What is rubbings?

Rubbing refers to an artistic expression, which is a work of art copied by hand on the surface of carving or stone carving. It is best to carve the desired pattern on the board with a carving knife, then draw it on the board with pigment, and then cover the rubbings with paper to get a rubbings painting.

Because of its special artistic language, bold knife and stone flavor, visual effect of bas-relief, rich traditional techniques and reference to foreign modern art, rubbings also have an irreplaceable special position in the painting world, especially the appearance of color rubbings, which has opened up the performance field of rubbings.

Traditional rubbing materials are rice paper and a kind of block black material called rubbing wax. However, when rubbing fine lines, another method is more suitable, that is, adding oil to a kind of powdered graphite to make it reach a certain dry hardness, and then coating it on paper with an inker. Rubbing is widely used to copy various reliefs in various cultural times; Reproduce stone carvings, especially those of ancient China and other Asian cultures, copy the memorial brass sculptures of medieval churches, copy the tombstones before the founding of the United States, and even be used to copy fish in Japan. Artists also regard rubbings as a creative process. They colored the rubbings, adding or changing the original lines.