Shadow play steps

Shadow play painting steps are as follows:

1. Prepare tools and materials:

Shadow Puppet: Use special puppets, usually made of buffalo hide.

Knife and knife bed: tools used to carve shadow puppets, and the knife bed is used to support shadow puppets.

Fine hammer sand: used for hammering leather sheets to make them soft and transparent.

Pigments and brushes: used to color the shadow play.

2. Make a shadow play template:

First, draw the outline of a person or object on a piece of white paper, which is the template of shadow play.

Put the template on the cut skin, and carve the outline of the template on the skin with a carving knife.

3. Sculpting shadow play:

With a meat cleaver, the details of people or things, such as eyes and clothing texture, are gradually portrayed on the skin piece according to the template.

When carving the shadow play, you should be very careful, because the shadow play is very thin and can be easily carved if you are not careful.

4. Hammer Shadow Play:

Tap the shadow play gently with a fine hammer to make it soft and transparent, which is convenient for subsequent coloring and performance.

5. Color the shadow play:

Use pigments and brushes to color the carved shadow play. The choice of pigments needs to be determined according to the characteristics and effects to be expressed.

6. Precautions:

Making shadow play requires patience and care, especially in the process of carving details, so as not to damage the shadow play.

When painting, we should consider the effect of light passing through the shadow play, because the shadow play is transparent and requires a light source when performing.

Making shadow play is a comprehensive craft, which needs constant practice and exploration. This traditional craft inherits a lot of China culture and history. We can learn more about the charm and skills of this art by making our own shadow play.