The brushwork of Deng Zhuanshu (1)

Mastering the basic brushwork of seal script is the most critical basic skill in learning seal script. The pen for seal script or calligraphy can be roughly divided into three basic actions: starting, transporting and collecting. Starting a pen, also called putting pen to paper, refers to how the pen tip begins to contact the paper; Collecting pen, also called killing pen, refers to the action of leaving pen in front of paper when writing; Raising a pen is the writing process between the beginning and the end of the pen.

Yesterday, we also said that the traditional seal script pays attention to the pen in the center, and the pen is round and closed. When starting a pen, the center writes; To collect the pen is to turn around and then go back to the front to collect the pen. This kind of seal script is characterized by hiding the head and protecting the tail, which contains strength. Because the strokes written by the central pen are concise, powerful, round and beautiful, it has been the main way to use the pen for seal script before the Qing Dynasty. However, its shortcomings are transitional and decorative, and it is easy to get stuck. Especially in the Ming Dynasty, some calligraphers burned and tied the seal script to write in order to achieve the shape of the iron line seal script.

In the Qing Dynasty, Deng's seal script was written with a round pen, which was combined with reverse and forward. Keep your pen sharp when you collect it. When you lift it slightly to the end, you often collect it, or it is useless to collect it. It is good for your health and health, and there is no disease of virtual tip. Some pens collected by the parties suddenly raised their pens at the end of painting, which was decisive. There are center, flank, speed, lift, turn, pen retention, translation and so on in strokes. , especially in curved places, or by lifting and pressing, to get round and smooth meaning; Or stop first and then turn to form the inner side of the outer circle; Still folding, and square strength. Many methods are often used in one word to achieve a smooth and accurate organic combination. Deng's brushwork of seal script greatly enriched the simplicity of seal script and opened a new world for seal script.

We combine Deng's "Thousand Characters" to explain its brushwork in detail:

I. Tibet Front and Exposed Front

Hide the front, that is, hide the front of the pen in the middle of stippling, and don't show it directly. China's calligraphy has the saying of hiding the head and protecting the tail. Cai Yong, known as the first calligrapher who can be tested in the history of China, said in the article "Hidden Front" in "Nine Potentials": "If you point out the traces of discrepancy, you want to turn left first, and then return to the left." The article "protecting the tail" says: "Draw a little and try your best to collect it." The focus of Zang Feng's writing is to enter in reverse order, that is, to go right first and then left, and to go up first and then down; When the Tibetan front closes the pen, the pen tip returns to stippling, so that the edge is not exposed. Zang Feng's brushwork gives people a feeling of reserve, composure and majesty. Calligraphy, as the representative of China art, can be seen from the hidden front as the embodiment of the cultural core of China culture.

Exposing the front, also known as the front side, means that the front side of the pen is exposed outside the stippling, that is, when writing, the pen writes along the front side, and when receiving the pen, the pen is lifted off the paper and is no longer retrograde. Judging from the expressive force of calligraphy, Zang Feng uses a pen with heavy pen power; Feng uses a pen, which is very light. This is the so-called "hiding the front to cover its qi, revealing the front to longitudinal its qi." Lu Feng can make calligraphy look smart and elegant, so it is often used in dynamic running script and cursive script. In a calligraphy work, if you hide the ghost corner blindly, it will lack expressiveness; If you expose too many fronts, you will appear impetuous and not serious enough. Therefore, we say that the change from Deng's brushwork of seal script to the traditional brushwork of seal script has opened a whole new world for seal script.

Let's see how Deng's seal script breaks the previous seal script.

First, the two ends of the painting are round to emphasize the beauty of restraint and implication. Such as the horizontal painting of the following words.

Second, the reverse side is flat, and the pen is round and thick, while the pen is slightly pointed, indicating ease and fluency. Such as the vertical painting of the following words.

It is still dominated by Tibetan front, but it is only occasionally exposed to show its spirit.

Second, center and winger.

In the process of writing, the pen tip runs on the paper in two ways, center and side. The center, also known as the positive front, means that the pen tip runs in the middle of the stroke, and the ink permeates evenly to both sides along the pen tip. The written lines are deep in ink, full of three-dimensional sense, and appear calm and round. There is also a saying in calligraphy that "I always want to write in a painting, and neither side will be sick." This shows the importance of the center. On the other hand, in front of the side, the pen is biased to one side, forming a natural oblique angle with the line pen. The lines on the side are relatively flat and thin, but they can add a sense of elegance to the font. What I want to remind you here is that the lateral striker and the eccentric striker are different. Although both of them are biased to one side, the included angle between the stroke of the eccentric front and the running direction of the line is approximately a right angle, and the written line is prone to irregular sawtooth.

In calligraphy, the strokes written in the center are round and full of bones and muscles. The strokes written by the side pen are often lighter, more elegant and more agile. The difference between them is similar to the Tibetan front and the exposed front. Therefore, the ancients had the saying that "the front is strong and the side is beautiful".

There is also a saying in calligraphy that "the pen is the heart of the pen". Although it is exaggerated, it shows the emphasis on the center in calligraphy, and this tradition of attaching importance to the center comes from seal script, so the brushwork of the center is also called seal script.

Deng also has his own unique understanding and application of the pen used in the seal script center. Although his writing is centered, the beginning and the end are not completely hidden, so he relaxed for the natural writing power of the brush and added the meaning of Han Li. As shown in the figure below.