How to realize the strokes and power in calligraphy
Chinese characters are constructed with pointillism shapes, and the art of calligraphy was produced and developed on this basis. As a form of art, its artistic beauty and appeal must be expressed and conveyed through force and momentum.
The beauty of calligraphy art is to sense the dynamic beauty of the spiritual rhythm of life from the power and momentum of the characteristic shapes of the words still on the paper, and then achieve the ultimate resonance of appreciation and creation. The first natural beauty such as text content, thoughts and emotions can be vividly expressed and exuded in the second natural quality such as lines, structure, composition and so on.
1. Brushstrokes
Chinese characters are composed of stipples, which form a complete unity through organic connections and the unity of contradictory opposites. These connections and contradictions are connected through gestures. Stroke is a carrier that expresses the charm and spirit of words, lines, and articles (width) through the inherent morphological composition between dots and dots, between words, or between lines. It is an abstract and concrete expression of beauty that relies on the changes of pointillism, the straightness of the structure and the charm of the lines. The abstractness of potential lies in the implicitness and echo; the concreteness lies in the texture, square and circle, fatness, thinness, straightness, expansion and contraction, length, etc. of the text, dots and lines. Different calligraphy features and calligrapher styles are all based on different expressions of momentum.
Stroke is the art of calligraphy.
Pen gestures are generally expressed through movement and stillness. In terms of movement and stillness, seal script, official script, and regular script are mostly about flatness, while running script and cursive script are mainly about expressing movement. Seal script pays attention to balance, avoids symmetry and imbalance, and has the largest static component. But it requires movement in stillness, for example, through changes in the length of stippling in symmetry, movement can be found in stillness. Official script also pays attention to balance and fairness, mostly taking the momentum horizontally, with more hidden and less exposed. But this does not exclude its pursuit and performance of dynamics. For example, the opening and closing, expansion and contraction of stipples are all to achieve a sense of movement. This can be seen from the flat and square structure of the official script and the dot paintings that stretch left and right. The static component of regular script is second to official script. Wei Shuo described it this way in "Bi Zhen Diagram":
"One" is like a thousand-mile formation of clouds, but it is faint but actually tangible.
"丶" is like a rock falling from a peak, and the bump is like a collapse.
"丿" means the rhinoceros elephant.
The "Ge" hundred-jun crossbow was launched. (Ge Gou)
"丨" Long live the withered vine.
"Flying" breaks the waves and thunders. (Throwing the hook on the back)
"Knife" strong crossbow muscle section. (Horizontal hook)
In this specific description, it is revealed that pointillism uses static expression to sense movement. Regular script stipples are independent and look dignified, solemn, strict and heavy. In fact, it has already implicitly integrated the dynamic into the static through the characteristics of the pointillism itself and the organic echo between the pointillism. The so-called "ideological connection" is just a bit obscure in its form of expression. For the same reason, seal script and official script are no exception. The echoes of each word and dot painting are consistent throughout. Such echoing strokes in the air complete the "meaning connection", which is where the movement lies in the stillness.
Running script and cursive script are mainly based on momentum. The reflections, echoes, turns, lingering and flying whiteness between the stipples are the embodiment of his brushstrokes. But these are all done with a stable center of gravity. As for the formation of "dangerous situations" through stipples or structures, the effect of "returning to peace" is achieved through the self-repair of single-character radicals or through the remediation of characters, characters and lines, and lines and lines. Although running script and cursive script have a greater proportion of movement, there is also a peaceful and static beauty behind the movement. From it, we can experience the artistic conception of "the desert is solitary and the smoke is straight, and the long river is setting the sun", and we can also feel the magnificence of "leaning on the stone and listening to the waves" and the tranquility of "wearing the moon and carrying the hoe".
2. Pen power
Pen power is the basis for the essential beauty of calligraphy art. It expresses a sense of force through pen and ink, and uses the fat and thin, straight, square, square, straight, length, etc. of stipple to achieve a manifestation of force. Either restrained or exposed.
Different expressions of pen power determine the different beauty of the strokes.
From this point of view, strength is the beauty of being thick and strong, and the strength is insightful. The beauty of strength is also softness, beauty, simplicity, tranquility, and tranquility.
The creation of traditional soft-pen calligraphy writing power has a lot to do with the use of pens. Such as: rise and fall, reverse flow, lift and press, turning, pause and setback, dryness and dampness, etc. It can be said that the expression of pen power in soft-pen calligraphy is ever-changing. However, for hard pens, the performance of pen power is greatly limited due to the limitations of its hard texture. Generally speaking, the power of the hard-pencil is expressed by the circle, turning, fatness, curvature, length, and speed of the strokes. For example: the folding point is sharp and calm, and the quickness and sharpness express the masculinity of the pen; the turning part is round, natural, gentle and smooth, expressing the feminine beauty of the pen.
Mastering writing power requires long-term practice and practice. Over time, you can experience it as you master more and more perfect dot painting writing.
The power of hard pen calligraphy is generated in an instant, which is different from the skill of using soft pen calligraphy. For example, squat, stand, beat, hit, build, etc. Normally, in addition to the ability to control the pen, hard-pen writing power is also related to the choice of pen and paper. A hard pen generally refers to a writing instrument with a hard texture. Such as: fountain pen, ballpoint pen, chalk, wooden pen, bamboo pen, signature pen, etc. The pen tips of various hard pens have different properties, so the texture of dot painting is also different. Generally speaking, the performance of hard pen writing has a lot to do with the properties of paper. Usually we can see: rice paper (raw, sandwiched, cooked), ordinary white paper, copy paper, coated paper, fax paper, etc. Various papers have different absorbencies and surface smoothness, which will also have a great impact on the texture of stipple painting.
In addition to the above-mentioned factors, the production of writing power is also closely related to pen technique, writing speed, etc.
Usually the area where the pen tip of a hard pen contacts the paper is small, the heavy or light strokes during the pen movement; the fast or slow speed of the pen; the front and side positions of the pen tip when it contacts the paper; the pen body and the paper The size of the angle between the faces, etc. are all means of expressing changes in pen power. For example, heavy strokes and slow strokes represent fat and steady stipples. Writing lightly and quickly on paper with a rough surface will also produce "flying white" vigorous lines. Of course, the generation of pen power depends more importantly on the fatness, squareness, circle, straightness, straightness, etc. of the stipples. To sum up, hard-pen pen power involves factors such as tools, pen-using skills, writing speed, stipple texture, etc. The expression of writing power must be natural and appropriate, which is directly related to the writer's accumulation of practical experience and writing style. From this point of view, pen strength is the most basic manifestation of the writer's skill and the most fundamental source of strokes.
Section 2: Methods of generating gestures
Gestures are both abstract and concrete. Abstraction lies in "meaning" and concreteness lies in "form". Therefore, the external expression of strokes is concretely and vividly expressed through "shape". The situation creates potential, and the situation establishes form. The two are complementary to each other. Here are several ways to generate gestures.
1. Side-cutting posture
Side-cutting posture refers to the inclination of the radical or the overall structure, causing the font structure to change, that is, "body posture". Generating momentum due to the body is one of the commonly used methods in calligraphy creation. This kind of change is through the moderate expansion and contraction and displacement of radicals and stipples, up or down, left or right, open or closed, bent or raised... vertically and horizontally freely, coming and going at will, so as to achieve arbitrary and charming charm. Extraordinary artistic conception. Just as Jiang Zhenghe said in "Authentic Calligraphy": "The best state of calligraphy is that it can sway and show its posture." As shown in Mi Fu's "Shu Su Tie": "I act stupidly" and other words have a left-leaning posture.