Seal carving, a unique art category in China, has been displayed in temples and folk in the long history of thousands of years, and is an ancient mark engraved on the chinese art context. Chinese literati and seal makers have composed poetic feelings on the seals, making each seal unique.
The art of seal engraving, which combines calligraphy (mainly seal writing) and engraving (including chiseling and casting) to make seals, is a unique art form of Chinese characters, which has a history of more than 3,700 years. In 2009, the Chinese seal inscription was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
Su Donghe is a inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of seal carving in Beijing, who has studied seal carving since childhood under the guidance of chen Zuohuang, Jiang Weisong, Han Tianheng and other calligraphy and seal engraving masters, and his works are mainly based on ancient seals such as fine Zhu Wen and Jiudian seal seals in Gongwen Seal. After years of study, he is committed to innovating and disseminating seal engraving culture, combining seal engraving with the times, and striving to create seal engraving works that are more in line with modern aesthetics.
Engraving a seal is well thought out, and generally when you have an idea, you can't do it immediately, you have to compose it in your mind first. The border needs to be drawn in a ruler, and Su Donghe has trained his hand to become a living ruler.
After the chapter is painted, the engraving begins, and there are generally more than a dozen tools for seal engraving, which are used in different processes. Generally, the hardness of seal stone is 2 to 4 degrees on the Mohs scale, while the carving knife is about 7 degrees, which can easily carve the stone.
The seal method and chapter method of the seal must be completed through the knife method in the end, and it is impossible to carve a successful work without being familiar with the knife method. A good knife method pays attention to the stability of the knife and the clear knife, which requires the unity of the seal law and the chapter law, and also seeks subtle changes in the details.
In addition to the knife method, it is also necessary to be consistent in heart and hand, and feel the texture of the stone and the change of the process of gradual emergence of the seal while dropping the knife. The sense of knife, the feel of the hand and the heart are connected, so that this square inch of the world can be endowed with a unique artistic life.
The layout is as dense as heaven, and after the first seal is engraved, the seal should be stamped out, and this step is called "stamping".
The role of the stamp is to check whether the seal has achieved the expected effect, if a defect is found, it is necessary to modify the knife, and in the case of retaining the knife method, the stroke of the seal that does not meet the original intention is modified, and finally print the most perfect seal effect.
However, a seal is not completed, but also to engrave the side section, the content of the side section generally has the name of the chapter, time and signature, and the seal and the side section contrast with each other, which is a double sublimation of artistry and ornamentation for the seal.
In recent years, many seal carvings of the Sudong River have been collected by many museums or memorials at home and abroad.
At the same time, the inheritors of the third generation have begun to study and innovate under the leadership of Sudonghe.
Seal engraving skills are constantly being inherited and developed, and culture is like a long river, and art is like a mirror. For thousands of years, generations of creative seal engravers have made the seals have their own strengths and colors, highlighting the Chinese charm of painting on and in painting. (Reporter Wang Wei)
Source: CCTV