Supplies
1st Method (Slightly Difficult)
You may need to ink it up and stamp it to see any areas that need to be redrawn with the stylus. Stamp it after you've made the tweaks to see if you're done. You'll note the date is falling off the bottom of my stamp above. Oh well, I can either use it as it is or make another one!
Method 2 (Easier)
Draw out your design on a piece of tracing paper. I kept mine to my initials again, but this time I used the template of circle shapes to create a round shape and then put my initials inside. I drew the second, inside circle freehand.
Next, take your pencil and either go over the lines or go over the top of the entire design with an even coat of graphite. Note that the letters are still readable because the design is still face-up.
Flip the paper over, position it on the styrofoam and use a ballpoint pen to trace the design. (Be sure the design is reversed. If you can still read the design as normal, you have not reversed it!) Go lightly as it's way too easy to go too deep to quickly on the styrofoam. Once you have a light tracing, set the paper aside and go over the lines with your stylus.
Cut out the design with scissors if you have not already done so.
Using double-sided tape, stick design to a hard surface. I chose a wine cork for this design.
Next, ink it up and make an impression on the scrap paper. Tweak the design with your stylus if necessary.
And there you have a faux Chinese Seal! Pretty cool, huh?!
Once you get started, it's hard to stop. There are all kinds of options in the way of designs and what you put on the stamp. A favorite date, the name of a city, a spirit animal, your name, the options are endless! Below are a few of my designs:
Thoughts On This Process
Are you familiar with Chinese seals ? They're sometimes referred to as a chop. They are used as a means of signature to show authorship in personal documents in several Asian countries. They can often be seen in artwork and they have since become favorites of artists the world over. They are almost always used with red ink and they come in a variety of styles, shapes and are carved from many different types of material.If you google Chinese seals or chops, you will find a myriad of sellers that will carve a seal for you...if you know what you want it to say. And that's where I get stuck! I've wanted a chop for several years, but every time I start looking at all the possibilities I get overwhelmed with way too many choices.You can even carve you're own if you're handy with a knife. You'll find instructions here . There are several articles and some videos as well. Uncle Google will be more than happy to provide you with several hours of links to "help!"The other evening when I finished the sketch above, I wanted a small stamp to go in the area just below the cap but did not have anything appropriate. I couldn't help but think if I had a chop, it would be perfect for that small area...and so the adventure began.I've been hoarding some styrofoam I'd cut from the tops of clean takeout containers and as I pondered my stamp challenge, my eyes happen to land on my stash. Could I, I wondered. I figured there was only one way to find out and I'm happy to say it was just too easy! In fact, I created several temporary chops in a little under an hour.Let me be very clear upfront, these faux seals are TEMPORARY. They're not going to last long and they are ridiculously easy to damage...but...they're so easy to make, if one gets damaged, you just make another one!Styrofoam - clean and flat from either a takeout container or meat tray.Stylus - the smaller the ball the betterBlack penBallpoint pen with a fine or extra fine tipScissorsTemplate of ShapesPencil (not shown)Wine corks or acrylic stamp blocksDouble-sided tapeWhite scrap paperPiece of tracing paperBe sure to read the entire tutorial before starting as there are several tips at the end of the tutorial!Draw out your design on a piece ofI kept mine to my initials, the year and the copyright symbol, ©. Drawing out the borders first made it easier to figure out the placement of the various elements I wanted. I kept the overall size of my stamp under one inch. I already had a space in mind when I started so I didn't make any attempts at stamps much larger than 1.25 inches. Most traditional seals are small.Once you draw out your design and are happy with it, flip the paper over so that you're looking at the reverse image. Measure out the dimensions of your overall design and mark it on the styrofoam. I found it easier to go ahead and cut out the shape with scissorsI added my design, but this isn't absolutely necessary.Next, draw your design, in reverse on the styrofoam with a stylus. Use the reverse image as a guide. I have four stylus tools and I found the one with tiniest head worked the best, but I was also working very small.Once you have design on the styrofoam, go over it two or three times with light pressure to get as smooth of a design as you can. Cut it out with scissors if you have not already. Apply double-sided tape to the back of the styrofoam and stick it to a hard, firm surface like a wine cork, acrylic block or piece of wood. Ink it up.Stamp out an impression on the scrap paper...and there's your first stamp!If you wind up making a stamp or nine, shoot me a link or a photo as I'd love to see what you come up with!
The practice of seal carving has a long history in China. The earliest known records were found as inscriptions on animal bones and tortoise shells which were often used for divination. These oracle bone inscriptions {甲骨文} were made in the Shang dynasty {商朝} (1766-1122 B.C.) Very soon, engravings on bronze vessels such as tripods, bells and ancient weighing scales appeared. The first known example of engraving on stone was the Ten Stone Drums {石鼓文} in which Seal Script {篆書} Chinese characters were engraved. The Ten Stone Drums are believed to date back to the Chou dynasty {周朝} (1122-770 B.C.) In the Tang dynasty {唐朝} (618-907 A.D.), seal carving was so popular that it achieved the same level of excellence as the other three traditional arts (painting, calligraphy and poetry). This quadruplet was collectively known as the Four Extremes {四絕}.
In the Yuen dynasty {元朝} (1280-1368 A.D.) scholar Wang Mien {王冕} was the first to use soft stones for seal carving. Since then, seal carving has become the art of the scholars and played a very important place in the art of calligraphy and painting down to the present time.
In China, the engraving on stones may be pictures or Chinese characters; in other words, there are picture seals {肖形印} and character seals {姓名印、閒印}. The earliest known records of pictorial carving date back to the Warring States {戰國} (476-221 B.C.). The pictures were mainly animals and human figures. While the practice of engraving pictures has continued since then, it is the carving of characters, and more specifically seal script characters, that dominate the art of seal carving.
Although many people both in the past and in the present show different kinds of calligraphy in seal carving, such as Regular, Running, Cursive, Clerical and Seal (Great and small), the Small Seal Script {小篆} is generally regarded as the most suitable one for the purpose. Great Seal Script {大篆}, a form of characters older than the Small Seal Script is not that suitable because of its unwieldy form and its limited vocabulary. Running and Cursive Script have not been very successfully applied to carving while Regular and Clerical Scripts, for various reasons, are not as popular as the Small Seal Script which is elegant in appearance, symmetrical in composition and has an archaic simplicity.
A seal (or stamp) is well carved for the well designed characters / compostion
The seal is not considered good if it lacks these qualities, even though it may look neat and delicate, or if craftsmanship predominates over artistry.
To successfully learn seal carving, one should first acquire a basic knowledge of Chinese calligraphy, especially Seal Script. This is necessary because seal carving and calligraphy are sisters to each other. Also, one should study examples of good seals, such as the collections of seals from famous artists and albums of rubbings from ancient imprints, thus learning to recognize surface designs and carving skills.
Finally one can then start carving on soft stones choosing at first characters with very few strokes and keeping on until the proper skills are acquired.
Before turning to the more practical discussion of the technical skills related to seal carving, some preliminary remarks are necessary.
The carving in relief is known as carving in Yang Wen {陽文}, that is having the strokes in Red {朱文}; carving in intaglio is known as carving in Yin Wen {陰文}, or carving in blank {白文} (void). In the past, Imperial Seals were usually carved in relief; nowadays, artists may choose either form to suit their own taste and liking.
The seals may adopt any form, regular or irregular: the surface for carving may be circular, square, rectangular, oval, triangular, rhombic or polyhedral while the engraving of the characters can be done on many of the stone surfaces.
Many kinds of materials could be used for carving: animal bone, tortoise shell, bronze, gold, silver, animal horn, ivory, clay, tile and of course, precious stones such as jade. However many of these materials are no longer used because they entail too many technical problems or do not embed easily the spirit of the carver: hardness or other material characteristics make it impossible for the artist to reveal the taste of bronze and stone {金石味}. Materials such as wood, clay, tile, animal horns etc. are now used occasionally by craftsman and but not much by artists in seal carving.
The most suitable material is the rather softer stones such as Ching-tin {青田} and Shou-shan {壽山} from the Chek-kiang {浙江} and Fukien {福建} provinces (South Eastern coast of China) which yield readily to the carving knife. As mentioned before, different shapes of seal surfaces can be used for the purpose of carving and there is no size limitation. Some stones are plain while others may be decorated with animal or human figures. A very interesting type of seal carving stone is known as the mother and child {子母印} set with detachable smaller stones encased in the larger stones.
When the artist wants to inscribe his name, a date or something more than the text of the seal surface, he can do so on one or more of the remaining surfaces of the stone. This kind of inscription is less formal than the one done on the seal surface. The characters in the side colophons are usually incised in Running Script. There are certain general rules for inscribing side colophons. Given that:
Sometimes, in order to give the appearance of archaic simplicity and naturalness, the carver carefully knocks and chips the edges of the seal surface. However this should not be overdone. If after chipping and chiseling, the corners and edges appear too rugged, they should be smoothed slightly.
Seals should be imprinted only on silk or soft absorbent paper. In order to imprint a Chinese seal properly, one should begin by repeatedly pressing the seal surface against the ink pad. Then the seal surface should be carefully and firmly applied to the desired position. For better results, some pieces of soft paper should be placed underneath the paper to be imprinted. One has to apply vertical pressure evenly on all sides of the seal using a very slight rocking movement while being carefully not to make a smudge on the paper or silk surface. After use, the seal must be wiped clean with a soft absorbent material before storing it in the padded container designed for its protection.