carving and sealing method are intertwined and cannot be distinguished absolutely. The difference between the knife technique and the sealing technique among the ancients is that "those who use the knife technique can also teach the brushwork technique." Therefore, the effects produced on the sealing surface by using a knife or not using a knife without a sense of rhythm in the brushwork can be regarded as a sealing technique. However, the brushwork, or so-called brushwork meaning, is not simple and very specific in form and quality, but rich, understandable and indescribable. The brushwork required for the seal is not a mechanical simulation of the calligraphy brushwork, but is produced through the use of the knife and is closely related to calligraphy. A sense of artistic rhythm that connects the meaning of the brushstrokes.
Cheng Yuan of the Ming Dynasty said in "Yin Zhi": "The pen is intentional, and those who make good use of the intention will gallop and combine. The sword has an edge, and those who make good use of the edge will use the cutting method." This galloping combining and cutting method are the same as the sword method and The sense of artistic rhythm that connects the brushwork.
In order to express this rich and difficult-to-define shape of brushwork, a wealth of knife techniques have been produced accordingly. There is a passage on knife techniques in Chen Shuo of the Qing Dynasty:
The method of using a knife is to go with one knife and then another, which is called a back knife; when the knife is placed flat as if it is close to the ground, it is called a cover knife, also known as a flat knife; when one knife goes away and then comes back, it is called a reverse knife; it is called a reverse knife when it is sent away quickly like a flying bird. A flying knife is also called a rushing knife. It is neither fast nor slow. If you want to throw it away, you will put it back again. It is called a tight knife. It is also called a frustrated knife. The sharp edges rub against each other like a negative thorn. It is called a bayonet. Also known as a bayonet. It is also known as Wu Dao; when the knife cuts straight, it is called a cutting knife; when the joint transition point is not covered by the pen, a knife is left, which is called a retaining knife; when the knife head is buried in the seal, it is called a buried knife; after printing, it is copied Adding repairs is called finishing. There are also single-entry knives, double-entry knives, light knives, and slow knives. Although one must not know the names of various knives, the sword must be struck with severity, stroke, and muscle strength. The center strike should be used more often and the side strike less often. The writing method of the ancients should always be kept in mind. If it is written in a letter or is too polished, it will lead to dullness and weakness.
It describes the specific operating techniques of various knife techniques. There are many elements of "making seals", and it is not clear to distinguish between engraving and making. The difference lies in "there are always ancient ways of writing". That is to say, if the carved lines have the meaning of the brush, it is a knife technique, otherwise it is not a knife technique.
Another example is the passage in Zhang Zaixin's "The Heart of Seal Seal":
If it is suitable to be sharp, use a sharp knife to pick it; if it is suitable to be smooth, use a blunt knife to make it slippery. If you want to be sharp but not brilliant, you can grind less on the stone to see the sharp edges. If it is round and mature, it can be wiped with paper, cloth, soil, salt, or straw. It should be considered according to its bone structure.
In order to obtain different aesthetic textures of seal cutting lines, different techniques are used, among which knife techniques and printing techniques are often blended together. "A sharp knife is picky" and a "dull knife is slippery" can be classified as knife skills, but the special skills of grinding on a stone and rubbing the sealing surface with various foreign objects are clearly making seals. The knife technique and the sealing technique are only conceptual distinctions. In the specific operation of seal cutting creation, they are often intertwined and intertwined, and the distinction is blurred.
Seal script, composition and sword technique constitute the three elements of seal cutting art. The use of seal cutting methods has always been controversial. Seal carvers choose their own creations based on their own aesthetic attitudes. techniques. Starting from the traditional literati aesthetics, many seal makers are opposed to sealing methods other than the seal cutting knife method.