In China's calligraphy, the method of using a pen is the most important. Shen Kuo, a scientist in the Song Dynasty, pointed out in his "Meng Qian Bi Tan" that "book critics in the world often say that books don't have to have laws, and each has its own. This statement is biased. For example, stone and hair are both beautiful women, although they look different; However, the hand must be a hand, the foot must be a foot, and this cannot be moved. The same is true of writing words. Although the shape is different from that of God, the prey must be the prey, and the scorpion must be the scorpion. Even if its mental muscles are still beautiful and hairy, its hands and feet are awkward, it will not be perfect. " The feeling of using a pen is the only way to realize the humanization of calligraphy.
But as far as the stippling form of pen is concerned, it is nothing more than a combination of squares and circles in different degrees. Therefore, to learn to use a pen, we must first learn to write Fang Bi and a round pen.
The so-called Fang Bi and the round pen refer to the starting point, ending point and turning point of painting. Those with edges and corners are called squares, and those without edges and corners are called circles. The round pen originated from the seal cutting method, and the pen wrapped the front, and the transition was uncompromising. Fang Bi originated from the official method. When you write, you can use the method of cutting people and breaking the front. Fang Bi's strength is exposed, and he is full of heroic spirit, giving people masculine beauty; The round pen is charming and soft, subtle and elegant, giving people a feminine taste.
On the Usage of Fang Bi and Round Pen Kang Youwei said in "Double Pen in Art Boat": "Fang Bi is easy to be an official book, and the round pen is easy to be a cursive. However, this statement is even bigger. If there is no round pen in the official book, there is no escape. If there is no square pen in cursive script, there is no powerful god, and then they intersect for use. " Therefore, using a pen is one of Fiona Fang's laws, that is, it is important to write a book that suits you. It is wonderful to use a pen in Fiona Fang.
Regardless of Fang Bi and the round pen, the motion of the pen tip during writing is a comprehensive motion of three states: plane motion (referring to reciprocating motion in all directions in the paper), space motion (referring to the fluctuation of the pen tip and the weight after touching the paper) and speed motion (referring to the speed of the pen tip). Here are three movements of the pen.
Hidden front: a brushwork in which the front end moves quickly before writing or when closing the pen without exposing the front end of the pen and being hidden in the strokes.
Falling front: the brushwork used immediately after the hidden front (referring to the pen), whose direction is just perpendicular to the direction of the strokes written, and the length of falling front is roughly similar to the width of the strokes. This brushwork should consider the connection between the front and the back, and the momentum should be compact.
Before line: the whole stroke movement process is completed, which is called before line or before line. The line front should closely match the direction, position and inclination of the whole stroke.
Back before: it is a method of hiding before. Putting pen to paper is called hiding the head, and closing the cage to protect the tail is called back front. The method is to reverse the stroke slightly when closing the pen, so that the stroke is vigorous and powerful, and when writing, it is like hiding the head, and it is a brisk front in an instant.
Exposed front: Contrary to concealed front, it means that the pen tip is exposed. Within a certain range, there are head dew and tail dew. In all kinds of strokes, the dew front is usually used to start a pen at a point and to skim, lick and hook a word, and the last one is the vertical tail. It is written that the pen will not go back to the front in the end, and the edge will be exposed. When writing, it is logical, light and comfortable, and it feels dangerous after success.
In order to illustrate the application of these brushwork, we take horizontal painting and vertical painting as examples to illustrate. When writing horizontally, you should turn the Tibetan front upside down, then stand upright, then raise the pen horizontally, and stop and stand upright when collecting the pen and then return to the front. In this way, put pen to paper first, then put pen to paper, echo before and after, and then think about how to put pen to paper. In the same way, if you write a vertical painting, you will hide the front and then fall sideways. There will be a pause when closing the pen, and then the pen will be lightly returned.
About putting pen to paper and collecting pen, predecessors summed up two sentences, that is, "no matter how far you go (referring to horizontal painting), no matter how vertical you draw." Here, going and receiving, vertical and contraction are mutually corresponding and organically unified. By doing this with a pen, people feel that there is a vertical feeling in the horizontal direction, and the vertical direction has a horizontal meaning, drooping and contracting, closing from right to left, and hiding the needle in cotton, which is subtle and attractive.
Folding the front: it is one of the ways to use the front at the turning point of the pen. When using a pen, the tip of the pen is slightly scattered, making the strokes appear angular and writing square stippling. This technique of writing with folded faces is called Fang Bi. Folding the front has two purposes. One is to write strokes, and you can fold the front when you start writing. If you write horizontally, write vertically first, the front side falls from the upper left, pause for a moment, then fold the front side to the right, pause for a moment to the lower right when closing the front side, and then return to the front side to close the pen; If you write a vertical picture, write it horizontally first, with the front falling from the upper left and the center line slightly back to the front. Other strokes are the same. The second is to write a folding chart, such as a horizontal fold, and write it at the end of the horizontal. When the pen tip turns around the corner, the pen tip does not turn into a circle, but is slightly cut down with a folding front. This is the real folding. The strokes written by Zhefeng are square in shape and strong, which makes them look vigorous and powerful.
Turning the front: refers to another way to use the front at the turning point of the pen, corresponding to the folding front. The key to turning the pen is to be calm, that is, straighten the pen tip with your fingers and wrists, and the center keeps running. The pen tip rotates with the fillet, with little fluctuation and relatively uniform speed. The brushwork of turning the front is called a round pen. The words written by Zhuanfeng are delicate and vigorous, and blood is thicker than meat.
Due to the use of folding front and turning front, Fang Bi and round pen appeared, while Fiona Fang's flexible use of pen appeared double pen. Fang Bi, round pen and double pen formed three schools. The ancient book says, "The turning point is Fiona Fang's law. Really use wrinkles, grass uses circles. ..... Square to round, round each other, it's wonderful. "This not only affirmed the role of Fiona Fang's pen in regular script, but also pushed Fiona Fang's brushwork to a wider field of China's calligraphy.
These are the main strokes that move in the plane, so there are still some basic strokes to understand in the space.
Dunfeng: It's just the way of pressing the pen in front. Generally, this method is often used in the paintings of falling front after Tibetan front, closing front before returning front and turning point. Dunfeng is also called pen pressing, which makes the strokes thick.
Lifting the front of the car: using the front of the car in front of the car is a slightly lighter way. Generally, this brushwork is often used in the middle of horizontal and vertical paintings and the tail of exposed front paintings. Lifting the front is also called a light pen, which can make the strokes thinner.
Wrap the front: this is one of the ways to improve the front. It mainly refers to the rapid use of the front when the Tibetan front turns into a falling front, which is mostly used for round pens.
According to the movement state of jumping up and down, the lift with light before heavy can be divided into mechanical lift and natural lift. Mechanical lifting refers to the way of lifting the pen and pressing it, which is controlled only by fingers and wrists, and has little to do with the elasticity of the nib. But the natural lifting pressure is that the brush strokes do not leave the paper, but appear in the range of strokes.
The thickness of the point. This promotion refers to the interaction between wrist force and pen tip elasticity. In calligraphy, generally speaking, the two kinds of lifting pressure are intertwined, and the natural lifting pressure is the main one.
In calligraphy, if you press moderately, the strokes will be natural and reflect modality. Therefore, the first picture of each word should strive to have a pen in the pen and a pen in the pen; Properly pressed, the strokes are thick and powerful, properly lifted, and the strokes are delicate and elegant. In this way, we can avoid the disadvantages of heavy and boneless "ink pig" or light and fleshless "ink silk".
After understanding the main strokes of plane and space, we should also understand some strokes from the perspective of speed, so as to master the comprehensiveness of calligraphy. Speed brushwork generally has the following types:
Feng Feng: It means running fast. In history, it is also called fast pen, busy pen and fast pen.
Xu feng: It is a slow pen. There used to be slow pens, slow pens and late pens.
Standing in front: it is a written action of stopping in front for a while.
The speed of using a pen is relative. As far as fonts are concerned, cursive script (including running script) is generally faster than regular script. The ancient poem "A thousand miles of ink rushing to the ground, full of voices, but I can't see" is a portrayal of cursive script.
Above, it is not isolated to discuss the general brushwork from three aspects. The application of brushwork is a very complex and comprehensive power movement. No matter how ever-changing the pen is, it is inseparable from a basic method of using the pen, which is the center.
The center is the basic premise of all brushwork movements, so people call it "the center is the foundation of brushwork"
What is a center (also called a striker)? That is, the pen tip always runs in the middle of stippling. The movement direction of the center nib is always opposite to that of the pen tube above the midpoint of the pen, and the pen tube is not always perpendicular to the paper. It takes effort to master the center. At that time, it will be "like Yin Yinni, drawing sand with a cone."
Corresponding to the center, it is necessary to mention the flank. The side front is also called the side front, that is, the pen front runs on one side of the ink, and the pen tube can be tilted at will. Clever use of the side can make the font beautiful, but beginners should use it with caution.
Learning calligraphy is mainly to master the general brushwork. If you have a certain foundation, you can explore the technical brushwork, such as dragging the front, grabbing the front, frustrating the front, fighting the front, shrinking the front and sliding the front. I won't go into details here.
The method of using a pen has its own emphasis in various calligraphy styles. Generally speaking, turn to the front of the round pen bag; True books include round pens and Fang Bi; Running script and cursive script are often biased.
According to the above, we can understand that the basic skill of using a pen is the foundation of China's calligraphy and the soul of the art of calligraphy. Only by mastering the brushwork can we get the brushwork, follow the brushwork step by step, embody the brushwork and enjoy the infinite scenery in the treasure house of calligraphy.