Woodcarving books

Author: Li Yousheng

Publishing House: Beijing Arts and Crafts Publishing House

Release date: 1998- 1- 1

Fixed price: ￥7.00

You can find it in big bookstores or buy it online.

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Production technology of hand-carved wood

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woodcarving

Overview of woodcarving

Folk art varieties classified by carving materials. Generally, nanmu, rosewood, camphor, cypress, ginkgo, agarwood, mahogany, longan and other excellent and tough tree species are selected. The natural art of tree root carving is "tree root carving". Wood carving is an important category in plastic arts: it can be divided into round carving, relief carving, carving (through) carving or a combination of several techniques. Relief is a method of compressing natural objects and images, which can be divided into shallow relief and deep relief according to the degree of compression. Relief can only be appreciated from one plane. The round carving is called three-dimensional carving, and you can look at it on both sides. Sculpture is appreciated from both sides. His modeling method is round carving or relief, hollowing out the parts between images that do not show concrete. Some wood carvings are also colored to protect the wood and beautify it. There were a lot of wood carvings and animal carvings in the Warring States and Han Dynasties, and there were wood carvings of figures, immortals, birds and animals in the Tang and Song Dynasties. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, small woodcarving ornaments, architectural woodcarving decorations and woodcarving daily utensils developed greatly. And form local characteristics, such as Dongyang woodcarving, Guangdong gold lacquer woodcarving, Fujian longan woodcarving, etc. Architectural decorative woodcarving, with many works on the theme of folklore, opera and historical stories; Ornamental woodcarving, on the other hand, pays attention to the aesthetic feeling of wood itself, and becomes a favorite work of art because of its high quality.

Woodcarving tools

Tools are the most direct assistants and companions for sculptors to engage in creation. Carving knives and their auxiliary tools play a very important role in the process of wood carving. As the saying goes, "people are as smart as home" and "three points of craftsmanship and seven points of separation". A person's craftsmanship depends on his tools, and the maintenance and decoration of tools can also prove the quality of workers. In woodcarving creation, tools are complete and can be grinded, which can not only improve work efficiency, but also give full play to one's own skills in modeling, making the knife method free and easy, clear and smooth, and increasing the artistic expression of the works.

There are many kinds of carving knives, which are basically divided into two categories. One is the "Weng Guan" blank cutter, commonly known as "wild cutting" and "blank cutter", and the other is the "drill bar" smoothing cutter, which is mainly used for digging thin blanks and smoothing. The widest chisel is 4-6 cm, and the narrowest chisel is only a little bit like the tip of a needle. When choosing knives, novices should first understand their respective uses, and then go to the place of origin, manufacturer or blacksmith shop to customize and buy them. Blank knives are produced in Dongyang, Zhejiang, Yueqing, Wenzhou, and Guangfu, Suzhou, and suitable wood carving tools can also be bought in art material shops in some places. If it is inconvenient or can't be bought, you can learn to do it yourself. The advantage of doing it yourself is that no matter the type, size and shape of the knife, you can choose and decide by yourself, and you can add handy tools at any time according to different uses and needs. The self-made tools are limited to "drill bars" for polishing. Some people have tried to turn steel files into empty knives. For example, the rough knives and smooth knives used in Fujian are made directly of iron bars or steel bars. Because the upper part of the iron handle is square, it is easy to be blank without the wooden handle. The following will introduce the types, uses and manufacturing methods of wood carving knives one by one.

Round knife: the cutting edge is arc-shaped, which is mostly used for round and round dents. It is also useful in carving traditional flowers. For example, the circular surfaces of leaves, petals and branches of flowers need to be shaped with circular knives. Horizontal transportation of round knives is labor-saving and can adapt to ups and downs and small changes. Moreover, the line of the round knife is uncertain, so it is flexible to use and easy to grope. According to different uses, the models of circular knives should be different, and the size range is basically between 5 cm and 0.5 cm. The two corners of the circular carving character's knife edge should be ground off and made into an arc, otherwise, when carving clothes lines or other dents, it will not only be pushed, but also damage both sides of the dented road. If you want to make relief, you should keep the two corners of the knife edge and use the function of its corner tip to carve the corner, so you should equip two kinds. Round knives also have positive and negative points. Straight-edged circular knives with inclined plane in the groove and straight back are most suitable for circular carving, especially in the stage of discharging and digging. The inclined plane is on the back of the knife, and the straight groove is an anti-circular knife. You can eat wood deeply, gently move the knife or scrape the ground, and the relief is used more. The shape of the round knife can also be made into bent iron according to needs, so as to reach deeper parts to dig holes.

Flat knife: the cutting edge is straight, which is mainly used to split and smooth the concave and convex surface of wood to make it smooth and seamless. Large models can also be used to chisel large scales, with a sense of blockiness and proper application, such as the brushwork effect of painting, vigorous and powerful, vivid and natural. The acute angle of a flat knife can carve lines, and when two knives intersect, the toe of the knife can be removed or the pattern printed. Woodcarving figures in Sweden and the Soviet Union mostly use flat knives, which have a strong flavor of wooden knives.

Oblique knife: The blade is inclined about 45 degrees, which is mainly used to chamfer and polish the seam corners and hollowed-out gaps of works. If you carve the corner of a character's eye, an oblique knife is better. Knives are divided into forehand oblique cutting and backhand oblique cutting to adapt to all directions. In boxwood carving in Shanghai, hair strands are generally carved with oblique knives, which are carried by choking, so the effect of hair carving is more vivid and natural than that of triangular knives.

Jade Wandao: commonly known as "monk's head" and "butterfly chisel", with an arc-shaped cutting edge, it is a polishing knife between a round knife and a flat knife, which can be divided into two types: arc and oblique arc. When flat knives and round knives can't be used, they can be used instead. It is characterized by gentleness, neither as straight as a flat knife nor as deep as a round knife, and is suitable for concave ups and downs.

Medium steel knife: the cutting edge is straight and the two sides are inclined. Also known as "printing knife". According to traditional carving, the steel blade is in the middle, which can keep the front straight and prevent the surrounding parts from shaking. Medium steel knives are also used to print patterns on clothes and props.

Triangular knife: The blade is triangular, because its front is on the left and right sides, and the sharp point is on the middle corner. To make a triangular knife, you should choose the appropriate tool steel (usually 4-6 mm round steel), mill out a triangular groove of 55 -60 degrees, smooth the waist and grind the mouth end into a cutting edge. When the angle is large, the score line is thick, and vice versa. Triangular knives are mainly used for carving hair and decorative lines, and are also commonly used tools for printmaking and watermark wood carving. During the operation, the triangular tip pushes on the board, and the sawdust spits out from the triangular groove, and lines are carved in the parts pushed by the triangular tip.

When choosing to use the above tools, we should pay attention to the difference in the thickness of the cutter head. The so-called cutter head is the actual cutting surface. The thinner the drill bit, the sharper it is, but the worse the fastness. According to this situation, the cutter head of the blank can be appropriately thicker to withstand the impact and hard digging of the hammer; The knife used for polishing is thinner. The so-called thin knife is dense, so that the wood can be carved smoothly. In short, the selection and configuration of tools must be strictly in accordance with the nature of the process, and can not be replaced at will, and quality and quantity should be guaranteed. In traditional craft carving, there are often more than 100 pieces of wood carving tools, and generally at least 30 pieces should be used. Of course, only a small part is often used, and some are only used occasionally.

Auxiliary tools for wood carving: mainly refers to hammers, wood files, axes and saws. The purpose of an axe is to cut a lot of wood with blanks. Be careful not to cut too hard or cut straight up and down. The axe blade should keep about 45 degrees with the vertical grain, otherwise the wood will crack. The use of wooden file is mainly in the fine blank stage of round carving, which can replace flat knife to smooth the knife marks for polishing; It can also be hollowed out instead of a round knife or an inclined knife. The function of the wooden file is to quickly adjust the modeling structure in a large area, and use it with the carving knife to make the tossing and turning lines of the characters vivid and smooth, and the sense of reality is good. The shape of the woodcarving hammer should be flat, flat, wide and square. The dimension of the hammer surface can be controlled at about 7×5.5×2.5 cm. Too narrow or too thick will affect the accuracy of the hitting point and the uniformity of the force. There are two kinds of hammers: wooden hammers and hammers. Generally, wooden hammers are made of hardwood, such as mahogany, boxwood, sandalwood, beech and fruit trees. Specifications can be controlled at 27 cm long, 55 cm wide and 45 cm thick. The holding part is round and slightly flat, and the size is suitable for holding in the hand.

Auxiliary tools for wood carving also include small electric woodworking polishers and electric pistol drills. The purpose of the polishing machine is only to treat the surface of the finished workpiece, which can replace manual polishing in a large area, saving time and effort, but it is only used for large and medium-sized workpieces with relatively flat volume. The pistol drill is mainly used to dig holes by hand, and can be used to cut contours when making large sculptures.

Operating equipment for wood carving: it mainly refers to a particularly stable workbench and a cross-braced wooden pliers table, on which vises and G-pliers can be placed. The vice is used to chisel round carving, and the jaws must be equipped with cork plugs to prevent the carved wood and tools from being caught. G-clip is used to carve rough relief blanks. Beginners can set up some economical and simple workstations according to their own conditions, such as blank stools. Large-scale works can be flexibly operated on the ground or standing or squatting.

Wood carving technology and carving technology

(A) the characteristics of wood and material selection

Some wood is soft and some wood is hard. Generally, wood is soft and easy to carve, while hard and heavy wood is difficult to carve. Hardwoods with tough wood, fine grain and bright color are called hardwoods, such as mahogany, boxwood, rosewood, flat peach wood and hammerwood. They have all the advantages of carving, are excellent materials for carving, are suitable for carving works with complex structure and fine modeling, are not easy to be broken and damaged in the production process and preservation process, and have high collection value, but carving takes a lot of time and is easy to damage tools.

Pine is suitable for beginners, such as basswood, ginkgo wood, camphor wood, pine wood and so on. This kind of wood is suitable for carving works with simple modeling structure and general image, and it is also easy to carve. However, due to its soft wood and light color, some of them need coloring treatment to enhance the sense of quantity. Some wood grains are obvious and varied, such as Fraxinus mandshurica, pine and Chinese fir. So you can skillfully use the smoothness and texture of wood grain to make some more lyrical works. Generally speaking, the greater the shape ups and downs, the richer the wood grain changes and the more delicious it is; The more tactful and smooth the modeling, the more ideal the effect of wood grain trend will be, and even unexpectedly beautiful and very decorative. Of course, the modeling design of this kind of wood should be highly summarized. Too complicated and too small will not only destroy the wood grain, but also cause visual contrast. Therefore, before creating works, it is very important to know something about wood and choose materials suitable for performance.

(2) Drying treatment of wood

1. Manual drying: the wood is sealed in a steam drying chamber, and the water is evaporated by steam to dry the wood. (depending on the size and thickness of wood, for example, the drying time of 4cm board usually takes one week), the highest drying degree can make the moisture content of wood only reach 3%. However, after high temperature evaporation, wood becomes brittle, loses toughness and is easily damaged, which is not conducive to carving. Generally speaking, the dryness of logs should be kept at about 30% moisture content.

2. Natural drying: classify the wood and put it in a ventilated place (board, square or log), and put it in piles. The bottom of the stake is about 60cm from the ground, and there is a gap in the middle, which makes the air circulate and take away the water, and the wood gradually dries. Natural drying usually takes several years or months to meet certain drying requirements.

3. Simple manual drying: First, dry the moisture inside the wood with fire. The second is to boil the resin in the wood with water, and then dry it or air dry it. The drying time of these two methods may be shortened, but wood soaked in water is easy to change color and damage wood.

(3) Application of cutting tools

Knife is the most direct assistant and companion engaged in woodcarving creation. Carving knives and their auxiliary tools play a very important role in the process of wood carving. The tools are complete and can be grinded, which can not only improve work efficiency, but also give full play to one's own skills in modeling, making the practice of cutting, chiseling and washing free and easy, clear and smooth, and increasing the artistic expression of the works.

There are many kinds of carving knives. The following are some main tools and their uses.

1, flat knife: the blade is straight, which is mainly used to smooth the concave and convex of the wood surface and make it smooth and seamless. Using a large-scale model to chisel a large-scale wood carving has a sense of blockiness, proper application, picturesque brushwork effect, vigorous and powerful, vivid and natural. The flat knife is carved at an acute angle, which has a strong wood-interesting knife flavor.

2, round knife: the cutting edge is curved, mostly used for round and round dents, and it is also very useful when carving traditional flowers. Horizontal transportation of round knives is labor-saving and can adapt to ups and downs and small changes. Moreover, the line of the round knife is uncertain, so it is flexible to use and easy to grope.

3. Oblique knife: the cutting edge has an oblique angle of about 45 degrees, which is mainly used for the joint angle of the work and the corner removal light at the hollow joint. If you carve the corner of a character's eye, an oblique knife is better. Oblique knives are divided into forehand and backhand oblique to adapt to all directions.

4. Medium steel knife: the cutting edge is triangular, because its front is on the left and right sides, and its sharp point is on the middle corner. Therefore, the heavier the push, the thicker the line carved by the triangular knife, and vice versa. Triangular knives are mainly used for carving hair and decorating lines. During operation, the triangular tip pushes on the wood block, and the sawdust is spit out from the triangular groove, and lines are carved at the position pushed by the triangular tip.

The auxiliary tools of wood carving mainly include hammer, axe, saw and file. The purpose of the axe is to cut a lot of wood with the blank. Be careful not to cut too hard or cut straight up and down. The axe blade should keep about 45 degrees with the vertical grain, otherwise the wood will crack. The use of wood file is mainly in the fine blank stage of round carving, which can replace the flat knife to smooth the knife mark file for polishing, and can also replace the round knife or inclined knife for hollowing out.

(4) Carving technology

The so-called technique is the author's treatment of image and space in woodcarving creation. This technique is mainly reflected in the sense of carving and carving, specifically, from the outside to the inside, the waste is subtracted step by step, and the excavation of the shape is gradually revealed. In the subtraction modeling again and again, we not only realized the pleasure of the work "out of the shell". Even because of the characteristics of wood or excessive force, it will reduce the places that should not be reduced, which is thrilling, but if handled properly, it may be rejoicing because of danger. At the same time, we can also feel the special charm in the process of using various knife methods, and some accidental effects can make the works have new meaning and charm. Therefore, in the artistic creation of woodcarving, it is a complicated and meaningful process with changeable psychology. The formation of graceful knife technique is a manifestation of skilled technique. Often copying a good painting, people feel that the most difficult thing is brush strokes, because brush strokes are the product of the author's mind and skills, and so is knife cutting, which is something that is difficult to embody in any imitation. Therefore, only by mastering skills and accumulating experience can we achieve our own ideal knife method. That kind of wood grain and sculpture, smooth and rough, concave and convex, round knife arrangement, flat knife cutting ... their artistic language, its charm is beyond the reach of sculptures of other materials.

The production process of woodcarving:

1, usually draw a creative draft, and then draw it with ink lines to enlarge it on the wood;

2. The blank is the foundation of the whole work, and all the conceived shapes are summarized with concise geometric shapes, which require distinct levels, dynamic, coordinated proportions, stable center of gravity and strong sense of integrity, and initially form the outer contour and inner contour of the work; Roughing: it can be pushed from bottom to bottom, from front to back, from surface to inside, from shallow to deep, layer by layer. When chiseling blanks, we should also pay attention to leaving room, just like cutting clothes, we should relax appropriately. It is well said in folk jargon: "If you fatten up, you can change it into a small one, but it is difficult to get back together. The inner distance should be small, but not large. Remember that carving is subtraction. " Chiseling thin blank: first adjust the arrangement and various layouts from the overall point of view, and then implement them step by step, shape specific shapes and leave room for polishing. At this stage, the volume and lines of the work have become clear, so it is required that the knife method is round and smooth, and it should be fully expressive;

3. Polishing: The knife marks and gouges on the thin blank are trimmed by finely carving, so that the surface of the work is meticulous and perfect. Require clear and fine knife marks, or smooth, or straight, or rough, and strive to accurately express the intention of the work;

Grinding: according to the needs of the work, the wood carvings are rubbed with different thicknesses of woodworking sandpaper. It is required to use coarse sandpaper first, then fine sandpaper. It should be polished along the fiber direction of wood until the ideal effect is achieved;

5, coloring and polishing: use a hard brush, a small hard brush, and a color mixing cylinder. Colored pigments generally refer to water-soluble, such as gouache, watercolor or shoe polish. They are characterized by small coverage and strong permeability. Propylene pigment in oil painting is not suitable for use.

The method of wood carving coloring is mainly to master that wood and patterns are still visible under the cover of pigments, and some wood grains are more clear through coloring. Therefore, the color should not be too thick, and the ratio of pigment to water is 30: 1, which should be thinner and more transparent. This way, the wood will not be covered even if it is used several times. If the colors are properly matched, the water content of the colored brush should not be too much, so don't rush for success, otherwise the color accumulated in some deep recesses will easily produce uneven effects.

Coloring is not only to make up for some shortcomings or defects of wood, but also to enrich the texture beauty of materials and the formal beauty of works. Therefore, when coloring a work, it should be decided according to the situation, and it is required to reflect the needs of the content and form of the work as much as possible, in line with the various aesthetic feelings of natural wood.

Don't polish the wood carving at once. Be sure to wait until it is dry (about 12 hours later) and wipe it with a clean cloth until it produces a uniform luster and smooth feel. Some works can be erased according to the situation, so that the background color of wood is slightly exposed, forming a rich sense of color and strengthening the layering of the works.

When we finish carving a work, we are liberated from the intense work. Seeing our own work is like giving birth to life, and we will have a sense of success and gain. If we savor it carefully, we will go through a process of life and death. This is the charm of creation, but we do feel its infinite charm, but to truly feel its infinite charm, we need to carve more, practice more, ponder more, and practice makes perfect before we can form our own artistic language.

Maintenance of woodcarving

Woodcarving handicrafts have a long history, and good handicrafts can reflect the sculptor's ingenuity and exquisite carving techniques. For those who collect handicrafts, collecting their favorite handicrafts can cultivate sentiment, inject infinite vitality into their busy space and create rich imagination space for themselves.

How to keep your favorite things youthful and energetic forever has a lot to do with how to effectively collect and maintain handicrafts. Below, the author talks about the maintenance of wood carving crafts according to his own superficial experience.

First, wood carving crafts should not be exposed to the sun for a long time and crack.

Woodcarving crafts, like people, are prone to "heatstroke" when exposed to the sun. Therefore, we should pay attention to it consciously when placing it, especially not in the window.

Second, wood carving crafts should not be placed in extremely humid or extremely dry rooms.

In a very humid environment, some wood carving crafts grow "hairs". For example, green sandalwood crafts will spit out silvery white silk. Although it is a beautiful scenery, as far as I know, many people don't like it very much.

In an excessively dry environment, some wood carving crafts may partially crack. Besides, people's living standards are much higher now than in the past. The simplest thing is that life in the north has heating in winter and air conditioning in summer. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to wood carving crafts not to blow directly at the air outlet. Keep him away from the heating pipe.

Three, wood carving crafts should not be placed near open flames, firewalls, refractories and stoves.

Fourth, it is not advisable to wipe with a towel dipped in water. It is best to wipe with a waxy or oily cotton towel.

Usually, according to whether the room is clean or not, dry cotton cloth or feather duster is often used to dust the wood carving crafts to show their natural beauty. If it is found that the wood carving handicraft has poor luster, you can use a brush to coat the surface of the wood carving handicraft with wax polish and wipe it with a rag. Of course, you can also dip a cotton towel in walnut oil and gently rub it on the surface of wood carving crafts to achieve the desired effect. But don't wipe it with a towel dipped in water, which will make the wood carving crafts too wet, but it will not achieve the expected effect and hurt them.

Woodcarving production technology

Wood carving production technology includes: carpentry, rotary work, shovel work, chisel work, shovel work, filing work, grinding work, coloring, wax burning, painting and so on.

1, Woodworking: refers to the cooperation of carpenters in making the components to be carved, including the components of furniture, the basic outline of circular carving and so on.

2. Spinning: refers to the wood spinner's cooperation in making the components to be carved, such as the shape of the pen container, the inner chamber, the surface, teeth and waist of the wooden seat.

3. Hoho: refers to hollowing out the flower board according to the pattern with a wire saw, so that it can achieve a silhouette-like effect and be carved for later use.

The above is the preparation process of carving.

4. Chiseling: chisel and axe or hammer are used to chisel out the basic shape from the raw materials, and then fine chisel is carried out until the work is basically shaped, so as to prepare for shoveling and dispatching.

5. Shovel work: use a shovel to chisel fine processing until there is no waste and it meets the design requirements, and then use a sliding hook to schedule the work until the best effect is achieved.

6. Filing: The wooden file is an auxiliary tool of the chisel, especially for the wall with hollow ceiling, the wooden file plays a great role.

7. Polishing: The method of unified transmission is to first burst the wood thorn through water, and then grind the pulp with sandpaper or grass file to make the wood carving surface smooth. Now switch to advanced water sandpaper, and the effect is the same.

colour

8. Coloring: This is a deep technical knowledge. Be careful when mixing ingredients for a work, there will be color difference after water. It is entirely up to experienced painters to decide whether to lighten the dark color or the light color to make it consistent.

9. Waxing: Waxing is a surface treatment method for high-end handicrafts. Traditionally, Sichuan wax and beeswax are mixed with different formulas according to different seasons to make wax paste, which is baked into wood with charcoal fire, and the remaining wax is removed after the wax is cooled.

Wood suitable for woodcarving works

Wood carving has strict requirements on materials, and the industry says that "it can't stand". The harder the material, the more elastic it is. In other words, the more difficult it is, the more detailed it can be. From an artistic point of view, it is best to be exquisite, flip and fold, cross branches and rich layers. In addition, the beauty of wood texture, color and texture can also set off the effect of wood carving. There are many precious woods, and rosewood, Huang Huali, rosewood, chicken wing wood, iron rosewood, rosewood, boxwood and nanmu are commonly used in wood carving industry. Commonly used non-precious wood are basswood, catalpa bungeana, walnut and so on.

Know very little about hot wax

Steps:

Step 1: put the beeswax into a metal container and heat it to melt it into liquid.

Step 2: Use two (or three) bristle brushes to light beeswax on the furniture like stars (side by side).

Step 3: Hot wax.

When heating with an electric bow, you must keep moving while holding the electric bow, and brush the wax evenly to all parts with a large brush, and the electric bow will move with it. Be careful not to burn the skin, this step is the most critical. If the moisture content of (new) furniture is high, the heating must be gradual, and the wax should gradually penetrate into the inner layer of wood. When the wax bubbles evenly and no longer penetrates into the inner layer of wood.

Step 4: Waxing.

Use a wax screwdriver to shovel off the floating wax remaining on the furniture surface until the hands feel sticky.

Step 5: Wipe the wax.

Wipe it with cotton cloth repeatedly like taking a bath until it is shiny and feels better lubricated.

According to the above steps, the first maintenance is completed, and then you should always wipe and touch with cotton cloth and hands. After 3 months, after half a year, the wax will be scalded according to the above method, but the amount of wax will be reduced each time. Don't throw away the cotton cloth, you can use it to wipe the furniture continuously in the future.

Note: when waxing new furniture for the first time, there is no need to wax the interior of the furniture, so that the inner surface of the wood can freely exchange water with the air; If the new furniture is dry, you can burn a thin layer of wax on the back of the core board, so that the furniture will not break in use; During the second and third wax ironing, you can iron a thin layer of wax inside the furniture.

Beeswax (homemade on the right and commercially available on the left)

Melted beeswax

Use a bristle brush to light beeswax on the furniture like a star.

Self-made electric bow

Heat with an electric bow

The wax screwdriver shovels off the floating wax remaining on the furniture surface.

Wipe hard and repeatedly

One of the "China Traditional Handicraft Series". Wood carving is an important category in plastic arts. Wood carving is divided into round carving, relief carving, through carving and other art forms. This lecture introduces the famous traditional wood carving products and their technical characteristics, wood carving materials and tools, carving technology and decoration. It is a good teaching material to fully understand wood carving skills.