I have been hobby seal carving for nearly 20 years, and now, I have a certain understanding of the theory of seal carving, and I have basically mastered the techniques of seal carving. If you want to print and engrave systematically, you need to find time to study, and because the work has been relatively busy in recent times, you can only try one by one. Although I have carved some famous badges for friends, this is the first time I have created them specifically for a certain theme, which is relatively a "big project".
During the National Day in 2018, I went to visit Mr. Wang Benxing's home, and he asked me if I had continued to create in the near future. Mr. Wang said, "This is not possible", and he asked me to use my spare time to calm down and create some good works. During the conversation, he suggested that we could try to create the theme of the 24 solar terms, and I gladly accepted.
After returning home, I began to prepare for the work, first collected the relevant information of the 24 solar terms, and arranged and designed according to the fonts such as large and small seals, because some words in the 24 solar terms have a high repetition rate, such as spring, summer, autumn, winter, standing, to, small, large, dew, summer, snow, etc., these words with higher frequency are cleverly processed through changes in font structure, sidebar changes in font lines, and even changes in Zhu Wen and Bai Wen, so that they can not be seen as a whole. Moreover, since the names of the 24 solar terms are composed of two characters, under normal circumstances, they are nothing more than horizontal or vertical rows, and it is difficult to have other forms. In order to be innovative, I use the use of monomer irregularities and squares and cuboids to increase the form of the seal, making it rich in variety and giving the viewer a refreshing feeling. After more than two weeks of polishing, the 24 square seals were finally made. Subsequently, I sent the impression of the 24 solar terms to my friend Mr. Xue Yuanming to ask him for his advice, and a few days later, Mr. Xue corrected the impression and explained the reasons one by one, which benefited me a lot. According to Mr. Xue's opinion, combined with some new understanding, I redesigned and remade most of the solar terms, and it took more than a week to complete the second creation of the 24 solar terms.
Afterwards, I compared the two impressions before and after, and found that the quality of the second work was not only improved, but the overall viewing effect was also greatly improved. This time I was more confident, so I sent it to Mr. Xue Yuanming, asking him to comment again, and the next day Mr. Xue called ** to tell me, "This time the carving is very good, but the handling of the sidebar is still relatively conservative, in a few days, go to your house for face-to-face guidance." A few days later, Mr. Xue arrived as promised. He said that the sidebar should be bold and not too restrictive. After his on-site demonstration and guidance, I have a deeper understanding and intuitive feeling of sidebar processing, and at the same time, I have also improved my sidebar processing skills to a certain extent. In line with this line of thought, the recreated seal sidebar was reorganized. After the processing of the 24 solar terms seal, the sidebar is richer, and the overall effect is more qualitatively improved.
The ancients said: "See the world between square inches", believe it. Through the creation of this series of themes, I have a deeper understanding of seal carving, and I love it more, and I want to experience this with a lifetime of perseverance.
Ni Xiangwu. February 18, 2019.
About the Author:
Ni Xiangwu, male, born in 1968, is from Funing County, Jiangsu Province. He enlisted in the army in 1985 and was admitted to the Armed Police Technical College (now the Armed Police Engineering University) in 1989. In 1992, he worked in the Nanjing Municipal Detachment of the Armed Police and successively served as a communications staff officer and political instructor. In June 1999, he transferred to the Jiangsu Provincial High People's Court, where he is currently a judge and a senior judge. In 2017, he served as an assistant to the president of the Intermediate People's Court of the Seventh Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (one year), and was awarded a third-class meritorious service for his outstanding work. In his spare time, he has always been fond of the art of gold and stone seal carving, and many seal carving works have been published in publications such as "China Calligraphy and Painting Daily" and "People's Court Daily". He is now a member of Jiangsu Calligraphers Association (seal carving).