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Inkston received one question from a client and we share it with you:
I want to learn carving seals. However, I have to buy such stone every time from China. I wonder if I can reuse the seal stone which I carved already? I have some very fine sand papers. Maybe I can use sandpaper to remove the carved part of the seal stone and do a new carving. Is this a good idea? How do you think?
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See more replies on Inkston´s facebook group discussion:
Тихон Самарцев In general, probably, there is no sense in starting to cut out if the pattern is not good or does not like something (when the zhuang failed). It takes me a lot of time to draw a drawing, I have to erase and redraw a lot of times, so when the seal is ready, it’s a pity to destroy it. Although, indeed, it sometimes happens that the seal ceases to like over time, a couple of times I was sewing up old seals …
Inkston There are special practice stones for people to learn the carving which include mastering the pattern too. 🙂 The practice stone is mostly Qing Tian stone. This stone has different grades and you can just choose the cheapest type to start with. If you make a mistake by accident, you can simply erase it with a sandpaper.
Inkston Just another small idea to share. For the pattern, Zhuan Script is the most classic type for sure. There are a lot of books and dictionary to help master the pattern design. You can make a copy first on the stone surface and then fix the stone on a carving ‘station’ （*it is a small wood box to help fix the seal).
Тихон Самарцев Copying … if to say in general, it seems to me not quite right, because after all these things are interesting because they are copyrights, there is a lot of that person who does this, it seems to me important not to lose it at all stages of work above the seal. On the other hand, personally I would gladly use books and dictionaries, but unfortunately I can not find and buy something that could be read. So, basically, Uncle Hansi helps me)
Inkston Тихон Самарцев get an album of ancient Chinese seal designs and copy them is a very common learning practice in China. 🙂 When you copy the classic designs, you learn and develop your own style.
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Hi there, I have been carving my own seals for a few years now and as you say it is really easy to make a mistake – whoops! slipped with the blade. Then you want to erase the pattern and start again. Depending how hard your seal stone is or how expensive, I usually remove the pattern with a small pin file. These are sold in the UK in sets of 10/12, made of carbon steel and come in all shapes and fine to course grades – all in the same set. Not expensive, easy to use and saves a lot of time, money and stones for beginners.
By the way, do not be afraid to start carving seals – it is fun and although difficult to do well, you can still get a very useable result even as a beginner and the seals really enhance your paintings/calligraphy. Also don’t start with anything too complicated. One character, nicely carved looks much better than a complicated copy of an old master carved badly or with a clumsy hand. A wooden seal vice/block is ESSENTIAL! It makes carving much easier and is a small expense when you consider the cost of good seal stones.
Carve your own designs – make your own special name seal and above all- HAVE FUN.
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