What is the basis of calligraphy! What are its requirements?

(a) The pen is vertical.

The pen holder is straight, that is to say, the pen holder should be basically vertical to the paper, so as to ensure the central stroke, specifically, the pen holder is vertical, which is convenient for adjusting the direction of the eight-sided pen tip. It is worth pointing out that in the process of carrying a pen, with the swing of the wrist, the pen holder will fall in the direction indicated by the pen tip. For example, when writing a horizontal picture, the pen holder will tilt to the left, and when writing a vertical picture, the pen holder will tilt forward. This is completely reasonable, but it is not allowed to cause the pen holder to fall in the direction of pen movement, and it is not allowed to fall to both sides of the stroke to form an inclined plane.

(b) refers to excessive palms.

How to write flexibly? When this problem appeared in front of us, we looked through many discourses on writing in ancient and modern times, and found that the theory of "empty palm" and the theory of "empty palm's true finger" in Tang Dynasty were the most wise. They happen to coincide and see the crux of the problem together.

Point to reality, pinch the pen with your fingertips, and don't hook the pen with your knuckles. Because the fingertips are sensitive, it is easy to control the subtle changes of the nib. Pinch the pen moderately with your fingers. Generally speaking, the smaller the writing, the tighter the pen and the looser the big characters. The posture of holding the pen is more important, but the posture of the book can be more relaxed.

Palm deficiency means that the palm should be empty when writing. Don't hold the ring finger and the little finger in your palm. The ancients said, "Empty space can hold eggs." In other words, there should be an egg-sized space in the palm to facilitate the flexible movement of fingers and joints.

(3) Relax naturally

When writing, you will naturally relax, and your fingers, wrists, elbows and shoulders can operate flexibly, so writing will be easy. For example, if you hold chopsticks tightly while eating, the food in the bowl will not be caught in your mouth, and so will writing.

The most common method is five-character writing. Contemporary textbooks based on calligraphy all agree that this method is the correct writing method. Contemporary calligrapher Shen attaches great importance to five-character calligraphy. In "On Calligraphy", he said: "Calligraphers have always had different opinions on writing methods, and I only admit that one of them is correct because it is reasonable, that is, the five-character writing method of" Yi, Toutou, Gou, Ge and Di "handed down by the two kings and expounded by Lu Xisheng in the Tang Dynasty. Whether Mr. Shen's point of view is somewhat absolute, let's leave it for the time being. However, we can see that the influence of five-character writing is extensive and huge.

Let's briefly explain the meanings of "one", "pledge", "hook", "case" and "ground" to help you understand the characteristics of this writing.

"Finger pressing" refers to pressing the pen tube on the left side of the pen tube with the front end of the thumb.

Press down means to exert force from top to bottom, which means that the first section of the index finger holds the pen tube from top to bottom on the right side of the pen tube.

Hook, meaning hook, means that the middle finger is bent into a hook and hooked in front of the pen tube with the front end of the first finger pulp.

Plaid means resistance, which means that the ring finger pushes the pen tube from the back to the front with the joints of nails and meat.

Stretching, pushing and resisting means that the little finger is close to the ring finger to help it push the pen forward.

The five-character writing method is to summarize the functions of the five fingers with the words "one", "pledge", "hook", "case" and "ground". It emphasizes that the five fingers perform their duties, cooperate with each other, write smoothly, and make the pen move flexibly up and down, left and right. When using the five-character writing method, pay attention to the middle and upper part of the first section of the finger, and the palm is naturally empty, which can meet the writing requirements of "grasping the palm firmly and empty". So we think beginners can choose this writing method.

In fact, there is no need to stick to the above form of "five characters". I think it is more popular to use the four-character writing method of "pinching the hook to support the top", which is easier for beginners to accept. Here is a brief introduction for your reference.

Pinch, thumb and forefinger "pinch" the middle of the pen, and you can freely rotate the pen tube.

Hook, use the front end of the first knuckle of the middle finger to "hook" the pen tube from outside to inside.

The top refers to the place where the ring finger is connected with the nail, and the pen tube is "top" from back to front.

Help, the little finger is close to the ring finger, and "help" the ring finger to "top" the pen tube forward.

In order to learn calligraphy well, we need to know the knowledge closely related to it-the position and tightness of the pen.

We can divide the pen tube into three parts: the upper, middle and lower parts. The pen is held down, so the pen has a small range of activities and it is healthy to move. Hold the pen close, the pen has a wide range of activities and is flexible. So where should I be near when I write? It depends on the style of the font and the size of the word. Generally speaking, it is distinguished by font. When writing seal script, official script and regular script, the handwriting should be slightly low and stable; When writing running script or cursive script, the pen can be slightly higher and the height can be smart. According to the style of calligraphy, the stable and rigorous style of works is lower, and the bold and free and easy style is higher. According to the size of words, write small words low and write big words high.

The above is just a general law, not a fixed law. In the specific calligraphy learning, the writer can find a writing position suitable for his own writing according to his own reality, which is conducive to his own learning and creation.

Remember, the purpose of discussing writing position is to write well, and anything that is conducive to writing a certain font or style is a feasible method.

Let's talk about loose and tight writing first. For a long time, the story of Wang Xianzhi learning books has been widely circulated among the people. According to legend, when he was young, he was practicing calligraphy one day. His father, Wang Xizhi, crept up behind him and suddenly pulled his brush, but it didn't come down. So Wang Xizhi said happily, this child will be famous in the future. This story was recorded and handed down by Zhang Huaiguan, a famous calligraphy theorist in the Tang Dynasty, in his book "Shu Duan", which is just a legend. But later people used him to explain that it was better to write more tightly, but it was actually a misinformation. It is biased to emphasize pen tightness. The pen is tight and easy to stabilize; Loose writing is convenient and flexible. But if you hold the pen too tightly, you can't move flexibly, which restricts stippling. If the pen is too loose, it will lose control of the pen and it is difficult to form stippling. Therefore, the tightness of the pen should be determined according to the font, style and font size, and it should be moderate. This degree means that when writing a word, you can write it steadily and freely.

2. Use of pens and ink:

News. If you write by the pen, the strokes will be thick. Just lift them up. This is easy to understand. In the process of writing, the brush keeps pushing and pressing, gradually forming an involuntary jump, thus producing lines and strokes with different thicknesses. Only in this way can calligraphy lines show colorful changes.

Shun and reverse. Every pen has three processes: starting, writing and receiving.

There is a "dew front method" to make the pen tip sharp or square; There is a method of "hiding the front", in which the front enters the pen, the horizontal painting wants to be straight first, and the vertical painting wants to be down first, so that the front of the pen is hidden in the stroke, and the beginning of the stroke is basically round.

Learn to "use the pen from the middle" when writing, so that the front tip often runs in the middle of the strokes. In order to make the strokes more powerful, we sometimes have to learn to "use the pen while using it", or trudge forward, stay in the middle of the line, stay in the middle of the line, and avoid glitz.

There are "exposed front" (the pen is gradually lifted off the paper, drawing a sharp point, such as hanging the needle vertically in regular script, skimming, pressing and hooking) and "hidden front" (the pen tip is retracted into the painting, such as hanging vertically, and the pen end is round).

When writing on the front, the pen tip goes against the trend, and sometimes the pen tip is scattered, resulting in a vain stroke. This kind of dots and lines are more energetic and spicy. The strokes in the forward direction are contrary to those in the reverse direction, and the strokes are dragged, so the lines are light and smooth, and the strokes are beautiful and lively.

Heads. The center is stroked with the pen vertical, and the pen tip is in the center of the ink line. The lines written by the center are round and vigorous, quite powerful and refreshing. On the back of the pen, the pen tube is tilted left and right, and the nib is on the paper side. Because the side pen is used, the lines are thick and old, or beautiful and elegant, which is mostly used in cursive script.

Hide dew. The Tibetan front carries a pen, and the pen front should be hidden but not exposed, and "stand but not fall" and "stand but not fall". The lines written are calm and subtle, penetrating the back of the paper. The exposed front exposed the sharpness of stippling, making it look beautiful and energetic.

Fast and slow. The speed of strokes also directly affects the quality of lines. If used properly, fast strokes are crisp and powerful, and slow strokes are heavy and solid. The fast and slow rhythm is well controlled, and the lines written are naturally full of charm and intriguing.

In the final analysis, brushwork is a matter of writing skills. To master the brushwork, we must strengthen our wrist strength and make the pen work for us. Second, we should conform to nature and not be artificial. Third, you must be "fully prepared" before writing.

Let's talk about using ink again. The ancients wrote by studying ink, and they paid great attention to the water-based nature of ink to achieve the best results. Water should be added first, but not too much, so as not to soak the ink or splash it on it. It should be added gradually. Grinding ink should be even and slow, moderate and moderate, and should not be rushed. Ink is usually ground, but it is too time-consuming and laborious. Now we mostly choose special calligraphy and painting inks, such as China ink stick, Yidege ink, Cao Sugong ink, Red Star ink, Japanese Xuanzong ink, etc ... These inks are more conducive to writing by adding some water. The general requirements for ink are clear, moist, heavy and harmonious. Clear and definite. Moisturize, ink color moisten. Heavy, not impetuous. Harmony and mutual integration.

Ink painting is an important part of calligraphy techniques, which shows very rich artistic effects through different changes such as thick, light and moist.

Thick ink. Creating with thick ink gives people a sense of strength, which is suitable for the creation of seal script, official script, official script and running script. In Song Dynasty, Su Shi made good use of thick ink in his books, while the layman Dongpo said that ink should be "as bright as children's eyes", which was contrary to pen and ink. His books are thick, full, rhyming and penetrating. When using thick ink, pay attention to the stagnation of the pen under the ink. The pen must sink into the paper and not float on it.

Light ink. Writing in light ink gives people an elegant and quaint charm, but light ink should not be too light, otherwise it will hurt the impression if you don't master it well. Generally, cursive script and running script are used to write, but seal script, official script and official script cannot be used. Dong Qichang in Ming Dynasty and Wang Wenzhi in Qing Dynasty were the best at using light ink. Dong Qichang's books are Zen-blind, light and quaint, elegant and pure, giving people the breath of immortal fireworks. There are three ways to use light ink: one is to dilute the thick ink with clear water before using it; Second, dip the pen in a little thick ink first, then dip it in clear water and then start writing. Third, after the belly of the pen is fully dipped in water, the pen tip is dipped in a little thick ink for use.

Dry ink. Flying white, dry pen and thirsty pen are three common brushwork forms when writing with dry ink, which can better reflect the calm and happy momentum and Gu Zhuo's old-school brushwork. The usage of dry ink refers to "moistening things to dryness, making them thick and dry" in Sun Shu Pu in the Tang Dynasty. Bai Fei's brush strokes are characterized by white silk in the brush strokes. According to legend, Cai Yong, a calligrapher in the Han Dynasty, was inspired when he saw a servant painting a wall with a chalk broom, so he got the message and called it "Bai Fei Shu" in his calligraphy creation, which was widely used in the inscriptions of officials in the Han and Wei Dynasties. In the Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian loved writing Fei Bai Shu, and there was a Fei Bai Shu with the inscription "Monument to the Immortal Son", which was handed down from generation to generation. Dead pen. It means that when writing, the pen is dry and the paper is wiped quickly with the pen, and the strokes are rough and linear. Mi Fei made good use of this brushwork in Song Dynasty. A thirst for pens. It refers to the ink mark that is wet in the disease and moist in the dry. It is quick and hard with a pen, and it seems to be dry and solid. The ancients called it "dry autumn wind". Many contemporary calligraphers like to use this method to publicize their individuality, enrich the connotation and artistic conception of their works, and give new expressive force and vitality to the use of dry pen and thirsty pen. Dry ink is suitable for expressing the artistic conception of simplicity and grandeur, and for the creation of seal script, line and cursive script of this style.

Moisten ink. Moistening ink refers to the moist ink color spreading and blooming slightly from stippling. The ancients described this charming ink method as "spring rain moistening things" Errun ink pen needs to be quick and agile because of the moist ink, so it can't stand still, so that stippling has a full and complete charm in the light ink color without being greasy.

The method of using ink in Chinese painting is very particular. From ancient times to the present, it has accumulated rich experience, which is worth learning. For example, Mr. Huang put forward the theory of "five strokes", which means "flat, round, staying, heavy and changing". The so-called "flat" means that when writing, the force is even, the head and tail are clear, and the writing is impartial and not picky, just like drawing sand with a cone. The so-called "circle" means that the turning point of the pen should be round and powerful, and it should be "like a broken hairpin". The so-called "stay" means to use the pen implicitly, to have a review, to be unhurried, to be slippery, and to be "like a leak." The so-called "heavy" means calm and heavy, like "falling rocks on the mountain", not like "leaves blown by the wind", that is, "the pen can carry the tripod" as the ancients said. The so-called "change" means changing the pen, or using the center or the winger, which should be changed according to the different performance objects, so we can't stick to it. Second, it means that the strokes should echo each other. "I can't reach the pen, it's broken."

To sum up, the form of brush lines is nothing more than the change and contrast of thickness, curvature, straightness, rigidity, softness, lightness and weight when writing, so as to achieve the best artistic effect on the objects represented.

Sticking is the only way to learn brushwork and ink painting. You can't master the brushwork if you don't stick to your post and write by yourself.