Who knows the craft of root carving?

The artistic creation of Guan Yu's root carving can be roughly divided into two aspects. On the one hand, it is the technological process of root carving art; On the other hand, it is the process of artistic creation, which is inseparable and synchronized. In order to facilitate beginners to master and learn, it is divided into two parts. The theme of this lecture is: the technological processing and production of root carving works of art.

First, the choice of root wood

What tree species to choose is not specified here. You can collect it yourself or buy it in the market. The principle of selecting root materials is to choose hard root materials instead of soft root materials. Poplar and other soft-rooted materials cannot be selected, because hard-rooted materials have preservation and collection value, and soft-rooted materials are worthless. Materials usually choose roots, scars, nodes, tumors, etc. with magical characteristics and heavy substances, and also select some branches and stems as needed. Root carving is magical and natural. Don't use materials that don't have magical properties for processing. Even after processing, it has no artistic value. In the end, they are just rubbish.

Second, the root wood preliminary treatment:

The selected root material should be processed mainly according to the following four steps:

(1) According to the root type, the theme of the work, and the needs of the creativity of the work, select the root, remove the rough and extract the fine. All useless things should be sawed off and cut down, so that the roots can have the initial embryonic form of art.

(2) Remove the root epidermis. There are two methods: one is natural soaking, that is, soaking the roots in blisters or in vats. The soaking time of various trees is different, some need one month, and some need half a year. It is better to peel the root naturally, but the disadvantage of this method is that it takes a long time. The second method is water boiling, that is, the root is put into a large iron pot or iron bucket and boiled in water until the skin is boiled off. The above two methods can also be used for people with rotten epidermis. After a long period of soaking and boiling, both pests and rotten epidermis can be removed. Thirdly, for the root wood that does not need the above two treatment methods, in order to keep the color of the material bright, pesticides should be sprayed after peeling. The above three methods are better to dry naturally, and untreated root wood cannot be used to make and process root carving works of art.

(3) The surface layer of decayed root materials must be removed, and there can be no decayed materials. At the same time, we should pay attention to protect the deep texture of the root material and not destroy it.

(4) Processing tools can be purchased in the market according to their own needs, and can also be made according to their own needs. Do whatever tools you need. The use of tools varies from person to person and there is no fixed requirement. The basic tools are axe, big saw, small saw, chisel, wooden file and so on. , plus a set of meat cutters.

Third, the further processing of root wood:

After the initial processing, it needs to enter the further processing stage.

(1) According to the needs of materials and artistic conception, the roots are carved and trimmed at this stage. Generally speaking, according to the natural form of root wood, we should skillfully master nature and carve it carefully, instead of carving it like wood carving, otherwise we will lose the fundamental significance and natural beauty of root carving. A good root material can achieve perfect artistic effect with only a few moves, and the simpler the knife, the better.

(2) Enter the stage of processing and texture processing on the basis of image determination. Texture expression is one of the important manifestations of root carving art, and some materials form natural and perfect texture, which is a gift from nature. Pay attention to protection and don't destroy it when making. Some decayed roots need to be treated according to the natural trend of texture and its own laws after removing the decayed parts on the surface. Generally speaking, the treatment method is mainly to scrape the ditch along the texture with a scraper, boldly drop the knife and carefully arrange it to strengthen the expressive force of the texture and enhance the artistic appeal. In some places where you have to play with knives, you should imitate the texture. The requirement of imitation is to confuse the real with the fake, and the more clever the better!

(3) Grinding is one of the important means to select different types of sandpaper to polish the workpiece according to the needs. Through polishing, the integrity, unity and harmony of the work are enhanced. Matters needing attention: 1. The places that need to be smoothed must be smoothed, and traces of knives, axes and saws are not allowed to leak out. Second, it needs light grinding, just light grinding, and don't destroy the texture. Third, it needs local treatment, not thorough polishing. Fourth, don't polish things that don't need polishing, otherwise it will destroy the expressive force of the work.

Fourth, the post-production processing of the work:

(1) Post-production is mainly surface treatment, and green treatment is advocated. Pesticides should be sprayed on the surface of treated root carving works. Generally speaking, pesticides with low toxicity and little harm to human body should be sprayed. At present, the insect repellent on the market also has insecticidal effect, so you can choose to spray it on the surface of the work, and never use highly toxic pesticides as pesticides. Although the insecticidal effect is good, it is also harmful to human body. Works that have not been boiled, soaked, disinfected and killed have no collection value, because such root carving works will be infringed by pests in a short time.

(2) Regarding the color treatment of root carving, this process is a key process related to the success or failure of a work. If handled well, it can make the work icing on the cake. If it is not handled well, it will be lost. 1. It is best not to draw. The naturalness of the root wood itself is rich in color and natural. Natural color is the best color, simple and unpretentious. China's classical aesthetics called primary colors the highest aesthetic realm, which reflected the natural beauty law of colors. If there is no need to color the work, it will damage the aesthetic feeling of the work itself and reduce the artistic value of the work itself. 2. If you need to color, you should also choose dark brown or light brown (commonly known as chestnut skin color) that is compatible with the root material. The color must be simple and natural. It is forbidden to enter the works, or paint the nose and eyes of people or animals with colors, or outline various flowers, which is determined by the artistic characteristics of root carving. Color works must use those low-powder chemical materials, and the floating colors must be erased when using them. The operation method is: after mixing the colors, smear them on the surface of the work, and later wipe off the floating colors with a dry rag, so that the colors can be eaten deep in the wood and have a sense of texture. 3. Some roots are white in natural color, so we must pay attention to protection, enhance artistic appeal, and master the time in the initial processing stage of soaking. Don't soak it for too long, which will cause the color to darken and change color. In the drying stage, the drying method should be adjusted in time to prevent discoloration due to mildew. Some roots need chemical treatment, and the color can be "bleached" with ammonia water and hydrogen peroxide, which can promote the whitening of roots, but the original color must be maintained, and the treatment time is not easy to be too long, otherwise the roots will be distorted and look like plastic products or gypsum products, not roots.

(3) Hot wax and waxing. This is the last process of making a work. 1. After the color of the work is determined, it should be waxed. The method is: after heating and diluting the paraffin, brush it on the surface of the work while it is hot. Because the hot wax solidifies when it is cold, resulting in uneven surface, use 1500W blower to blow the wax flat, or blow the surface wax off or into the wood. No floating wax can be left on the surface. At present, there is a liquid wax on the market, which can be sprayed or used, but it is not as good as scalding wax. 2. After hot waxing, wax it when it is dry. Waxing and waxing are two different treatment methods. Waxing is to dip the white shoe polish (iron box, don't worry about it) on the surface of the work, and then wipe it gently with another clean and dry brush ten minutes later until the work is completed. The effect is that it presents a simple luster in a dull state. Or repeatedly wiping with a dry rag after waxing can also achieve a good artistic effect. 3. If you don't need to burn wax, you can also paint the bottom of the work with turpentine. Usage: spray with a spray gun or brush with a brush. Waxing and polishing after drying are the same as the above methods, and good results can also be obtained. At present, many root carving products are made by this method, which is simple and easy to operate with low cost. 4. The really good root carving art works are neither painted nor painted, but are waxed by hot wax, because artistic creation is different from commodity production, because commodity production has randomness to meet the psychological needs of market consumers. Therefore, the craft products mentioned here do not advocate heavy color and big paint. In addition to lowering the artistic status of the work, it is also suspected of counterfeiting. Many spliced works are covered by heavy colors and large paints. It is not absolute to advocate not using big paint here. Some of them can be used appropriately according to the needs of the works, but they cannot be used as leading technologies.

Verb (short for verb) Completion of work:

After the first four stages of processing, the production process of a work has been basically completed. After the work is completed, there should be a review stage to check whether the production process of the work is reasonable, whether the artistic creativity achieves the expected effect, and whether the point, surface, line, color and light are harmonious and unified. If you are not satisfied with yourself, don't push it to the public. Generally speaking, the main problems are easy to occur in post-production. Generally speaking, the appearance of the works has not achieved the expected results, and the local colors in some places are not harmonious. It is necessary to check where the problem occurs and make modification measures according to the inspection results. However, this kind of trimming can only be limited to local or appearance modification, and large-scale structural modification cannot be carried out, otherwise everything will be changed from scratch, and the loss will outweigh the gain.