Thin carving, a new realm of master-level jade carving~

"Bo Yi" is gradually evolved from the relief technique. It is even "shallower" than bas-relief. Because the carving layer is thin and full of artistic conception, it is called "Bo Yi".

It was originally a unique expression technique of Shoushan stone carving. Because the carving is thin and shallow like a painting, it is also called "knife painting".

It has only been widely used in collection-level jade pendants in recent years. Because of the fluent knife technique, detailed depiction and vague shadows, it is highly loved and praised.

Thin relief carvings are known for their "emphasis on elegance, fine workmanship, and closeness to painting principles". They are shallower than bas-reliefs, have thinner carving lines, and place more emphasis on artistic conception. That is, "thin layers but full of artistic conception", so it is called Bo Yi. It integrates calligraphy, seal carving and painting into one. It is a unique art between painting and sculpture. Because of this, excellent Bo Yi works often have extraordinary artistic charm and are particularly worth appreciating.

Several characteristics of thin carving

⊙First, the material selection must be strict: choose more high-quality jade raw materials, such as high ice type, ice type with floating flowers, glutinous ice type, ice yellow jade, etc., those with skin are especially good.

⊙ Second, the technical skills must be advanced: Jadeite thin-line carvings are mostly done by jade carving masters.

⊙ Third, one must be careful in selecting the stone: precious and rare jade materials such as high ice type, ice type with floating flowers, glutinous ice type, and ice yellow jade are extremely valuable. Before carving, one must carefully study the jade material’s texture, the direction of cracks, surface utilization, etc. Hence, there is a saying that “the carver dares not carve without his naked eyes, and must examine the surface for every detail.”

⊙Fourth, the stone should be cleaned carefully: according to the design in mind, the stones should be selected and kept to perfect the carving.

⊙The fifth is that the painting should be beautiful: that is, use a pen to draw on the stone, and the picture should be exquisite.

⊙ Sixth, outline lightly: use a sharp knife instead of a pen, and outline the lines lightly on the brush line to position them.

⊙The seventh is to proofread and polish the manuscript to perfection: When proofreading the results, use water if there is skin, and use powder if there is no skin.

The “Thinness” of Thin Carving

Literally it means a "thin" carving layer, but it should also include technical issues such as "appraising and examining the stone", "making good use of colors" and handling of defects. Only when these issues are handled well can the work be "thin".

The reason why Bo Yi is “thin” is because the stones used for carving are very precious and people are reluctant to carve them extensively, so they only carve on the surface. Since Lin Qingqing first created the thin carving technique in the late Qing Dynasty, people have focused on integrating painting ideas into carving techniques and on expressing poetic and picturesque ideas.

Generally, jade carvers who do thin-line carving have to learn painting from a master. The purpose is to improve their own cultivation, master the principles and methods of Chinese painting, and apply them to thin-line carving.

But thin carving is different from painting. The biggest difference between them is that thin carving uses stone as paper and knife instead of pen, especially in the treatment of stone. Faced with these problems, jade carvers who specialize in thin-carving must be able to make ingenious ideas based on the shape, color, and texture of the stone, assess the stone’s situation, come up with something surprising and create a masterpiece.

The meaning of thin carving

Thin-carving works attach great importance to the expression of "meaning". For a good thin-carving work, "thinness" is the foundation and "meaning" is the key to its success. The predecessors who were good at thin-carving in all dynasties also attached great importance to the expression of "meaning".

The "meaning" of Bo Yi mainly refers to the artistic conception of the work, which consists of two parts:

One part is the more real factor of "as if it is in front of you", called "real situation"; the other part is the more virtual part of "seen beyond the words", called "virtual situation", which shows the beauty of life itself.

Therefore, when creating landscape and pastoral paintings, people pay attention to the openness and order of the picture, and often use simple knife techniques to express the main image of the picture. The remaining parts are often not modified to give people room for imagination.

The creation of thin carving is to express the infinite as finite, condensing the momentum of hundreds of miles and thousands of mountains and rivers in a small space to achieve "emotion and scenery merge, meaning and image communicate", which is really wonderful! This is the same principle as painting.

The "carving" of thin meaning

The key to a successful thin-carving work lies in its carving technique, that is, "knife handling". The carving technique of thin carving has been passed down since the late Qing Dynasty when it was first invented by Lin Qingqing. Generally, it is carved with a flat and beveled knife.

The process of thin carving can generally be divided into the following steps:

——Stone Trial

The composition layout of Bo Yi focuses on artistic conception and aura, which is the same as Chinese painting. The layers of scenery should generally not overlap too much or cross too densely. The cracks and sand grids on the stone should be covered up as much as possible. "Apply art according to the material, compose according to the color, avoid grids and take shortcuts, and conceal flaws." It is complex but not chaotic, simple but orderly, with elegant composition, neat and upright, integrating sculpture and painting principles. This is the accumulation of jade carvers' cultural accomplishment, artistic quality and long-term practical experience.

——Composition

The jade carver uses his rich imagination to conceive and design, making full use of the texture, color and other characteristics of the original stone, and using a brush to draw pictures on the stone surface.

——Leather line

After the tracing is finalized, use a sharp knife to outline a fine, accurate and obvious line along the outer contour of the shape, which is called "drawing the line". Line drawing is a key process in thin carving, and it plays an important role in the success or failure of the work. The knife must be held steady, the force must be even, and the cuts must be made decisively and accurately. The blade must be lively and smooth, and the cut marks must be of moderate depth.

——Digging the ground

Also known as "starting from the ground". It is a method of using a variety of knives such as flat knives, spatulas, and bevel knives to scrape the remaining stone surface beyond the line, so that the scenery or characters are slightly raised on the stone surface.

--carving

Use various carving knives to make shallow carvings on the protruding surface of the scenery to show the texture, yin and yang of the object, make it three-dimensional, and achieve the charm of brush and ink rendering.

Thin carving "wins by being thin and is known for its simplicity", so the knife technique should be flexible and varied, concise and comprehensive, and the knife should be placed accurately to make one piece worth ten. After the carving is completed, some details such as stamens, leaf veins, moss spots, branches, as well as the eyes and hair of people and animals need to be engraved and drawn with a sharp or semi-sharp knife, and finely modified to add the finishing touch.

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