Introduction to seal cutting:
Seal cutting is a traditional art form, named after the seal script printed on the ancient seal. It is the art of combining calligraphy and sculpture (including chiseling and casting) to make seals. As far as the production technology is concerned, it refers to carving patterns or characters designed on the plane on materials such as metal, stone, teeth and horns.
A brief history of seal cutting:
The seal originated from the class society, initially as a symbol of documents, and later became a certificate of rights and interests. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, seals were widely used, including articles, gold coins and standard instruments. Qin and Han dynasties were the prosperous period of seals, and the official seals in Han dynasty had formed a whole set of systems, and the forms of seals were more diverse.
Most of the printed texts are printed by Miao. Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties basically followed the tradition of Qin and Han seals. In the Tang Dynasty, the size of the official seal increased, the seal was Xiao Zhuan, and most of the inscriptions were Zhu Wen. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the scope of private printing began to expand, and book collection printing, book collection printing and word printing rose. The shape, material, carving and layout of seals have changed significantly.
Introduce three seal cutting methods:
1, sealing method
Seal method is the understanding of seal script, in fact, it is the calligraphy of seal character. Ancient seal, ancient seal, Han seal, Miao seal, and useful bird and insect books. After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, seal script was widely used, and another kind of seal script was called 10-fold seal script, which folded the strokes evenly and filled the printed surface. In modern times, official script, cursive script and regular script were also used in printing. When engraving, you must know the font, especially the seal script, and understand the origin of the font.
Step 2 write a composition
Composition is to organize the overall layout according to the different shapes and sizes of printing surfaces and different printing materials. The arrangement and layout of seal script characters is the so-called separation of Zhu and Bu Bai. Seal shows its artistic charm in a small range with a few words, so it requires changeable words, colorful layout and artistry. The layout of seals can be roughly divided into the principles of reality, density and balance.
3. Knife method
Knife technique, that is, the technique of using a knife when carving chapters, has been said by predecessors, and there are thirteen kinds of knife techniques. In actual operation, the two methods are mainly cutting and punching. The lines carved by the knife are concise, and the lines carved by the punching knife are smooth. Famous seal engravers in Ming and Qing dynasties all attached great importance to knife cutting.