2. Step 1: Prepare tools
Prepare seal materials: commonly used seal cutting dictionary, sandpaper, mirror, 2 brushes (small brush can be used), ink and inkstone, Yin Chuang, carving knife, inkpad, several copies of Lian Shi paper (copy paper or rice paper), brush (waste toothbrush can also be used) and brown tiger.
Yin Shi's preparation: lay the sandpaper flat on a horizontal table (it is best to choose a glass surface), and polish it with an imprint stone (choose a Yin Shi with the same size as the surface to be printed) until the surface is flat.
designing Yin Gao: beginners should be close to printing, printing in Qin and Han dynasties, and more close to Chinese printing. We choose a seal, attach a translucent piece of paper (Xuan paper or Lian Shi paper) to Yin Gao, and dip it in ink with a brush to leave Yin Gao.
If you want to create a seal, you can use an inkstone to print traces on the paper, and then use a brush to outline the border. Look up the dictionary and choose appropriate seal characters to design the seal surface. When designing the seal surface, you should pay attention to the harmony and unity of one seal and the blank space of the seal.
Yin Gao Stones: Beginners should use the method of watermarking stones, which will greatly reduce the distortion. After all, it is too difficult to write the seal face directly on the stone just after learning seal cutting. Yin Gao is attached to the stone, and the printed surface is wetted with clean brush dipped in clean water. When the printed surface is completely soaked, the excess water is absorbed with rice paper. When it is about 8 minutes dry, attach new rice paper and press the printed surface evenly. Finally, Yin Gao was removed, and basically Yin Gao was copied to Yin Shi. Put it in front of the mirror to see if there is anything that needs to be modified. If the ability is strong, you can also write directly on the stone.
3. Step 2: Cure printing with a knife
Since ancient times, there has been no definite method of using a knife, and the tools vary from person to person. Some people like to use a broadsword, while others like a knife.
the knife-holding method of seal cutting
the first method: similar to the pen-holding method, hold the handle with your thumb and forefinger, and press the middle finger against the handle. The ring finger and little finger are close to the middle finger. When engraving, the five fingers are aligned with the knife, and the little finger extends forward and touches the Yin Shi, which plays a role in stabilizing the wrist force and controlling the balance. It is suitable for small-scale printing materials with soft texture, and for fine-grained Zhu Wen Tie Xian seal printing.
the second type: press your thumb against the handle, the other four fingers hold the upper end of the handle, and the five fingers work together to transport the knife from top to bottom. When engraving, you know everything, and it depends on the flexible operation of your wrist. This way of holding the knife is easy to exert force, and the lines of the engraved text are rich and powerful, which is suitable for engraving white text and printing.
method of transporting knives
punching knife method: the handle is inclined sideways, and the knife angle is used to enter the stone. The fingers are solid and the palms are weak, and the five fingers and the wrists push the knife hard to make up and down, left and right, and forward and backward punching. Among them, the transverse punch is inclined outward with the knife, and the right corner of the blade is inserted into the stone. When transporting the knife, the middle finger pushes the knife from right outside to left. For vertical punching, the middle finger is used to dial the knife, and the knife is transported up and down for punching.
the thrust is that the handle is pinched with thumb and forefinger, and the middle finger is pushed back, and the handle is lying in the palm of the hand, pushing forward from bottom to top. When using the knife punching method, the ring finger and the little finger play the role of positioning, resisting the printing surface, controlling the force and preventing the knife from running away.
The punching method is suitable for engraving white text, and the punching force should be moderate and even. If the punching force is too strong or the cutting depth is too deep, you will feel that it is difficult to transport the knife, and you will not be able to move freely. If the force is too small or uneven, the line marks carved by shallow cutting will float and be delicate. The punching method is convenient to show the rounded and flowing brushwork of the seal, and the lines are vigorous and straight.
knife cutting method: hold the knife with five fingers, the handle is vertical, enter the stone with the knife angle, and press the knife downward frequently by wrist force, so that the knife angles of the two knives are alternately cut into the stone, and the cut knife marks are connected into printed lines. Don't press the knife too hard when cutting, so that the traces of jumping knife carved are intricate and serrated. The cut lines should be coherent and integrated. The engraving by knife cutting method is vigorous and vigorous, with strong knife cutting meaning, and it can engrave hard printed materials.
Method of engraving
Double-knife method: knife is applied on both sides of the seal stroke, and the solid line of the seal stroke is engraved with two or more knives. Zhu Wenyin is to carve the outline along both sides of the stroke, and scrape off the printing base outside the stroke by cutting and stamping, so that the printed stroke protrudes on the printing surface. The knife for engraving Zhu Wenyin requires smooth air penetration and even lines. The successful profile of Zhu Wen is in the shape of loach back, which produces the artistic effect of penetrating through the paper back and being rich and full with the pen used by calligraphy center.
The double-knife method is used to engrave the white seal, that is, the knife is applied along the inner two sides of the seal stroke, and the solid line of the stroke is engraved, leaving the flat seal surface and the concave stroke lines. Engraving white requires uniform and neat force, and the printed outline is clear and smooth. Each stroke of the double-knife method needs to be carved twice or more times with a knife. The operation mode is to fix the knife position and the direction of conveying the knife, rotate the Yin Shi, and basically apply the knife to the right side of the line. Finally, the dovetail and stubble left over from the beginning and end of the line are trimmed with a knife.
Single-knife method: Finger printing strokes are completed with single-line knife marks, which are used to carve fine white characters. Use a knife in the real place of the seal stroke. Single-knife method is not only carved with one knife at a time, but also can be engraved with heavy knives. However, all knives should move in the same direction, and no trace of multiple knives can be shown. Single-knife engraving requires that the knife is hidden and healthy, which constitutes a natural and unadorned effect.
border treatment
retouching treatment: after engraving with the above knife method, don't worry about printing. Let's apply a layer of ink, compare with the original Yin Gao, see if there are any places that need to be modified, and make up the knife again. At this time, everyone should also use a knife to carve, instead of scraping lines with a little knife, remember! Only in this way can lines have bone strength. Finally, the border is processed. Do old and broken treatment.
speaking of which, the seal has actually been engraved! My teaching is very simple and practical, isn't it? Next, we will introduce how to seal and extend the margin, which is also a very important part in the use of seals.
4. Step 3: Engraving
There are stone chips on the newly engraved printing surface, which should be gently cleaned with a toothbrush.
it's almost clean, isn't it?
Dip in the inkpad, and the whole printing surface should be evenly dipped, so that there will be no shortage of lines when printed.
stamping is actually a technical job, and many people often ignore this link. Isn't it a pity that you can't engrave well without stamping? After cleaning the printing surface, dip the printing surface in the inkpad instead of pressing it hard, so that the printing surface can contact the inkpad evenly. When the printing surface is evenly covered with inkpad, prepare to stamp. When printing, a book or a professional printing pad is placed under the paper, and some even use a printing gauge to ensure that the printing surface is neat and not inclined. Fix the seal with the left hand and press it evenly with the right hand. It is not advisable to use too much force to ensure that the printed surface can touch the paper evenly, which will have better effect.
5. Step 4: Edge-carved paragraph and edge-carved paragraph
Edge-carved paragraph
The so-called edge-carved paragraph generally refers to the words and inscriptions engraved on the printing side or back.
first paint the side of the seal to be engraved with ink, so that you can see the effect of using the knife. If you carve a margin, it should be engraved on the right side of the printing surface, and the margin will be on the left side when stamping, so as long as it is based on the direction of the margin, the seal position cover can be avoided from being reversed.
The specific engraving method is: cut down with a knife angle, the "point" is engraved with the front side potential of the knife, and the "horizontal" is cut down from right to left with the blade, which is slightly heavier when cutting down, slightly heavier when cutting down vertically, and the "turning" is generally carved with a single knife, and the turning is completed with two knives, sometimes it looks like a knife. After knowing the knife method of single-knife regular script, you can master it with more practice. As for the cursive printing, Deng Shiru and Wu Rangzhi can be used, Wei Bei can be used in Zhao Zhiqian, and seal script can be used in Wu Changshuo.
two points should be paid attention to in the creation of seal: first, words can be remembered, remembered and remembered, and artistic experiences and opinions can also be published, but the sentences should be elegant and tasteful; Second, the composition and form of printing money should consider the effect of matching with the printing surface to make them complement each other.
border relief
first, clean the printing surface, and then paint the stone surface with a brush to make it slightly wet. A little paste can also be added to the water. Then cover the history paper (or thin and even rice paper) on the stone, with the front facing upwards, so that the paper is completely wet on the stone surface. Then cover the copy paper on the history paper, and brush it on the copy paper with a brown broom. At first, it should be lighter, so as not to penetrate the paper because it is wet. Change the paper only by rubbing it on it, so that the history paper completely sinks into the edge of the paragraph, and the edge is clear, and then ink it with a rubbing bag. The ink must be freshly ground ink or fresh ink, and Su Mo cannot be used. The extension bag should be dipped in less ink, so that it can be evenly inked. You can try it on the paper first (the ink should not be too thick), and then tap it on the paper quickly (it can't be dragged horizontally), and the ink color will gradually deepen. It is called "Wujin Tuo" when the ink is thick and shiny, and it is called "Cicada Tuo" when the ink is shallow and even, but the key point is clear words. After the extension, the history paper can be removed when the ink is dry, and the extension is completed.