Calligraphy With Ink And Water Techniques

Calligraphy with ink and water techniques

A successful calligraphy work, in addition to its profound ideological connotation and traditional skills, is often due to its proper use of skills. The use of special effects to achieve artistic effects that cannot be obtained under normal circumstances is a noteworthy aspect of calligraphy art in the new historical life atmosphere. Japanese avant-garde and less-character calligraphy, as well as Chinese modern calligraphy also have a certain artistic charm, largely because of the use of a series of special techniques.

FIRST of All, it should be emphasized that the user of Special Effects Should Be Based on the Premise of Not Violating the Overall Creates of Callig. Raphy. If

(1) Special effects of using ink

The ink used in ancient calligraphy is relatively monotonous, and there are more dry and moist changes, which is related to the ancient times when only ink sticks were used to grind the ink and the quality of the ink. In addition, from the perspective of the transmission medium of calligraphy works, there is no exhibition hall like today in ancient times. Most of his works are for self-entertainment or gifts. All of these have influenced the artistic pursuit of calligraphy in the use of ink. calligraphy art has been broadened, coupled with the convenience brought by modern science and technology, it has become possible and inevitable to use ink in the practice of artistic experiments.

a) The skill of using thick and light ink

Changes in dryness and whiteness in the works of the book, such as using thick and light ink to process, have a unique artistic effect, and the connotation of the content of the work will also be expanded.

Thick and light ink is to make use of the different proportions of water and ink, the speed of gathering and dispersing of water and ink on rice paper, and the degree of coloring, so that a natural transitional and alternate shade of ink can appear in a single stroke or a character or a piece of work.

The key to the application of thick and light ink is to dip the ink, secondly to control the amount of water, and thirdly to carry out ink-absorbing treatment in time. There are two ways to dip in ink. One is to dip in water and then dip in ink. The specific method is to let the pen be washed in the brush wash until it is 50% wet, and then dip the tip of the pen in ink and write immediately; the second is to dip the pen in ink first, and then Quickly dip in water and write instantly. This method of using ink is very similar to the use of thick and light ink in traditional Chinese painting. The difference is that traditional Chinese painting can be repeated, but calligraphy can never be repeated. When writing, you must use old rice paper and waste rice paper to dry it in time to avoid "ink pigs".

If you are writing large-scale characters with thick strokes, you can use a small brush to smear ink on a large brush to make more layers of ink and ink.

The use of thick and light ink not only increases the artistic appeal of the characters in calligraphy works with few characters, but also has a prominent effect when used in banners. For example, I used thick and light ink in the creation of the Dazhong Hall banner "Li Bai sends Meng Haoran to Guangling". The exhibition is very popular among viewers. Another work of mine, "Virtuous and Indifferent", also uses thick and light ink, allowing a large amount of water to push the ink to deposit between strokes, which successfully highlights the detached and elegant situation in the content of calligraphy.

b) The effect of white characters on ink background is achieved

White characters with ink background are often used by calligraphers in calligraphy works, because it has both "expanding flavor" and moisturizing the muscles. There are two specific methods. First, use alum water (adjusted according to the ratio of about 1:8) to write on the raw Xuan, and then paint the back with ink after it dries out, so that the effect of white characters on a black background is naturally obtained. The second is to use advertising powder to write on the promotion, and then paint the front with ink, you can also get the same effect. The difference between the two lies in: writing with advertising powder, because the powder flakes off after drying, the text has a sense of incompleteness, which is of course beneficial to the pursuit of ancient taste, but when writing, because the dispersion effect of water powder is not as good as that of thin alum water, the font appears dry and astringent . In short, each has its own advantages and disadvantages, and the writer can choose according to the content and artistic needs. In addition, when the bottom is inked, colors can also be added to increase the peculiar smell.

c) Application of rubber ink

Rubber ink is mainly used in light ink creation. For some works, if you want to use all light ink, you can use the glue-ink method to achieve a more consistent light-ink effect. The thick and light ink method mentioned above is only suitable for creations with changes in shades. If it is used in the creation of light ink works, it may be difficult, because the water is too full, it is difficult to control, and some delicate strokes are difficult to express in light ink . In this case, higher-grade glue can be used to dilute it with water, and then add an appropriate amount of ink. In this way, when writing, it is rare to encounter the problem that the strokes melt too quickly and are difficult to control when using ink.

d) Utilization of Sumo

The use of Sumo can sometimes achieve unexpected results. In the ink wash, the Su Mo of Yidege, the ink, the colloid and the water are separated. Leaving aside the surface and floating in water, it can be used as large characters. After the watermark dries, there will be sink marks, like light ink, in a ring shape. In the middle of the strokes, it can show the effect of scorched ink, and the color of the ink is subdued, which also has a unique flavor.

(2) Special skills of using water

Chinese painting has always been known as ink painting, but it still pays attention to the use of water, and it seems that water is still the first. However, traditional calligraphy pays little attention to the role of water in calligraphy creation, which cannot but be a pity. In fact, giving full play to the activity, flexibility and dilution of water in calligraphy creation can greatly enhance the artistic charm of calligraphy works. As mentioned above, the use of water in thick and light ink is one example. In the process of creation, it can also have the following special purposes.

①Splashing method

Shengxuan absorbs water and loose ink. According to this characteristic, when using thick and light ink for creation, you can use the water-splashing method for the strokes that need to continue to spread in a large area after writing, that is, pour it with clear water to make the strokes on the strokes The ink blots dispersed again.

② Water spray method

The function and steps are the same as the water spraying method, but for more convenient control, or if this treatment is required locally, the water spraying method can be used. Water spraying can use a spray gun (such as a watering can for ironing, mosquito spray cans and spray cans, or even a mouth) to spray water in a targeted manner.

Using the water-spraying method, the edges of the strokes will appear as scattered ink according to the thickness of the low lines, and the texture is generally more uniform and delicate; using the water-spraying method, the edges of the writing will not only appear diffuse, but also appear dot-shaped ink blobs of different shades. Also don't have a taste.

③ Sprinkling method

In the same way, water is used, or a spray gun is used, or sprinkled by hand, just to distinguish the order of the time sequence, so "sprinkle" is especially used. The water in the sprinkle method is to sprinkle water on the raw rice paper before writing, and write on the paper when it is still wet, so as to obtain other loose ink effects. The loose ink effect obtained by the sprinkle method is irregular, and the handwriting is blurred or even broken. If there are water droplets in the rough strokes before writing, there will be faint watermarks.

The author has created a piece of work using the sprinkler method, which has attracted attention and been repeatedly pondered by the audience in many exhibitions, and the artistic effect is very good.

The heart of this work is 60cm×60cm, and the thick ink characters literally read "Smart Life", followed by "Confused, Confused, Lake Confused, Misunderstood, Misunderstood, Misunderstood", "Momomo In addition, there are various small characters of different sizes, different orders, and ambiguous, such as "Qingqing is too smart to calculate, and it has calculated Qingqing's life", "It's rare to be confused", "It's better to be confused" etc. Among the four big characters "Smart One World", the word "One World" appears a bit "confused" because it is treated with sprinkler method. My whole idea is this: this is a life answer sheet, and the audience can completely understand my work from different life experiences and levels of thought. "Smart life", everyone hopes, is a good thing, but in fact it is impossible, there is a contradiction between ideal and reality. From another point of view, it may not be a good thing to be smart for a lifetime, it may be a mistake, people should not be too shrewd, too calculating, have you seen the precedent and ancient saying of "reckoning your life instead"? It can be seen from the above that such content has a taste of "must have this form". -

④ special effect of alum water

Alum, whose chemical name is metal sulfate hydrous crystal, has the function of precipitating water pollution. Of course, we don't need to worry about it so much, as long as we know its unique effect on rice paper.

We know that there are two types of rice paper: raw rice and cooked rice. It is said that Shuxuan is rice paper that has been floated in alum water. The miraculous effect of alum water is mentioned in the section on the special effects of ink techniques, that is, it is used to obtain the effect of white characters on the ink background, so it can be seen that it has the effect of blocking ink color.

Spray and drip the raw Xuan with alum water to make it a raw and cooked Xuan, which can get its effect. Please see the following works and choose the word "tiger".

This work was created by me the year before last and has been exhibited many times, all of which have aroused the interest of audiences and calligraphers and painters. This work has two characteristics, one is the knot. For thousands of years, the "tiger" in cursive script has been written directly as "虍", and this "tiger" has been written vertically as a bedroom, with a somewhat pretty shape, like a crouching tiger trapped in a cage, roaring to the sky, Sad and majestic. The second is the peculiar effect of ink color: thick and light ink naturally gathers and disperses, and its traces resemble tiger spots. This is why I used the word "exactly like". I think everyone who has seen the authentic work of this work will agree with me. The delicacy of its markings is also greatly admired by meticulous painters.

This artistic effect is obtained by spraying alum water, water spray method and thick and light ink method. The specific method is as follows:

The alum water is boiled in a ratio of 2:8, that is, two parts of alum and eight parts of water, and it can be diluted more. Choose Anhui Shanshengxuan or Du'an Shengxuan, spray evenly on the back of the paper with alum water (it is best to use a pistol-type plastic watering can to spray), the ratio of dry area is 3:2, when it is completely dry, it is best to dry it to one On time. When creating, the side with alum is facing down, that is, the ink is still on the front side of the rice paper. When writing, use the method of dipping ink with thick and light ink, but increase the amount of water obviously until it does not drip, write in a hurry, and then spray a lot of water to make the ink float on the paper and melt naturally, but be careful not to Use rice paper to absorb the ink, so as not to affect the gloss of the ink, it is better to paste than to die.

In addition to uniform spraying, there are also various methods such as drip method, grid method, and combined method. Calligraphers can give full play to their imaginations. Here I choose a few more works from my personal calligraphy exhibition as examples.

There is a "well" character. There is a line of inscription under this word: "This word is written in one stroke. You may not believe it or dare to ask?" This work often attracts onlookers in the exhibition hall. In fact, this is a square square that clearly reads the word "well". It should be said that there should be no doubts, but the viewers are confused by my inscription (it should be said that there is also that peculiar ink effect). There are several reasons for creating this work; first, I want to use the audience's psychology to directly obtain a humorous exhibition hall effect. Make the author and the viewer form an inevitable dialogue, make a joke, and achieve a kind of agreement; secondly, it is aimed at such a kind of psychology, people are often confused and shaken in front of simple things, and things with clear eyes, their own Things that have already been recognized are often hesitant or even dare not recognize them; thirdly, Tic Tac Toe is a stable structure, which vividly reflects a situation worthy of reflection in Chinese ideology.

To create a character, first use alum water to hit the alum on the back of the single Xuan, and use an oil brush with a front width of 20 mm to mark the grid, and then sprinkle a few places randomly. After drying, restore the paper surface, write a well in one stroke, and then use a spray gun to spray the two horizontal strokes of the "well", sometimes spraying directly on the thick ink to melt it, and sometimes spraying on the white part of the outer edge of the writing to let the water Induce Mo Feng. In this way, a work with rich layers of thick and light ink, and ink colors that are square, round and scattered is formed. The effect of the square brick mosaic formed naturally by the ink marks highlights the original connotation of the word meaning. The content and form are unified.

Another "Gone with the Wind". Originally used as the Dazhong Hall, it was written in four feet. If you look at the original work, the strokes of the word "Feng" show several obvious regular deep grooves chiseled by knives and axes, which is very metallic, but it is obviously not drawn. There is also a picture of "Shou", which contains three characters: "Chun Changshou", or "Millennium Shou". Scattered ink marks. These two characters are the result of using alum water to stipple the back of the rice paper in advance.

⑤Salt water absorption method

Anti-salt is sprinkled on the handwriting that has just been written, and the characteristic of salt absorbing moisture in the air can also be used to receive a special ink color effect. I have a piece of work "Bear", which uses the method of sprinkling salt, so that the whole character "Xiong" has a very similar wool texture. The method is: Sprinkle a little salt when the ink is still wet. If you need a radial effect, sprinkle a denser pile in the middle of the strokes. Of course, in my "Bear", in addition to using salt, I also used the technique of dripping alum. -

(3) Special effects of using paper

The handling of paper is also a factor that cannot be ignored in a successful calligraphy work.

The treatment of the paper has a great influence on the ink color effect.

One way: scratch the wrinkle. Before writing, the backside paper is wrinkled, and it can be used as a book after being flattened a little; you can also wrinkle a few places on the cut paper at will. The back handwriting is naturally mottled. Use thick and light ink to write with a heavy brush. The convex part is first applied with ink, and the concave part is applied with ink. Due to the different timing of soaking, it will form a natural effect and obtain a special sense of stroke texture.

In addition, I deliberately burned a few holes with cigarette butts and splashed a few puddles of old ink on it to make the writing look messy. The whole text is like the heroic appearance of a brave man who is full of scars and desperate to fight. In the exhibition hall, this work is still favored by factory directors and managers who are struggling in the economic field.

The second method: overwrite. A piece of paper is folded into two layers, and written with a heavy pen, so that the two papers have exactly the same handwriting. This is relatively difficult. The author once used this method to write a book titled "Shadow", and I just wrote this word. After being spread out, they are reflections of each other, which is very interesting. -

(4) Other acrobatics

1. The Old Law

Calligraphy works sometimes have to make the heart of the characters and even the mounted silk and silk become dilapidated and moldy in order to obtain the ancient flavor. The following method can be used.

You can choose old paper or even mildewed paper with watermarks, or you can use new rice paper. Write it first and seal it, or use a pigment to make light brown dye on the rice paper and wait for it to dry before writing the seal. After leaving it for a month (mainly to let the ink dry), wrap it with a damp cloth and put it in a damp place for about ten and a half months. It can be washed several times with bleaching powder, then peel off the support paper and mount again. If you want the center of the characters to be cracked, you can roast and simmer with fire after mounting, slightly burnt, roll by hand, and then mount. The mounted silk or satin can also be washed with water to make it lose its luster and look old.

2. Color ink and color base method

There are two flow directions of modern calligraphy, one is to make characters into paintings, so that the characters have picturesque meaning. The second is to draw into calligraphy and painting, and boldly use painting pigments in calligraphy creations that only have changes in black and white, and it is true that new artistic conceptions can be obtained. In this way, new techniques emerged.

For example, to create a banner (character center 1.2 meters x 0.4 meters), a single character, the character "Lotus" occupies most of the character center, written in one stroke with ink and Chinese painting paint, and the long vertical pen along the lotus character is inscribed The words "Yu Du Ai Lian's out of the mud but not stained" have a good overall effect. The specific method is to wash the pen with pigment in water as the color of the light ink part. When writing, add a thicker pigment ball before dipping in the ink, and then spray water after writing.

In order to achieve the dark color effect of oil paintings, some works can choose better quality and thicker Xuanxuan or Gaolixuan. Because it needs to be dyed repeatedly, single Xuan can't bear it. Before writing, it should be dyed with heavy color, and then repeated as needed after writing. Add color to the back and dye it. When dyeing, it is like scratching and wrinkling the heart of the word, and you can get broken jade patterns.

The special skills in calligraphy are just a means of calligraphy innovation. With the development of science and technology and the assiduous experiments and explorations of calligraphers, it will continue to be enriched. However, as a calligrapher, one should be very clear-eyed that the role of special effects is far from the mainstream of calligraphy art, and the main focus of innovation is always on the aspects of using brushes and knotting characters; Special skills, too much ingenuity, will become a wordsmith, so we must pay great attention to the unity and natural fusion of form and content, and not be too deliberate. Calligraphy works with stunts for the sake of stunts are definitely not good products, so use colors with caution, remember!

Three Realms of Calligraphy Creation

The problem of realm is a very important problem that often plagues literary artists, because as a creator, only when he understands the realm, he can feel the artistic ladder he is on. From entry to entry, from a lower realm to a higher realm, is exactly what the artist expects.

Wang Guowei, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, once proposed three realms of literature and art. He pointed out that "last night the westerly wind withered the green trees, went up to the tall building alone, and looked at the end of the world" as the first realm; Thousands of Baidu, suddenly looking back, the man is there, "at the light fence" is the third realm. Wang Guowei's theory of realm summarizes the creative process of writers and artists in a general sense, that is, the practice track from life to art, from the kingdom of necessity to the kingdom of freedom. Calligraphers are of course no exception.

Just like other art forms, in order to become a successful calligrapher, in the first realm, he must cross three steps; self-selection-reading thousands of books-accumulation of life.

This is almost still the preparatory stage of creation, but this stage is very important, almost every step determines the taste of his future calligraphy works.

Self-selection is the first step for a calligrapher to succeed. This means that calligraphers themselves must first make their own choice (calligraphy in general, and more specifically, a certain typeface and style in calligraphy) into a scientific choice, so that they can make their own choice from the general understanding of calligraphy. Hobbies and general hobbies for a certain font or style of calligraphy have turned into self-discovery and grasp of character and temperament, because calligraphy creation cannot be successful only by resilience. As long as you study calligraphy not just to be arty and pass the time, you have to consider its results, and you have to consider how to make yourself a truly accomplished and influential calligrapher. Although anyone who steps into the art of calligraphy has to go through the stage of copying from regular script to official script and seal script to Xing and cursive script, or from official script to regular script and Xing script to cursive script and seal script, entering the stage of creation requires specialization and specialization. Refined. Some people are suitable for regular script, some are suitable for attacking official script and seal script, and some are good at doing good grass. This requires each person to make a choice according to his own interest, and most importantly, according to his personal temperament.

In the Tang Dynasty, Cao Sheng Huai Su was an unrestrained monk. He was open-minded, addicted to alcohol, drunk nine times a day, and was called "drunk monk" by the people at that time. No matter at that time or in the history of calligraphy, its cursive script is unique. The so-called "epileptic element". His hard work in calligraphy is not insignificant. At the beginning, because he had no paper to write on, he tried to plant thousands of plantains in the old city for spreading. If there were not enough books, he painted a plate of books and a board. Every time I encounter temple walls, clothes, and utensils, I don't write about them. The abandoned pen vertebra was buried at the foot of the mountain, and it was called the pen tomb. "According to his kung fu, the real cursive script, official script and seal script are not ordinary, but he specializes in cursive script, and finally became a master with independent style after Zhang Xu. Huai Su's success is due to his hard work, but it is more due to his A wild and romantic temperament fits with the form of wild cursive script.

See which piece of material you are, this kind of choice is very serious. People tend to overemphasize their own hobbies and overly believe in their own intelligence, while ignoring the crucial factors of their own personality and temperament. I don’t know that making a wrong choice means using life as a low bet to take risks, which means getting twice the result with half the effort, which means a huge misunderstanding; and making the right scientific choice means stepping on the first step to success.

Reading thousands of volumes of books seems to be much more difficult for calligraphers than for ordinary people. On the one hand, it is to read a lot of books, so that you can master the six arts and understand things; on the other hand, it means that in the calligraphy business, you need to be knowledgeable. This kind of knowledge even includes a lot of copying skills, which is the so-called "hand talk". ""Bi reading", because calligraphy is very technical, so there must be such a special reading method. Reading thousands of books aims to make oneself a connoisseur first. As the saying goes, "eyes are high but hands are low", it seems derogatory, but in fact, this is a truth with universal significance, especially for calligraphers. Because the eyes are low, the hands are even lower, especially for calligraphers, appreciation is the guide of creativity, and between appreciation and creation, there is always a bigger sign. And taste is based on the amount of reading or not.

Great calligraphers are all great scholars, and first-rate calligraphers are all first-rate scholars. Xiaojiazi, second- and third-rate people are all inferior in reading and learning. Throughout the ages, this iron law has eliminated many romances! This second stage cannot be crossed. We can only go one step at a time, and there is no shortcut.

In the first realm of creation, the accumulation of life plays an obvious role in promoting. Life is the source of creation, and the art of calligraphy is no exception. Extensive and profound life accumulation, profound life experience, familiarity with the content of life and natural ecology shown in his works are the conditions for promoting the desire for creation and the creation of good works by calligraphers. With these accumulations, it is possible to complete the selection and refinement of the content, subject matter and form of his works in terms of procedures. In the first realm of creation, the accumulation of life often becomes the most active factor, and it can even make up for the lack of artistic expression.

Calligraphers can only reach a higher level if they cross a level of creation step by step.

In the same realm, calligraphers reach different heights on different ladders. Any one of the three ladders may have an advantage in the creative factors of a certain calligrapher. First-class calligraphers and big writers have shown advantages in all three stages. Simple scholars do not have their artistic temperament and sensitivity, their rich life accumulation and experience, and their overflowing passion; ordinary calligraphers lack their Academic literacy. This is everyone's style. The so-called second-rate and third-rate calligraphers often have no high point on a certain ladder, or choose unwisely, or owe a lot of work, or have insufficient accumulation. Throughout ancient and modern times, the reasons for the size of calligraphers are nothing more than this.

"Last night the westerly wind withered the green trees, I went up to the tall building alone, and looked at the end of the world." This is really meaningful.

It is not as good as climbing a height to gain insight; thinking all day long is not as good as learning what you have learned in a short time.

"The belt is getting wider and wider, and you will not regret it, and you will be haggard because of Yixiao"-if the first realm of creation is strictly a preparation stage, then in the second realm, it is almost embodied as a kind of concrete creation. The substantive creative practice stage, which includes experimental exploration. In this realm, the torment suffered by calligraphers is unprecedented. Its signboard reads: Here we are.

Extraordinary perseverance, patience, loneliness and hard work constitute the whole of this realm. There are also several steps here.

The first step: long-term and unremitting artistic practice, including copying and creation. The value of a calligrapher will eventually be reflected in his works. In the first realm, his self-selection, breaking through thousands of books, and going deep into all aspects of social life are aimed at turning all these into his own works of art, and the only way to achieve this goal is to Just write. If you don't practice, you can only know and see as much as you can, but only by practicing can you get true knowledge, known, and deep knowledge. No matter in the process of creation or non-creation, writing is a long-term basic skill that calligraphers must adhere to. Because the gap between appreciation and creativity can only be shortened by this kind of training, otherwise, even if you read thousands of volumes, this "pen like a god" is just wishful thinking. When the great calligrapher Yan Zhenqing emerged in the calligraphy world, he had already entered the age of destiny, and at that time he had studied and practiced the art of calligraphy for decades. This long-term training and exploration is an important reason for his success.

The psychological mechanism of maintaining a creative state is a feature of this state, and it is also a ladder. Calligraphy creation is also a very complex spiritual production activity. Of course, it is difficult for us to strictly divide the whole process of calligrapher creation mechanically. The creative state I am talking about here refers to a sense of expectation. Because inspiration only visits the prepared mind.

Su Shi, one of the four calligraphers of the Song Dynasty, has a poem that goes: "When writing poetry, you are eager to chase death, and it is difficult to imitate the scene once it is lost." In fact, it is not the case when he writes calligraphy and painting! Li Rihua of the Ming Dynasty recorded in "Notes on Liuyanzhai": "Although Mr. Dongpo is talented, he is obsessed with calligraphy and painting. Written on paper made of light heart... It was in Huangzhou, on an occasional trip, I saw an old forest wood in the folk, that is, the side of the chicken perched on the side of the prison, so I must draw it, so the brush is careless, dynamic and lively, and he is innocent for a while. To overflow is not to beg for others." Jin Shengtan in the Qing Dynasty also said: "The most wonderful thing about an article is that it can be seen by the spiritual eye at this moment, so that it can be caught by the spiritual hand at this moment, because it will not be seen the moment before because of the strength. After a while, I didn't see it either, but for some reason, I saw it suddenly, if I didn't catch it, I couldn't find it...so I always threw it into the sea, and never heard of it."

The reason why masters of literature and art like Su Shi have such extensive and huge artistic achievements is that they are always in an extremely sensitive creative state, so that the inspiration and impulse that pass by them are retained. , truly become the wisdom of his artistic creation. The heartstrings of "Looking for him thousands of times" made him the darling of inspiration.

In the creative state and the non-creative state, the situation when conceiving a work is very different. When a calligrapher is in the creative state, what he gets is the signal of details: the use of pens, ink, knots, paper, seals, signatures, content, layout, etc., the fifth whimsy is all concrete; In the state of being, what appears is a general idea of ​​concept, non-plot and experiential, which is a kind of expectation accumulated in primitive life, or "wishful thinking". The former is mainly image thinking, while the latter is more rough, vague and rational thinking.

Calligraphers in this state are under heavy psychological pressure at this time. On the one hand, his creative desire, emotional line, and intelligence are at the highest point, and on the other hand, his self-confidence is often at the lowest point. The pain caused by this contrast is the most unbearable. Unavoidable self-ashamedness, not knowing what the "time of day" is, whether there is a place, whether the thrush is deep or shallow, whether it is fashionable or not, ugly duckling, ugly wife, Cinderella, doubts and self-blame accompany his social expectations and run through the whole process of his creation ——How to make people not haggard!

The crowd searched for him thousands of times, and suddenly looking back, the man was at the light fence—this state is the highest for all calligraphers. The pursuit has the result, sweat and hard work in exchange for Qiushi.

As a result, the calligrapher has reached a relatively free state, and he will find that the things that he thought were far away are so close to him, and the things he is looking for are actually what he originally possessed.

In this realm, calligraphers can look far ahead. He stepped up the first step first, usually unstoppable, and he suddenly fell into a state of spiritual thinking. The first birth is always difficult, and the second and third births often become normal. This kind of situation almost happens to most calligraphers. Fortunately, but also worrying. Those who are gratifying, producing works are a good thing and a sign of achievement; those who are excellent, have too many births, and it is inevitable that they will be rough, and it is better to work with a lot of accumulation. According to my observation and research, there are many second- and third-rate calligraphers who stay at this stage. They seem to get a good sense of themselves from the lively performance, and they just forget that they should be at the light fence. pity. Of course, this is in comparison, after all, there are not many people who have reached this stage.

The higher step of this realm is Dache Dawu, which achieves a considerable degree of perfection in terms of ideological and moral cultivation. Not chasing fashion nor conforming to the old ways, treating fame and wealth like dung, not being shocked by favor or disgrace, not out of integrity, not kitsch, not bowing down for five buckets of rice; creation is thick and thin, between writing and not writing; art returns to basics, from complex to simple, changing The pre-fabrication and deliberate job seeking are casual and careless. This is already a generous home.

The three realms are nothing more than the same in the entire creative process of calligraphers, and the same is true in works of art.

There are different ladders in the realm, it depends on which level you are on. I always feel that some people are mainly due to their lack of reading and lack of comprehension. Therefore, although they have set foot in the three realms, they are always on the lower ladder. On what kind of ladder.

Three grades of calligraphy works

In different realms of calligraphy creation, different realms have different steps, which is mainly in terms of calligrapher cultivation. What if we look at it from the point of view of appreciation of works?

The ancients have always had the habit of ranking calligraphers and calligraphy works. In Nanliang Dynasty, Yu Jianwu classified more than 100 calligraphers and their works from Han to Qiliang in his treatise "Shu Pin" as follows: "above the top, middle of the top, bottom of the top, middle of the middle" Nine grades of upper, middle, middle, lower, lower, upper, lower, and lower. Tang Li Sizhen's "Shu Houpin" is divided into: "Transcendent Yipin, Upper Upper Grade, Upper Middle Grade, Upper Lower Grade, Middle Upper Grade, Middle Middle Grade, Middle Lower Grade, Lower Upper Grade, Lower Middle Grade, Lower Lower Grade". There are three grades of God, Miao, and Neng, and then there are five grades of "Shen, Miao, Neng, Yi, and Jia". Bao Shichen said: "Peace and simplicity, Dao Li Tiancheng, is called a divine product. There is no trace of brewing, and the horizontal and vertical are similar, which is called a wonderful product. If you stick to the poor source, and your thinking power is perfect, you are called a product of energy. Chu tunes sing themselves, not wrong Fengya is called Yipin, sticks to the signs, and elegant has a family, called Jiapin.”

("Yizhou Shuangji Guochao Shupin") Kang Youwei is divided into "Shenpin, Miaopin Shang, Miaopin Xia, Gaopin Shang, Gaopin Xia, Boutique Shang, Jingpin Xia, Yipin Shang, Yipin Xia, Can High grade, low quality "eleven and so on.

The gap between works of art cannot be as rigid and uniform as the competition in sports. The evaluation of works of art can be said to be basically subjective, a kind of spirituality of the individual. I think A's work is good, but you think A's work is not good. The same calligraphy work will have a hundred different evaluations in the eyes of a hundred people, and may even produce diametrically opposite and vastly different evaluations. Therefore, an objective and fair evaluation is almost a relatively consistent understanding. The division of calligraphers and calligraphic works grades clearly describes this extremely subtle artistic grade. Bao Shichen's classification of "Shen, Miao, Neng, Yi, Jia" into five grades is quite pertinent. Gao Lian of the Ming Dynasty once put forward the "three interests" when discussing calligraphy and painting, saying: "Those who are interested in heaven are the same as gods; those who are interested in people are the same as life; those who are interested in things are similar in shape." differences in products. Divine products and wonderful products, get the natural interest, which is the product of a high degree of perfect unity of good fortune and heart, aesthetic object and aesthetic subject, such as the pen of the gods, natural and natural, without any trace of artificiality. What can be obtained by energy and leisure is human interest. The taste of man is inferior to the taste of nature, because although there are humane business, whimsy and philosophy, but at the same time it is unavoidable to be artificially crafted, so the aesthetic center of gravity is biased towards the heart, and the charm that fits with nature is lost. . What good products get is the interest of things. The interest of objects is the lowest among the three interests, so sticking to the signs, elegant and well-known, only achieves in the aspect of similarity and corresponding to the appearance of the object, and has not yet gotten rid of the limitation of "being enslaved by objects".

Famous calligraphers are very aware of the three flavors, which can be seen in their artistic practice and in their works. Wang Xizhi paid great attention to learning the essence of calligraphy from natural objects. According to legend, he also likes to observe geese very much, and exchanged handwriting for white geese, and said that the index finger of calligraphy should be as high-spirited and slightly curved as the head of a goose. The stroke of the brush should be like the two palms of a goose pulling water together, and the knotting of characters is like a goose piercing a water willow. His famous "goose" character is just like nature's creation. "The whole body is full of energy, and the two feet are set on the platform first. When you understand the geese walking in the water, you will know that the strength of the five fingers is difficult." (Bao Shichen's poem) writes about Wang Xizhi's unique perception of natural objects.

When Yan Zhenqing was young, he studied under Zhang Xu's family. After several months of learning, Zhang Xu only asked Yan Zhenqing to "double-learn" the handwriting of the previous generation of famous masters, repeatedly figured it out, and asked him to pay more attention to the natural phenomenon. Yan Zhenqing couldn't help being disappointed. If you want to get the subtleties of brushwork and find a shortcut, it is called "Because learning" and "understanding nature" all day long, so why come to ask for a teacher? One day, he expressed his thoughts to Zhang Xu full of resentment. Zhang Xu was very upset when he heard this, but he still enlightened Yan Zhenqing and said: I often say that I saw the princess and the bearer fighting for the way to observe the brushwork, and I saw Gongsun's sword dancing and got the charm of ink. In addition to studying hard, I learned from nature. How can there be any trick! Yan Zhenqing still thought it was an excuse, so he grabbed Zhang Xu's clothes and begged for the secret of his brushwork. Zhang Xu reprimanded angrily: "Anyone who wants to seek any secret will never achieve anything." After speaking, he left and ignored Yan Zhenqing. Yan learned the way of calligraphy from Zhang Xu's teaching. In the future, he will not look for shortcuts, but will study hard and practice hard, casting the charm he learned from the vicissitudes of nature into his brushes, and finally become a generation of calligraphers.

It can be seen that mind-teaching nature is a very high state of calligraphy art. The so-called high-grade, middle-grade, low-grade, divine-grade, excellent-grade, high-grade and high-grade, nothing more than to see how far one has realized and learned from the point of mind mastering nature's craftsmanship. "Everything is a guest" (Zhang Xiaoxiang's "Niannu Bridge Crossing the Dongting"), this phrase very accurately expresses the close relationship between the artist and nature. Li Yangbing, a calligrapher of the Tang Dynasty, "From the heaven, earth, mountains and rivers, you can get the shape of square, round and flowing; from the sun, moon and stars, you can get the degree of latitude and longitude; The mouth and nose can be divided into happiness, anger, sadness and relaxation; for insects, fish, animals, and animals, the principle of bending, stretching and flying; for the bones, corners and teeth, there can be the posture of chewing." ("Pei Wenzhai Calligraphy and Painting Manual" Volume 1) Calligraphers of all dynasties He attaches great importance to applying some beautiful lines in the observed nature to the art of calligraphy. "House leak marks" are used to describe the natural, round and implicit lines; "Zhen" is thinner and stronger than the line. And pen disease is also known as "ox head", "rat tail", "waist waist", "crane knee", "bamboo joint", "edge and corner", "folding wood", "chai dan", "silkworm head and rat tail" , "Ink Pork and Duck", "Dry Bones and Broken Firewood", "Chess and Arrows", "Spring Earthworm and Autumn Snake" and so on are used as image metaphors.

Jiang Baishi, a connoisseur of calligraphy and painting in the Song Dynasty, compared the strokes of calligraphy to various parts of the human body: dots should be like looking at the eyebrows with spirit; horizontal and vertical should be like well-proportioned bones; walk. Comparing characters with people, there is also Bao Shichen of the Qing Dynasty. He said in "Yi Zhou Shuang Ji": "The font size of ancient posts is quite different, such as the old man walking with his young grandson, the length is different, but the affection is true. It is related to pain and itching." Cen Zongdan of the Song Dynasty said when talking about Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy: "Zhenqing is honest and sincere, so it is as thick and thick as Zhou Bo" (Zhou Bo was the founding hero of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang said that he was "heavy and less prose"). It is really concise and concise. The former vividly describes the blood relationship between words and characters, between lines and lines, and the blood relationship between pens and lines; the latter reveals the purport of calligraphy style from the temperament of people. -

It's really good fortune to become a calligrapher. Almost all famous artists have benefited from this.

Huai Su "heard the waters of the Jialing River at night" and "observed the clouds and strange peaks in summer, and tasted them from his teacher", so the brush strokes the snake dragon, and he got the momentum of the sudden rain and wind; , watch Gongsun Da Niang dance sword and understand the rhythm and charm of calligraphy, and so on. It can be said that it is a kind of supreme and beautiful artistic realm to learn from nature, and all art categories are common in this point without exception. It is precisely at this point that religion and philosophy are directly in harmony with each other, Zhuang Zhou Buddha. Isn’t it also awakened from good fortune——"Zhuang Shengxiao dreamed of butterflies", "Tao follows nature", "There is nothing in the world like the end of autumn, but Mount Tai is small; Mo Shou is like a son, but Peng Zu is the sky"; Zen words "Wills are green and flowers are red", "Flowers still fall without rain, catkins fly without wind", "Wind comes to thin bamboo, wind passes but bamboo does not leave a sound", "Missing the broken bridge water, accompanied by returning to Moonless Village" , "White horse enters the reed flower", "My wife is kind", "Go to drink tea", "It's a dream, it's not a dream", "Usually is the heart of the Tao", etc., and so on, but in good fortune, there are so profound philosophy. Art that communicates with nature should be top-notch.