① Lifting and pressing
When learning brush calligraphy, we should pay enough attention to lifting and pressing. The pen tip is soft and elastic, and can write thick or thin strokes with the change of elevation, which is the most important feature that distinguishes the writing brush from the hard pen. Some calligraphy lovers don't understand the importance of raising a pen. When writing brush characters, they press the pen hard and spread all the strokes on the paper, thinking that this is "powerful" and "happy". As a result, the strokes written are consistent in thickness and lack of change, just like enlarged and bold hard pen words. This is a taboo for learning brush calligraphy, especially for beginners. Generally speaking, the strokes of a brush can be divided into three parts from top to bottom: the root, the abdomen and the nib. In the process of writing, the pen tip and the pen belly are used more, and the pen root is generally not used. The "lifting" mentioned in the pen movement does not refer to the lifting of the pen tip on paper, but refers to the state of writing with the pen tip; Therefore, "pressing" refers to the state that the pen holds the paper. At first, because the fingers and wrists are not flexible and unfamiliar with the performance of the pen, it will be easier to "press" than "lift". Because of this, we advocate consciously strengthening the training of "lifting", that is, writing more with pens, and only when "lifting" can we "press". In practical application, "mention" and "press" are always interdependent and used alternately. We advocate practicing "lifting" more, but if you only use the pen tip, the written strokes will appear thin, so it is said that only by flexibly changing "lifting" and "pressing" can you really understand the pen action. According to experience, most beginners will find it more convenient to change from "lifting" to "pressing", but it is difficult to change from "pressing" to "lifting". Here I will explain this problem more. From pressing to lifting, it is often used for strokes that the pen refers to, such as skimming, pressing and hooking. We observe the transition of these strokes from coarse to fine, and we can see that they are always gradual. It can be seen that the process from pressing to lifting is also a gradual process. The speed of lifting should be consistent with the speed of lifting the pen horizontally. The strokes written in this way are full and thick. Beginners may have this experience: when writing strokes with little change in horizontal and vertical directions, they can even keep the stroke speed uniform, but when writing strokes such as skimming, pressing and hooking, they always feel that they can't slow down and are used to passing by. In fact, the time from pressing to lifting is not at home, so we can't keep the effective friction between the nib and the paper in the process of lifting, and we can only rely on speed and inertia to let the nib "swing" out. In this way, there will be many unnecessary flying white dry pens, and the strokes are too "virtual", commonly known as "rat tail". Therefore, the process of lifting can not be fast, we should pursue the "real" feeling, and we should be aware of the process of the pen tip leaving the paper. In short, the weight of each stroke is also different, emphasizing the change of lifting and pressing with the pen. A good grasp of the pen can make the written words look rhythmic and "three-dimensional". This is like painting a picture, not only paying attention to composition, but also paying attention to light and shade; Singing a song requires not only accurate melody, but also ups and downs. Especially in cursive script, the thickness change of strokes is more used to strengthen the contrast between light and heavy. For example, the word "poem" is written in Xiao Zhuan, whose strokes are fine and uniform, and the strokes have not changed. In addition to the "silkworm head and goose tail", other strokes also pay attention to the uniformity of strokes. In regular script, strokes stress lifting and pressing, but overall, the thickness of strokes is basically the same. When writing cursive script, if the thickness of each stroke remains the same, it will appear thin and lifeless. It is obviously much better to contrast the thickness of strokes by emphasizing a certain brush surface.
② turning point
The turning point here refers to the horizontal movement of the pen tip. Specifically, the turning of the brush can be divided into two kinds of goodness: straightness and turning. There is no doubt that the horizontal and vertical lines are straight and the left and right lines are curved, but when writing, the front is not distorted and the direction is not changed, so it also belongs to the category of straight lines. The horizontal fold, vertical fold, hook and stroke in cursive script are called "turning points" because of the sharp twist of the pen tip during the reverse stroke. A straight pen requires a good grasp of the direction of the nib within a certain distance. Horizontal and vertical strokes, first of all, are straight, and there can be no unnecessary turns. Skimming and rowing are all to keep the radian smooth and smooth. As for the fluctuation of the thickness of these strokes, it is mainly realized by lifting the pen tip, which has little to do with the direction of the pen. More complicated is the turning point. Turning point, in a word, refers to the connection of strokes and the commutation of strokes; Viewed separately, the turn is round and the fold is square. The pen and ink effects of the two are different, so they naturally have their own advantages in brushwork. A common square fold in regular script requires two strokes to be connected or reversed to show the shape of the stroke, but the stroke does not stop. That is to say, under the premise that the nib does not leave the paper, it is necessary to complete the rewriting after the turning point, but the trace of the nib cannot be exposed. Round folds are very common in cursive scripts, and many square folds in regular scripts are replaced by round folds in cursive scripts. Circular rotation should be smooth and smooth, but there must be no thickness difference, just like a slip ring. This is not easy to do without a certain degree of pressure-raising kung fu.
③ Rhythm
Calligraphy is different from painting and can be altered. Writing is a one-off and irreversible process, that is to say, in the process of writing, at least in the process of writing a pen, you can't stop writing, and of course it can't be traced back after writing. In other words, the length and thickness of a stroke and the change of lifting pressure must be completed in this uninterrupted writing process. Just like playing the violin, you have to play a tune in one breath, and Dongting Lake has a pause. Therefore, for calligraphy art, it has a requirement similar to music, that is, the time element. Reflected in the specific operation process, this is the rhythm of using the pen. The rhythm of writing has two levels of meaning, one is the speed of the whole writing process, and the other is the transformation and cooperation between the movement and pause of the pen tip in a single stroke.
Let's talk about the speed in the whole writing process. There is a good saying: "When writing cursive, you can stand, walk and the grass can fly", so some people often take it for granted that when writing cursive, you must write quickly, otherwise how can you "walk (run)" and "fly"? Actually, this is a misunderstanding. The so-called "stand", "line" and "fly" are only a visual description of the potential of various fonts, not for the speed of writing.
Of course, because of the relationship between word potential and stroke form, cursive script is naturally faster than regular script in the writing process, but this speed is usually only to reduce some unnecessary pauses in order to achieve the continuity between strokes and between words, not without pauses, not to the point of "flying". If you have the opportunity to watch some great calligraphers write cursive script, you will find that their writing speed is still very slow, which is not much different from writing regular script. Although cursive script is free, lively and natural, some forms and effects of stippling form and glyph structure are actually the ingenuity of the writer and are "intentional". If you can't even control the speed of writing, how can you talk about "intentional"? In a word, the running speed of the pen tip is not constant. It is often necessary to adjust the pen speed according to the ups and downs of strokes and the dignified and smooth character potential, which is the second meaning of the pen rhythm. Generally speaking, in a stroke, the thick place is pressed down, and the friction with the paper is also large, so the stroke speed is slow; Only the tip of the pen is used to touch the paper in the thin place, and the double one can't penetrate too much ink, so it is required to write quickly. Similarly, for a word, if its words are heavy and vigorous, the strokes must be heavy, and it takes a lot of time to write; And the strokes are smart and light, the strokes are slender and light, and the stroke speed must be fast. In cursive works, stippling and Chinese characters need ups and downs, and of course, the writing speed also requires the coordination of urgency and quickness, and the alternation of running and stopping.