Knife means seal cutting, martial arts and cooking respectively. Seal cutting knife method refers to the method of seal cutting and knife transportation. According to the carving method, it is divided into single knife and double knife. Methods and routines of martial arts practitioners. Cooking knife method refers to the specific knife transport method for cutting raw materials.
Knife is like a pen, which is the biggest feature of seal cutting. The pen is divided into center and flank, and the knife is also divided into center and flank; The book is big, small seal script, true grass, printed with vermilion, dense and straight; Calligraphy and seal cutting have different methods and tools, but the truth is the same.
In order to achieve the ideal carving effect, we must deal with the relationship between cutting speed, action size, rhythm change and strength according to the different conditions of printing material texture, Yin Shi size, vermilion print, stroke density and pure carving. But no matter what method is used, the principle of knife cutting is the same, and it must be "confident, bold and decisive, corresponding to the heart and hand."
The requirements for the lines of the works are the same, that is, "fat but not bloated, thin but not refined, dignified and quaint, rich and elegant." Zhu Jian, a seal engraver in the Ming Dynasty, said in On Seal: "It is not easy to make a knife like a pen. Tight front, straight to slow knot, turn must be square, fold must be round, no edges and corners, bloated, serrated, dovetail, and the knife method will be over! "
Feng's view of printing in Qing Dynasty also said: "The knife should be straight but not horizontal, the horizontal should be tender and not horizontal, and the knife should be heavy. For example, the painter said' diamond rod' and the calligrapher said' broken hairpin'. If you want to live with a knife, you will rise and fall, if you never pay attention; In fact, what you don't care about is spiritual unity. There are differences, fat and thin, high and low, like rising and not rising, like sparse and not sparse, but not superior. "