Basic knowledge of calligraphy
First, posture and writing:
1. Writing posture can be divided into sitting posture and vertical posture.
① Sitting posture is suitable for writing words within one inch square, and its requirements are: straight head, straight body, open arms and stable feet. That is, the head is correct; Upper body upright, arms naturally separated, left hand pressing paper, right hand writing; Put your feet on the ground naturally.
(2) The vertical type is suitable for writing large characters of inches or more, and the requirements are: low head, bow, hanging arms and open feet. That is, the head is slightly bent; The upper body is slightly arched; Press the paper with your left hand and hold the pen with your right elbow; Feet naturally stand apart, about shoulder width.
Whether sitting or standing, relaxation and nature are the most important.
2. There are three-finger method, four-finger method, five-finger method, longan method, phoenix eye method, wrist back method, fist-making method and so on.
Su Dongpo said: "There is no fixed way to put pen to paper, but it should be open-minded." This means that writing methods can be varied and vary from person to person, but one principle should be followed, that is, "emptiness" and "width". Before the invention of papermaking, the ancients wrote on bamboo slips, holding bamboo slips in their left hand and writing with their right hand, which was convenient with three fingers. Later, Wang Xizhi invented the "five-finger writing", which may be related to the appearance of high tables and high stools. But Su Dongpo still uses the "three-finger writing", and now Japan also uses the "three-finger writing". This is similar to the way we hold pens today.
The five-finger pen-holding method can use "press, press, hook, push and reach" to illustrate the role of five fingers on the pen holder.
Pressing: Hold the pen with your thumb from the inside out;
Press: the forefinger and thumb press the pen holder relatively;
Hook: the first section of the middle finger hooks the pen from the outside to the right;
Top: the ring finger is opposite to the middle finger, and the pen is held from right inside to left outside with the root of the nail;
Reach out: Because the ring finger is not as powerful as the middle finger, the little finger reaches under the ring finger to help.
In this way, four fingers hold the pen holder from different directions, and the brush can move in different directions by changing the strength of each finger.
Pay attention to the "five-finger writing":
① Finger palm deficiency. That is, four fingers touch the pen, the palm is empty, and an egg can be put down.
(2) palm vertical, wrist flat. This is the requirement of sitting and writing, which can keep the pen vertical; If you write vertically, you should put your wrist flat so as to keep your pen straight.
③ The writing height can be determined according to the writing size. Generally, the distance from the ring finger to the pen tip and the length of the font edge are appropriate. Writing serious books should be low and cursive writing should be high.
④ The pen should be moderately tight, neither too tight nor too loose.
(5) the density of writing, that is, the density of finger distribution. Diligent and steady, it is appropriate to write a book; Writing wrist works should be written in cursive script. Generally speaking, writing should be dense but not sparse.
The depth of writing. Refers to the relationship between a pen and a finger. The closer the pen is to the fingertip, the shallower the pen and the deeper the pen. Generally speaking, writing should be simple.
Second, the basic brushwork
The brushwork is the writing method in the process of writing. There are many brushstrokes handed down from the ancients, such as the "Eight-character Method". Different calligraphers use pens in different ways. Although the brushwork is varied and ever-changing, there are only a few basic brushwork, which remain unchanged. Zhao Ziang's "It is not easy to use a pen through the ages" should include the basic brushwork.
1. Center and winger
(1) center, it is generally believed that the pen runs in the middle of the stroke, that is, the center. In fact, when we are lifting a pen, the brush is spread out and the front end is not gathered, so it is not appropriate to say that the front end of the pen runs in the middle of the strokes. The accurate statement should be "the stroke state when the pen is close to the paper is called the center". The center is the brushwork in the process of raising a pen, not the brushwork of starting and collecting a pen. From my definition, the center is very simple. As long as the pen and paper are perpendicular, everything you write is a center.
(2) Side stroke, some people think that the pen tip is biased to one side of the stroke. In fact, it is also wrong. The side stroke should not be the stroke method in the process of lifting the pen, but the stroke state when starting the pen, and the stroke after starting the pen is basically the center, otherwise the written stroke must be partial failure. For this reason, the eight-character method of permanent characters calls "point" as "edge". The shape of the point is inclined to the lower right, the shape of the pen is similar to that of the point, and the point is the point when the edge is down.
2. Forward, backward, forward and outward.
(1) Reverse stroke and back stroke are the methods of starting and closing the pen in the opposite direction to the stroke. Its characteristic is that the brush strokes are hidden in the middle of stippling, and the brush strokes in the book are subtle, such as leakage, which are collectively called hidden strokes. The so-called "first right then left, first down" is this.
(2) Shun stroke is the method of starting and closing the pen in the same direction as the stroke. The strokes in the book are pointed and exposed, which is collectively called exposure.
3. Flip the front and fold the front
Turning front and folding front are two stroke moving methods used at the beginning, end and turning point of a stroke.
① Rounding, the silkworm head of Lishu, the opening and closing pen of Xiao Zhuan, and the turning point are all round pens formed by turning the front.
② Folding the square, the first and last folding of the pen is often combined with back front and back front. After the stroke is reversed, write a square head vertically, and then take back the stroke. Take the folding front at the turning point as an example. The pen slightly raises the lateral front to the right, and the falling front descends. The folded front forms Fang Bi, while Ou Kai, Weibei and Zhang Qianbei in Han Li are all dominated by Fang Bi. When raising a pen, if you don't go to the front, but cut into the side, you can also write Fang Bi with a pen like a knife. This is the cutting front, and the so-called "first horizontal and then vertical" is it. A sharp new pen should not use the cutting edge, because the cutting edge of the new pen is easy to make the edges and corners of the pen too sharp, rough but not subtle. Therefore, Fang Bi should write in reverse with a new pen.
4. Lift, press, pause and defeat
(1) lift, that is, lift the pen when writing; Press, that is, press the pen tip when writing. Lifting pressure is the simplest and most difficult brushwork in calligraphy. It is difficult to raise pressure everywhere in stippling, and the range of raising pressure is very important. More importantly: mention the summary as required; Press it. Hold it down and press it. The strokes written in this way are thin but not light, and the strokes written according to them are thick but not swollen.
② Yes, press and stop. Generally used at the turning point. Discontinuation is the brushwork of moving the pen tip to adjust the direction after a meal. Generally used at the turning point of strokes. For example, the horizontal fold of regular script: when writing horizontally, the pen tip ends at the turning point to the left, and the pen tip faces left. If you write vertically, the pen tip shifts to the left, and the strokes you write are flat; So after dinner, you will fall to the left, adjust the strokes to make them up, and then write vertically. This is the center.
Third, choose a pen.
To learn calligraphy, we must first understand the performance of the brush and be good at selecting, using and maintaining the brush. Only in this way can we get twice the result with half the effort and double our interest. Some people think that it is not necessary for beginners (especially children) to buy a good pen, and it is not too late to buy a good pen after learning a certain level. Actually, it's not. Beginners must write well, but they don't have to write well after learning a certain degree. Because beginners have no pen skills at all, it is difficult to control the writing brush, and it is even more difficult to write the effect if the pen is not good. In the long run, the interest in learning books disappears, so we have to bid farewell to calligraphy. Interest is the best teacher. The easiest way to keep beginners interested in learning books is to let them clearly feel their progress. This is not only related to the talent and understanding of scholars and the teaching methods of teachers, but also has a great influence on the quality of pens.
What is a good pen? It is generally believed that "sharp, round, neat and healthy" are the four virtues of writing. Except "health" is related to material selection, the other three virtues are related to work. Only when the workmanship is excellent and meets the requirements of the four virtues can it be considered a good pen. In fact, for a beginner, it is not enough to know sharp, round, neat and healthy to choose a good brush. To really choose a good pen, we must also draw on other relevant experience. According to the author's years of practice, here are some experiences for your reference:
A good pen is not necessarily a good pen, because most of these pens are made of rare and expensive materials (such as wolf hair, purple hair, etc.). ), or the pen is made of high-grade finely crafted materials; The written works are not necessarily good. I have seen many such pens, most of which are useless. A really good pen depends on the pen head itself.
(1) Pens of different sizes have different requirements for sharpness, roundness and uniformity, and the smaller the pen, the higher the requirements. For small and medium-sized pens, the nib must be sharp, and the sharp edge should be as transparent as the needle tip. The conical shape of the pen tip should be straight, round and full.
(2) Except for the double-headed brush, the bristles must be pure and free of foreign bodies.
(3) In Qigong's Introduction to Calligraphy, the pen-making method is that the pen core is the longest, and it gradually becomes shorter outward. I used this pen to write small letters, but it doesn't work well. A really easy-to-use pen, the main pen is as long as the auxiliary pen. Some writers put some short hair in the center of the pen, which is not easy to use. (4) According to the length of the nib, the brush can be divided into long front, center and short front. Generally speaking, it is more suitable for beginners to use the center. Mr. Huang Dun opposes the use of long-tailed wool. He thinks that the long front only increases the ink storage, and the long pen belly only plays the role of a leather tube, which is really unnecessary. Although this view is not unreasonable, it ignores the essential difference between long front and short front. In addition to storing more ink, the characteristics of the long front pen are mainly:
① The angle of the pen tip decreases. In this way, the same thickness change must increase the lifting range;
② Increase the length of pen belly. This reduces the elasticity of the pen, and with the increase of ink storage, the elasticity also decreases accordingly. Therefore, it is more difficult to carry a pen. This is the deficiency of the long front. But it is precisely because of the long front that cursive writers who are good at winding the front and twisting the pen can often write unique effects that short centers can't express. For example, Lin Sanzhi's cursive script is a typical example of making good use of the long front.
I hope it helps you. .