What are the advantages and disadvantages for beginners to learn seal script?

Beginners should not learn seal script yet.

First of all, beginners can experience and master calligraphy tools by practicing Chinese characters, get familiar with the respective properties of paper, pen and ink, and use them to write Chinese characters skillfully. The pre-Qin seal script was mostly written with seal cutting tools, which is not common in modern calligraphy. Therefore, before there is a corresponding calligraphy foundation, it is impossible to understand the stippling of seal script, especially bronze seal script.

Secondly, writing style is closely related to the development and progress of writing tools. Use a brush, and then there may be official and cursive scripts. Later seal scripts were mostly preserved in seal cutting, which is the so-called "epigraphy" art. Modern people began to imitate ancient lettering with modern tools, which got twice the result with half the effort.

Thirdly, the seal script works of modern calligraphers have integrated the "style" of seal script and the "rhyme" of brush, and are no longer the original meaning "engraving" except seal cutting. This requires a high level of calligraphy accomplishment, which is beyond beginners' understanding and control.

After a period of calligraphy study, with certain knowledge and skills, you can learn seal script, which is conducive to exploring the ins and outs of Chinese characters, the characteristics of word formation, the pursuit of simplicity, and even helping to correct the deviation of strokes. When calligraphy skills need to break through to a higher level, it is more beneficial to practice seal script.