Seal cutting is an art that combines seal writing, knife skills, and composition. Seal writing is the prerequisite for engraving, and engraving is the continuation of seal cutting. So whether you understand seal writing or not, will you know how to seal writing? Carving a seal has a very close relationship.
The main method of seal script is to practice seal script fonts, but you can also practice some official script, Wei script, running script, etc. according to your own preferences, and absorb the pen, structure, movement and layout of the characters. Learn more to broaden your horizons. From a practical perspective, beginners should spend more time and effort practicing copybooks and seals, but more importantly, they should combine practicing with creating. That is to say, you must face practice while creating, combine other people's indirect experience with your own practical experience, and conduct comparative analysis. Only in this way can you master the essentials. We will also introduce the seal method in detail later.
Seal cutting is the art of calligraphy and knife skills. Mastering the method of using the knife can not only correctly express the meaning of calligraphy, but also express artistic effects that cannot be expressed by calligraphy. Therefore, the ancients generally called the carving knife and seal carving "stylus pen". This shows the importance of using a knife. The predecessors have many opinions on knife techniques, with many names. We have only briefly introduced the two main categories for you before, punching knife technique and cutting knife technique. From the author's practice, when using knives, after mastering the basic punching and cutting knives, it is very important to gain your own practical experience. People are different, and stones are different. It depends on the person and the stone conditions. In practice, you should pay more attention to the size of the engraving knife, the sharpness of the blade, the angle of the knife feed, the speed of the knife, the softness and hardness of the printing material, and the straightness of the lines.
Seal cutting requires the integration of calligraphy, knife skills, and composition techniques into one. The seal method is the basis for seal management. The seal method comes first, and then the seal method and the sword method have the basis. Only in the process of learning seal script can sealers understand the beauty of seal script and master the rules of seal script shape. Without an in-depth understanding of the beauty of the structure and lines of seal script, it is impossible to engrave seals well. Take a look at the famous modern seal-cutting masters Wu Changshuo, Zhao Zhiqian, Qi Baishi, Deng Sanmu, etc., all of whom are good at seal writing. The author believes that calligraphy is the foundation, knife skills are tools, but what about composition? First of all, let’s take a look at what composition is. Composition can also be said to be composition, which is also called “fenzhububai” in seal cutting. This kind of creative ability in arranging the seal text design often best shows the author's strength in the art of seal cutting, as well as his accomplishments in epigraphy, calligraphy, and fine arts. The method of composition is to achieve the state of beauty through camera changes in the length, size, fatness, squareness, circle, curvature, thickness, virtuality and reality of the text. We will introduce the composition methods in dozens of lectures in the future. For each composition method, we will give actual seal examples and take you with you to engrave them together. During this period, you can also try your own design and creation. What I have learned on paper is ultimately shallow, and I know that I have to do it in detail.
The imprinting of our Han and white seals will turn to the imprinting of examples that combine composition and method. Among them are not only Han seals, but also seal cutting works by famous artists in the past. Here I bring you some three-character and multi-character white seals. Friends who want to engrave more Chinese and white seals can refer to them. Many of these have been mentioned in our appreciation of the art of seal cutting.