Calligraphy requires white space: the virtual and the real complement each other, and the air is airtight and the sparse can move around
Calligraphy is also an art that uses white space.
Every calligrapher cannot do without the specific form of expression of "black and white letters" to express the artistic taste contained in the inner world. The two monochrome colors of black and white can form a wonderful work of art through the calligrapher's hand. The sense of black and white is not as magnificent as it is dazzling, but it can form calligraphy that is both bright and beautiful, as well as deep and majestic. The reason why the Chinese nation is so partial to and sensitive to black and white has its roots in aesthetic psychology. The descendants of Yan and Huang were born with black eyes and white eyes. They also chose black and white for the Tai Chi diagrams and Go games they invented. The ancients not only discovered and used the beauty of black and white, but also created black ink and white paper, creating an indissoluble bond between the two. Without the ingenious correspondence between black and white, and without the artistic expression of virtuality and reality, there would be no art of calligraphy. It is also because of the distribution of black and white that the unique spatial beauty of Chinese calligraphy is formed.
In excellent calligraphy works, a very important feature is balance. The visual experience of neat or scattered blanks all contains a kind of balance. Of course, white also depends on black. Da Chongguang said in "Shu Raft": "The painting can be cut as cleanly as a golden knife, and the white color can be as neat as jade." Only when there are strokes are crisp and clean, will the places where there are no strokes be neat. This refers to the specific operation of the pen, which goes into the more subtle parts between white and black. But before putting pen to paper, the most important thing to consider is white. Look at the white and base yourself on the black. The contrast between white and black changes and sets off each other to achieve an overall balance and harmony between white and black.
Harmony includes the harmony of black, the harmony of white, the harmony of black and white, and the harmony of black and white is especially important. The form of calligraphy is completed by the combination of black and white. It is also the comprehensive image of black and white that affects people's visual experience. Of course, there is no calligraphy with only black or only white. An imbalance between black and white is also not good calligraphy, and it is difficult to bring aesthetic pleasure to people. However, most people tend to only pay attention to the black lines and ignore the white space, so they cannot consciously pursue and create the overall harmony of calligraphy. "Counting white as black" reminds and requires people to regard white and black as equally important, and to consider them as a whole provides a prerequisite for creating the overall harmony of calligraphy, and its positive effect is obvious. Later generations have continued to discuss this. As Hu Xiaoshi said: "The place where the words are written is ink, and the place where there are no words is white. Ink is the word, and white is also the word... The places with words and the places without words are equally important." ("A Brief Theory of Calligraphy Art") Zong Baihua said: "The blank space should be calculated within the shape of a character. The blank space should be properly distributed and have the same artistic value as the strokes." ("Aesthetic Thoughts in Chinese Calligraphy") can be regarded as a reference to Deng Shiru's " Approval and development of the theory of "scheming nothing but black".
The bottom of the book on which the calligraphy layout is attached is flat, and the initial direct effect of the calligraphy lines is just as a boundary to divide this plane; the black of the line ink contrasts with the white of the original bottom of the book, There is also an area comparison between the divided areas and even between the boundaries. They all need to be in harmony with each other. But this is just the superficial form. Behind the primary beauty, there is a deeper meaning. The aesthetic value of "thinking white is black" is far more than that.
In the art of calligraphy, the principle of virtuality and reality is greatly reflected. Just like painting, on a piece of paper, the areas with ink are black, and the areas without ink are white. White is the basis of black, and black is the borrowing of white. Black and white complement each other. The perfect black and white make people surprised. It turns out that everything has such meticulous changes, even more delicate than what your eyes can feel. And this kind of delicacy makes the natural landscape that you have heard and seen many times become quiet, holy and distant in an instant.
In the aesthetic process, the role of black and white is two-way, thus creating a relationship of breath movement, giving the viewer a dynamic sense of beauty. In a piece of calligraphy, black has the power to move and expand toward white, and white also has the tendency to move toward black. The two together constitute the beauty of breath movement in the entire work. If you stand in the black position, the pen and ink have a sense of movement expanding towards the blank space. The blank space seems to be shrinking, as if the pen and ink are taking the initiative. The blank space provides space for the movement of the spirit of pen and ink, and the pen and ink creates conditions for the movement of the blank space. In essence, there is no difference in expressive and aesthetic value between blank space and pen and ink, only the expression of color is different. In fact, after the blank space and pen and ink are solidified on the paper, they can no longer change their shape and position. The movement we feel is just the result of psychological effects.
The blending of black and white can produce a high-level aesthetic value that is alive, emotional, interesting and charming.
Calligraphy pays attention to "density". Sparsity means conciseness and leaving blank space. Being able to leave blank space and being able to leave it blank is a real skill. The structure of the characters and the layout of the whole text must be dense and dense, so that they can break up the flatness, be uniform, have ups and downs, contrast, and be both contradictory and harmonious, so as to obtain good artistic taste. When doing calligraphy, you should pay attention not only to the black part - the density of the strokes, but also to the sparse white between the calligraphy and painting and between the lines. The black space must be carefully composed, and the white space-the arrangement between the lines must also be handled appropriately, so that the density and density are consistent, and the two complement each other.
Before it was used as a calligraphy material, a piece of white rice paper could only be regarded as a flat surface. Once cut into a certain format, such as banners, nave, fans, etc., it has entered the category of art. When the black lines fall down to form a certain shape, the resulting blank space becomes part of the calligraphy form. The white space blends in with the black lines and has a noticeable impact on them. The blank space at this time is no longer a simple plane, but a space with depth. Our perception of the black line is not that it is lying flat on the paper, but more like it is suspended in the air. It is to make full use of this visual change and regard it as a means of artistic expression to create a more distant and ethereal artistic conception.
The contrast between black and white, and the coexistence of reality and reality is the spirit of Chinese culture and a concentrated expression of "the unity of heaven and earth, and Tao following nature." The ethereal beauty of calligraphy is naturally displayed by the blank space, but it is not limited to the blank space itself. It is also inseparable from the shape of the lines. The shape of the lines becomes three-dimensional, dynamic, and ethereal due to the participation and contrast of white space. Without the foundation of line shapes, its ethereal beauty cannot be displayed. What is emphasized here is just the influence and restriction of blank space on modeling. As Feng Wu of the Qing Dynasty said in "The True Story of Calligraphy": "The meaning of emptiness is the clear distinction between black and white: every word has an empty space, a line has an empty space, and a picture has an empty space."