There is a short story about "it's important to write". It is said that when Wang Xianzhi was five or six years old, Wang Xizhi sneaked behind and held on to his pen, sighing that "this son should be famous." This short story has been widely circulated for a long time, and many calligraphers have taken it as the basis for "writing tightly" since then. When we teach students to write, we often emphasize that writing is important.
There are also many calligraphers in the past dynasties who advocate that you should be loose in writing. Su Shi believes that the pen should be light and natural, and the pen can be used freely; Zhang Changshi thinks that writing should be easy, otherwise it will affect wrist movement; Mi Fei thinks: "It's natural and naive to keep the pen light, which is unexpected." That is to say, "light the pen" can produce more beautiful lines. "
" pen means action. " This action is the movement of the pen. "Handle the pen lightly", the pen can be used freely and casually, and the lines can have naive, natural and unexpected changes.
The ancients said, "In one stroke, the edges are undulating and calligraphy is ready." That is to say, each painting should have different movements of light, heavy, fast, slow, lifting and pressing, thus producing different lines of thick, thin, long, short, square, round, dry and moist, showing different effects such as vigorous, soft, old and beautiful, so as to reach a high artistic level with musical rhythm. If you hold the pen tightly, neither the brush nor the pen can achieve the most beautiful artistic effect. You have to loosen your pen to achieve this effect.
second, the way of writing brush
writing brush is the foundation of calligraphy. If you don't get the gist, it's useless to write again. Therefore, calligraphy focuses on this. There are three ways to carry a pen: first, it refers to the method of carrying a pen; second, it refers to the method of carrying a pen by wrist; third, it refers to the method of carrying a pen by elbow. The small characters should be pointed, the Chinese characters should be wrist, and the big characters should be elbow ...
Pointing method:
Pointing method is one of the holding methods of the pen, which is to put the left hand under the right hand. Commonly known as the pillow-wrist style. You can also put a heavy object under the right wrist instead, and in this way, the wrist is fixed, leaving only the fingers of the palm to move, so you can only write short strokes, which is suitable for small characters. However, it is not suitable to use the pillow-wrist style when writing small characters in cursive script. Because this method is not flexible, it will lack a flowing spirit when writing and cannot show its spirit. In a word, the fingering method is the most stable and firm in writing, which can be used as the first step in practicing writing, and it is much easier to improve to lifting or hanging the wrist. Therefore, beginners should practice more.
Wrist transport method:
Wrist transport method is to fix the elbow and lift the wrist, commonly known as wrist lift. In this method, the wrist is lifted, and the range of motion is larger than that of the pillow wrist, so that larger Chinese characters can be written. But it is also not suitable for writing in big characters, because the elbow is still on the ground and the range of activities is still limited.
Elbow transport method:
Elbow transport method is to suspend the pen with the elbow, which is generally called hanging wrist type. However, this method takes the shoulder as the center, and the wrist and elbow are not placed on the case, so it is the most flexible, with the largest range of activities, and it is easy to express the brushwork. Suitable for big block letters, cursive scripts, etc. In a word, the hanging wrist style is the ultimate usage of calligraphy. If you want to be perfect, this method must be skilled, otherwise the Chinese characters can't show their dominance, and the cursive style can't escape.
Third, the essentials of writing
How to make all kinds of strokes when writing, showing different styles of writing, which are varied, as well as the way of writing and starting, the priority of writing, the connection and disconnection between strokes or words, the way of turning, the use of brush strokes, etc., all need to be paid attention to. However, although there are many, there are still certain statutes to be found. The following are divided into seven points, which are roughly classified and described:
Starting and collecting pens:
Regarding starting a pen, it is necessary to make it clear, perfect and clean. Bao Shichen said, "When starting a pen, there is no peak for those who enter it smoothly, and there is no ink increase for those who enter it reversely." "If there is no peak, the shape will be perfect. If there is no ink, the strokes will be clean. When you start writing, you will enter into a square and reverse into a circle. When you close the pen, you need to pause or fold the pen to form a square, and return to the front to form a circle. The above points are the first principles, so we should practice more.
Pen-lifting and pen-stopping:
When you are writing, the process of completing a word is formed by the interaction between pen-lifting and pen-stopping, and "pen-stopping" is to put pressure on the pen and bend the pen to put strength on the paper. "Lift" means to lift or half lift the pen to continue writing. Generally speaking, you need to pick up the pen before you can write, and then you need to pick up the pen to shape the stroke or connect the next stroke. Finally shape the word. That's why calligraphy writing is an alternating process of lifting and lifting. Among them, there are more subtle changes, for example, there are all-and-a-half-mention points, and there are also light and heavy tricks. This requires readers to experience it themselves.
pen rotation and pen folding:
In addition to the above-mentioned suggestions, pen rotation and pen folding also need attention. "Turn" is the method of rounding strokes, while "Fold" is the method of drawing. Zhang Tingxiang once said, "True books are shaped by stippling, so as to see the nature at a turning point.". Among them, subdividing what you can see in ancient books can also be called flipping, which is expressed by the phrase "drag on the top", which means that the pen stops moving in the pen, and the direction of the pen tip changes slightly into a U-shaped turn. Make the outer corner square and get its brushwork. As for the turning method, it is also called twisting. In the stroke, the meaning of "moving and turning down" is almost the same as that of "up", except that it keeps turning the front and turns down with the trend, and the shape is also the same as ㄟ, but the outer corner is drawn into a circle, and the rotation range is larger. Jiang Menglin once illustrated it with a picture, and attached a poem: "Turn it over and bend it into a right angle, twist it and roll it like a spin. "This example is obvious.
Fang Bi and the round pen:
This part is more complicated and emphasizes the overall effect. According to the above-mentioned starting, closing, lifting, pausing, turning and folding, when writing, slow down a little to make the stroke more stable. With appropriate skills, at the beginning, end and corner, the strokes are medium, which highlights the curvature and makes the overall structure look round and elegant. Fang Bi, on the other hand, highlights the backbone of strokes in the above-mentioned points, making the overall structure clear, straight and light, concise and vigorous. Zhang Longyan said, "Fang Bi is straight and precise, and his round pen is crooked and bizarre. "Very commendable.
Hidden front and exposed front:
When it comes to the pen front, it can be extended to the methods of slanting front, positive front, overlapping front, folding front and returning front, and it is important to know the usage of the pen front. If the center of the calligraphy pen does not change, it is a way to die. Tibetan front and exposed front are the most important. Hidden front is to hide the pen front in the strokes without revealing traces; Exposing the front is the natural exposure of the pen. Xu Haoyun: "When using a pen, it is especially necessary to hide the front. If the front is not hidden, the words will be sick. "This sentence is very clear. If you don't hide your pen, you will lack the deep rhyme of implication, and you can't be partial to one side, so you will be ill if you don't get to the middle. The two have to cooperate, hiding the front to cover its spirit, revealing the front to longitudinal its spirit, making the words forceful and natural, that is, the Tao.