Basic essentials of engraving

Chiseling the rough blank: The rough blank is the basis of the entire work. It uses a concise geometric shape to summarize all the modeling details in the concept. It is required to be layered, dynamic, proportionally coordinated, stable in the center of gravity, and overall It has a strong sense of expression and initially forms the outer and inner contours of the work.

The basic method of chiseling a rough blank is from top to bottom, from front to back, from outside to inside, from shallow to deep. From top to bottom, that is, starting from the head to the heel; from front to back, that is, cutting the front body first, then the back; from outside to inside, starting from the surface of the wood, peeling in layer by layer; from shallow to deep , that is, dig out the shallow places first, and then dig out the deep places. When chiseling the rough blank, you need to pay attention to leaving room, just like cutting clothes, you need to relax appropriately. There is a good saying in folk jargon: if you keep fat, you can make it smaller, but if you worry about thin spine, it is difficult to regain fat." "The inner distance should be small, not large, and remember that carving is subtraction."

To dig out the fine blank: start with the whole Focus on adjusting proportions and various layouts, and then gradually implement and form the specific shapes of characters, facial features, limbs, clothing, props, etc., leaving room for lightening at this stage, the volume and lines of the work have become clearer, so The cutting technique is required to be skillful and smooth, and the hollowing out technique in thin blanks requires the use of longitudinal fibers to cut out the excess parts, that is, the ribbed method is required to cut out the easily broken parts of the work. Leave a small piece of material to adhere to the adjacent parts. After the work is completed, use a thin knife to remove the attached tendons.

Finishing: Use fine carving and thinning. The purpose of polishing is to remove the knife marks and dirt in the thin blanks with the knife and make the surface of the work delicate and perfect. The knife marks are required to be clear and precise, either round or straight, and strive to get the smallest details of each part. The texture is reflected.

Grinding: According to the needs of some works, use woodworking sandpaper of different thicknesses to make it smooth and smooth. It is required to use coarse sandpaper first, and then use fine sandpaper to follow the wood. Repeatedly polish the fiber direction until the knife marks and sand path disappear, showing the beautiful wood grain. Pay attention to keeping the outline of the work clear and the lines smooth.

Carving hair and decorative patterns: Use a triangular knife to carve hair and decorative patterns. It is required to use the knife quickly and surely, with uniform thickness and meticulousness.

Coloring and glazing: Coloring is not only to make up for the shortcomings or defects of certain materials, but also to enhance the beauty of the texture of the material and the beauty of the form. Therefore, the coloring of the work should be determined as appropriate, and the color should be deep and bright, in line with the beauty of natural wood.

The purpose of glazing is to moisturize the wood and make the work more beautiful. The brilliance on the cake also plays an anti-fouling role for long-term preservation, so it is required to penetrate evenly and be bright and elegant.

Configuration of the base: The base is not only the support of the main body, but also an inseparable part of the sculpture shape. Therefore, the shape and scale of the base must be complementary to the content and form of the work. Works full of curves and liveliness can be set off by a simple and plain base, while works with simple or solemn shapes can be slightly decorated on the base. Pay attention to the coordination between each other, pay attention to the mutual contrast in color, and do not overdo it. Quyang is the hometown of Chinese sculpture. The stone in the south mountain of Quyang City is pure, tough and smooth, and has excellent taste. Its colorful resources allow its craftsmen to display their skills and create. With unique advantages, Quyang stone carvings not only lose the mysterious and hazy bold frame style of the Wei Dynasty, but also inherit the natural, plump, solemn and graceful shapes of the Tang and Song Dynasties. Bodhisattva Guanyin, Hercules, Goddess, Dragon, Phoenix, Lion and Beast are the artistic examples of contemporary Chinese arts and crafts. Master Lu Jinqiao enriched the stone carving modeling skills with the exquisite and transparent techniques of tooth and wood carving, pioneered the production of small fine pieces, expanded the vast world of stone carving creativity, and made Quyang stone carving an important representative of modern folk stone carving. It is understood that Quyang stone carving. There are more than 2,300 large and small stone carving factories in the county. Their products are exported to more than 100 countries and regions, with an annual output value of hundreds of millions of yuan.

As for the origin of stone carving art, there is a very popular local legend in Quyang: During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Huang Shigong, who was as famous as Guiguzi, lived in seclusion in Huangshan Mountain and passed on the "Scarving Heavenly Book" to two Quyang disciples. From then on, Quyang People then learned to carve.

Quyang stone carving has gone through two thousand years of development so far. Quyang carving artists have emerged in large numbers, and the carving art continues to create brilliance in China and the world. The "One Lion and One Cauldron" carved by Yang Qiong, a carving artist of the Yuan Dynasty, was praised by Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, as a "unique art". In the late Qing Dynasty, Quyang carving artists' works "Crane" and "Ganzhimei" won the silver medal at the Panaba Pacific International Exposition. Since then, it has been said that "Quyang stone sculptures are known all over the world". After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Quyang stone carving artists successively participated in the restoration of Tiananmen Square and the construction of major projects such as the Monument to the People's Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, and Chairman Mao Memorial Hall. Quyang sculptures are well-known at home and abroad. Yishui inkstone, also known as Yishui ancient inkstone, is a traditional famous inkstone of the Han people. It was produced in Yizhou (now Yi County), Hebei Province, hence the name. According to legend, it began in the Tang Dynasty. The inkstone is taken from a soft-colored purple-gray sedimentary rock beside the Yishui River. Naturally decorated with blue and yellow markings, the stone is fine in quality, moderately soft and hard, and bright in color. Diaoshan's inkstones are exquisite and simple, moisture-resistant and durable, easy to produce ink, suitable for calligraphy and painting, and fluent writing. Yi inkstones are named after their shapes and materials. Artists use their skills according to their materials, design carefully, use inkstones skillfully, and have superb knife skills. For thousands of years, Yi Inkstone has been famous all over the world for its long history, gifted high-quality stones and unique artistic style. It occupies an important position in the history of China's profound and exquisite inkstone culture and art. "Yishui Inkstone" is the outstanding representative and leading brand of Yi Shui Inkstone.

The Yishui inkstone material is a purple and gray sedimentary rock called "Alexite" and "Yade Stone". The quality of the stone is excellent, comparable to Duan She. Stones are often dotted with natural spots and textures in yellow, white, green and other colors. The texture is fine and soft, tough and moderate in hardness, and is natural. The made inkstone produces ink quickly without damaging the hair, and the ink is smooth and not easy to evaporate. It has the excellent characteristics of producing ink, storing ink, moistening the pen, and strengthening the hair. As recorded in "Yizhou Chronicles": "The quality of the stone is not inferior to Duanxi." "Inkstones come in purple, green and white colors, are fine and hard, and are very good for inkstones."

Yishui Inkstone is named after the stone was taken from the ancient Huang Boyang Cave in Zhongnan Mountain on the banks of the Yishui River. The name Yishui comes from the Yi tribe of the Shang people who lived on both sides of the river about 5,000 years ago. . "The Classic of Mountains and Seas: The Great Wilderness East": Wang Hai entrusted Youyi with the servant of He Bo. Youyi killed Wang Hai and took the servant of Niu. The word servant means divination, which means divination. In ancient times, tortoise shells and ox blades were used as tools for divination, and the characters engraved on them were called Oracle Bone Inscriptions. The Yin Shang people and the Yi tribe were good at divination, and the ox used for divination was called Pu Niu. It can be seen from this that the word "Yi" of Yi family should be derived from the word "Yi" in the "Book of Changes". The Yishui River is still and deep, with clear water quality. It is in love with the beautiful mountains on both sides of the river. It has been embraced by dragons and tigers for thousands of years. It is a geomantic treasure land where ghosts and gods come to visit every night. The Qingxiling is built at the foot of Yunmeng Mountain on the north bank of the Yishui River. It is known that Yishui Inkstone is produced on the bank of Yishui River. It inherits the aura of heaven and earth from its roots. As an auspicious item and Feng Shui town object, it adds a magical power.

The carvers of Yishui Inkstone use tools such as drills, knives, shovels, and saws to shape the shape according to the material. According to the composition of the stone and the quality of the inkstone, the roughness is retained and the essence is retained. Carving, vertical carving, openwork carving, relief carving, openwork carving, yin and yang carving and other techniques are completed. Yishui Inkstone has natural stone eyes or stone galls, which provides a broad space for clever use of natural stone eyes and stone galls to vividly express flowers, birds, fish and insects, natural scenery, pavilions, pavilions and historical figures. Therefore, Yishui Inkstone is designed It has become an important link in expressing the spirituality of art, a great creation that turns decay into magic and gives fresh life and soul to heavy stone. It is named after it is produced in Dongyang County, Zhejiang Province. It began in the Northern Song Dynasty and has a history of more than 1,000 years. By the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Dongyang wood carving had become famous throughout the country. Dongyang wood carvings mainly use relief techniques. They are both appreciation and practical products. Its artistic style is unique. In terms of design, it draws on the traditional scatter-point perspective and bird's-eye perspective composition, and pays attention to the layout being full, scattered but not loose, numerous but not chaotic, retaining the plane, not damaging the whole material, highlighting the theme and expressing plot. All kinds of furniture have fine carvings, appropriate decorative parts, coordinated patterns, smooth lines, and clear knife skills. In the wood carving hanging screens, they often use traditional techniques with multiple plots and levels, with full composition, appropriate arrangement, strong decoration, vivid images, and highlighting the main characters and plots.

The wood carvings on the famous Ming Dynasty building "Suyong Hall" in Dongyang County are extremely magnificent. It has been listed as a key cultural relic protection unit in Zhejiang Province. The "Sakyamuni Buddha" made in 1957 for the Main Hall of Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou is 19 meters high, with more than 2 tons of glazed lamps, incense tables and other Buddhist utensils, which is majestic. In 1958, he made an architectural decoration of more than 80 meters long for the Chinese Embassy in the Soviet Union, which had a strong decorative effect and added a lot of color to the building. In 1981, he produced 14 large strip screens, more than 60 hanging screens and 75 inserted screens for the "Tung Palace Building" in Singapore, which was magnificent and brilliant. At the opening ceremony of the "Tung Palace Building", Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew claimed that it was "the most perfect architectural decoration in Singapore". The famous arts and crafts artist Lou Shuiming engaged in Dongyang wood carving in Hong Kong in his early years. His works enjoy a certain reputation in Southeast Asian countries. He perfectly combines traditional Dongyang wood carvings with modern Western-style furniture, and his designed furniture sells well in the international market. Dongyang woodcarvings have more than 2,700 varieties of designs and colors, and are very popular in foreign trade exports. Zhejiang is the traditional production area of ??Chinese boxwood carvings, mainly distributed in Yueqing County, with a history of about 150 years. It originated from the "Dragon Lantern Festival" that was popular during the Lantern Festival among the people. It is to decorate the wooden dragon lantern skeleton with small wooden Buddha statues. In the late Qing Dynasty, the famous boxwood carving artist Zhu Zichang made innovations and developed boxwood carvings from ancillary decorations of folk dragon lanterns into art appreciation objects.

Boxwood grows slowly and is known as the "thousand-year dwarf". It is hard and fine in texture, yellow and warm in color, much like ivory. As time goes by, its color will slowly become darker. Simple and beautiful. It is characterized by small size, exquisiteness, and delicacy. In terms of expression techniques, in addition to round carving, openwork carving, and deep and shallow relief, there are also techniques such as inlay.

On the basis of inheriting the excellent tradition, Zhejiang boxwood carvings not only reflect real life and the style of the socialist era, but also include historical themes and folk stories, and many excellent works have emerged. The work "Su Wu Shepherd" by the famous artist Wang Fengzhi tells the story of how after the Xiongnu were defeated in 100 BC, on the one hand they hypocritically sent envoys to sue for peace, and on the other hand they waited for the opportunity to invade the Central Plains again. In order to respond to the Xiongnu's request, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhonglang Su Wu as an envoy to the Xiongnu with a banner. Chanyu, the leader of the Xiongnu, tried to persuade Su Wu to betray the court and surrender to the Xiongnu. But he would rather die than surrender. Shanyu became angry and exiled him to Beihai to herd sheep. Su Wu went through countless hardships and was only rescued by envoys from the Han Dynasty in 85 BC. He was only 40 years old when he went on the mission and suffered 19 years of torture in the Huns.

On the day he returned to Chang'an, the people all came out to greet him. Seeing the white-haired old man still holding the banner with a bare pole in his hand, everyone was moved and said that he was a man of integrity.

This excellent boxwood carving reproduces this heroic national hero. It was well received at the 1954 National Folk Arts and Crafts Exhibition and also participated in the Socialist National Plastic Art Exhibition held in Moscow. In 1957, his work "Patrol" was selected by the Beijing Military Museum for the 30th anniversary exhibition of the founding of the army. In 1959, his large-scale wood sculpture "Bi Sheng" was put on permanent display at the Beijing History Museum. Ye Runzhou, a famous artist from the Wenzhou Institute of Arts and Crafts, was born in a boxwood carving family that has been passed down for four generations. He has profound skills and is good at openwork carving skills. On the basis of inheriting tradition and innovation, he summed up experience and achieved certain results. His representative works include "The Breeder", "The Goddess Scattered Flowers", "As You Like It", etc. Some of them won the first prize of Zhejiang Provincial Creation Award, some were used as national gifts, and some were exhibited abroad. Today, boxwood carvings have been sold in more than 30 countries and regions. Mainly produced in Putian, Quanzhou and other places in Fuzhou, it began in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. At first, it was just decoration on buildings and furniture and carving of Buddhist statues in temples. Later, it gradually formed an independent wood carving industry. The main raw material for Fujian wood carving is longan wood, which grows in southern Fujian. It is brittle and has fine fibers, making it easy to carve. After carving, polish and bleach it, dry it, then dye it into colors such as longan core, lychee core, orange and grapefruit yellow, bronze, etc., then cover it with a layer of paint, wait for the paint to dry, and then apply wax. Make it glossy. In the animal-themed works, teeth are also made of bone and eyes are made of glass, which are inlaid on the animal's body to make it more vivid.

Historically, there are three main different schools of Fuzhou woodcarving: ①The Osaka Cun School represented by Chen Tianci. He mainly carved religious figures such as Maitreya Buddha, Guanyin, Eighteen Arhats, and Eight Immortals. Later, he also carved some celestial beings, ladies, and beasts. In addition to longan wood and boxwood, the materials used also include ivory, horn, bamboo root, red sandalwood, etc. ②The Xiangyuan Village faction represented by Liu Qingyuan. They are good at carving grass insects, flowers, fruit plate wood carvings and other works, which are exquisite and vivid. Such as works: "Dragon Boat Rowing", "Water Wheel", etc. ③The Yanta Township School represented by Wang Qingqing is also known as the Lacquerware School. He is good at carving patterns and reliefs of flowers and birds combined with lacquerware. Gold lacquer wood carvings have reached a high artistic level as early as the Ming and Qing dynasties. Whether it is the carved beams and painted pillars on the building, the screen shrines, food boxes, incense burner covers for worshiping ancestors, as well as the beds, cabinets, candlesticks, pen holders, etc. that are closely related to life, they are all decorated with gold lacquer wood carvings.

It is made of high-quality camphor wood. It is rough-cut first and then carefully carved. It is then polished and finally affixed with gold foil, giving it a sparkling, resplendent artistic effect. In terms of subject matter, most of them choose folk stories, myths and legends, local dramas, etc. The composition is full and well-proportioned, often with continuity, and zigzag paths are used to distinguish different plots and scenes. In terms of techniques, there are relief carvings, latte art carvings, multi-layer carvings, round carvings, etc. And add appropriate artistic exaggeration. The carvings on the architecture are relatively rough, the knife skills are concise, and the emphasis is on dynamics. For example, the facial features of a character should be a high nose, deep eyes, and a pointed mouth. They should be placed at a high place and looked up to make it just right. Commonly used tea cabinets, food boxes for sacrifices, and incense burner covers are exquisitely carved for easy viewing.

After liberation, the famous artist Zhang Jianxuan's "dining cage" was exquisitely and vividly carved, full of the interest of life, and won a silver medal at the World Youth Festival. The work "Flying to Huding Bridge" by Chaoyang County craftsman Ye Xiyong is a bold new work with modern themes. He carefully carved the chain links of the cable bridge into movable chains, which further enhanced the theme of the work. Shantou craftsman Zhang Weihuai designed the large-scale wood carving decoration "Grand View Garden" for Guangzhou Dongfang Hotel, which is 14 meters long and 49 meters high. The picture contains a total of 13 pavilions and more than 100 figures with different postures, well-proportioned layout, transparent paths, uniform density, magnificent, imposing from a distance, and exquisite and detailed when viewed up close, which adds a lot of luster to the hotel. Handicrafts are sold to Hong Kong, Macao, Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States. Suzhou carvings mainly include mahogany small pieces, ivory carvings, boxwood carvings, bamboo carvings, carved inkstones, seals and animal buttons, etc., and are famous throughout the country.

The famous arts and crafts artist Lu Hansheng has comprehensive skills. The boxwood sculpture "Lotus Leaf Holding Pen" created by him and his teacher *** is still treasured in the Shanghai Museum. It is carved from a tree stump in a natural shape, and several sides are inlaid with mahogany to form the veins of the lotus leaf. The edges of the lotus leaves are rolled up and dotted with several small frogs, making the whole shape vivid and beautiful. In particular, the tenons inlaid with leaf patterns are all on the reverse side, and no flaw can be seen on the front side. It is produced in Qufu County, Shandong Province and was founded approximately by Kong Teng, the ninth grandson of Confucius in the Han Dynasty. It is made from regular regular wood that is unique to the Confucius Forest in Qufu. The main varieties include dragon-headed walking sticks, figures, flowers, etc. It was given as a gift on Confucius’ birthday. After liberation, Kong Xianbin, a descendant of Confucius, inherited his ancestral skills. Today, regular wood carving has become Qufu's main tourist craft and is deeply loved by Chinese and foreign tourists.