"The third step in the purchase of nuclear carving is to look at the style, from the carving skills, can be divided into deep relief, bas-relief, thin carving, round carving, hollow carving, etc."

"In terms of types, it can be divided into single core, hand skull, long string, ornaments, etc. In terms of subject matter, it can be divided into traditional themes and innovative themes. Different types, different themes, and different styles of nuclear carving works have their own merits. The meanings of the works also vary. In short, nuclear carving enthusiasts can choose their favorite works according to their own preferences. ”

"Audience friends, after listening to Lao Liu's words, I believe everyone has a preliminary understanding. Next, we will ask Lao Liu to take us to his studio to visit, and reflect the charm of nuclear carving up close. ”

The group followed Lao Liu to the small workshop behind the storefront, where five or six people were busy. It's all his buddies and apprentices, some are processing raw seeds, and some are carving.

Lao Liu first took everyone to his workbench, sat down and took out a set of tools, and introduced: "If you want to do a good job, you must sharpen your tools." The nuclear eagle is no exception. Whether it is a master or a beginner, you must have a good set of tools, let's talk briefly about nuclear carving tools. ”

"There are three main types of nuclear carving knives, flat knives, shaped like single-edged seal carving knives, according to the width of the blade is divided into many specifications, can be made large. It can also be carved in detail. Some masters use a big flat knife to open their eyes. Semi-circular knives. It is on the semi-circular steel bar that the bevel edge is sharpened. Again, there are a lot of specs. Versatile. The ups and downs and turning points on a nuclear carving work are mostly made with semicircular knives.

"The horn knife is shaped like an inverted triangle. It is mostly used for detail carving, elephant eyes, teeth, etc. A good artist may have twenty or thirty knives at hand, take them and use them at any time, carry the knives like fingers, and see the carving process of the real master is a kind of enjoyment. ”

"The polishing knife is shaped like an oblique knife, but it does not have the sharp tip of an oblique knife, and it is only used to scrape smooth surfaces. The shape of the meat knife is very similar to a piece of iron wire, or steel wire, but it is actually used to dig the kernel in the core, because if the kernel is not taken out, it will give birth to insects, which is not conducive to the preservation of the nuclear carving. ”

"The shape of the extra-small knife is similar to the above, but the diameter of the blade is more miniature, even reaching a few tenths of a millimeter, which is suitable for carving scenes the size of rice grains."

"Carving knife handles, common double-ended cords, also called takers, metal knife handles, etc. Originally, it was a tool for repairing clocks and watches, but it was adopted by people in the nuclear carving industry because of its stinginess and ease of use. ”

Looking at the set of knives in front of him, there are more than a dozen of them, and each one is useful. Everyone sighed that the nuclear carving is really broad and profound, and there is a world of its own between square inches. In the slightest place, there are all kinds of caves.

"So how do you start creating a nuclear carving?"

Lao Liu picked up a new core and began to draw ideas with a thin brush: "There are very few olive core artworks, mainly because it is too difficult to surface xiàn art on such a small hollow material with two small ends and a large middle!" The first thing to consider is the subject matter, the choice of the subject matter is very important, the olive core is a kind of literary play, the work pays attention to the artistic conception, what theme table xiàn what artistic conception. ”

"Literati should play with a literary atmosphere, pay attention to elegant style, such as listening to the piano, watching paintings, discussing Taoism, tasting tea and other themes are more in line with this kind of taste. If it is not something for the literati to play, then the fun and market atmosphere should be put in the first place, and fun is the first element, such as baby plays, sellers and other themes are good. ”

"If the subject matter is there, then the composition should be composed, which is often called the layout, where to carve people? How many people do you carve? With what posture? Where should there be mountains, trees, grass, and stones? Positional relationships and perspective relationships should be considered. Where to make the cloth looser? Where to be dense? Loose places should not make people feel empty, and dense places should make people feel breathable. Does the relationship between objects and people resonate? ”

"The layout is basically completed before the knife can be moved, and the knife must also pay attention to the knife technique, many places are not a small knife and a small knife to repair, but to be made with a knife. The knife marks on the key parts are the surface of the skill! If there are good ideas to add or subtract in the middle of the carving, the key is the effect. Form, demeanor, clothing pattern, and dynamism cannot be ignored. ”

"Then the polishing effort can not be underestimated, where to throw more, where to grind less, and even some places not to polish, the final effect may change the taste due to the relationship between polishing. In other words, if you make a work of art, before you finish it, the effect in your head may be very different from what you think will be after you finish it. ”

"In fact, whether it is olive core carving or other art forms, the process of completing a work is very long. It may take a lot of effort to conceive and layout alone, so in the current market, there are too few people who make art, and there are fewer and fewer good artworks! ”

Lao Liu was moved by the feeling, he has been accepting apprentices, and even teaching for free, and he still has a job to do. But there are fewer and fewer young people who like to work, and the apprentices have to leave a few every year, and there are only five or six left around until now.

Traditional crafts are facing the embarrassment of no successor, nuclear carving is okay, after all, there is a market for people to participate. Others are even more pitiful, ranging from the quintessence of Peking Opera to local art. There are only a dozen people in Suzhou silk and bamboo concubine fan inheritance, and there are only three masters in the palace cloisonné silk Lajin, and there is only one person in the country who is doing hand-painted thangka!

"How many satisfying nuclear eagles can you produce a day now?"

"If you are in good condition, you can usually produce seven or eight in a day, and almost three or four. Pure handmade pay attention to the state of creation, believe in the reins, inspiration comes to the knife like a divine help, naturally fast. ”

Zhang Yang continued to ask: "Before I came, I heard that now nuclear carving is time-consuming and laborious, and pure machine carving cannot be sold at a price. The industry is popular with half machine qì, half handmade, isn't it? ”

When Lao Liu heard this question, he hesitated and said: "Yes, in fact, it is not an unspoken rule, many people use this way to lay the foundation by using the current advanced technology, and after roughly repairing the outline, they will be carefully carved by hand." This saves a lot of time and effort, and I sometimes take this method, but make it clear to players before selling, so that people can spend money to buy it. ”

The three guests nodded, this is the truth! Or Lao Liu said that he never used the machine, that is bragging. Pure handicraft can't produce more than a dozen strings a month, and he is not a famous master, so this amount can't support himself at all, let alone raise a group of apprentices.

However, modern technology has its convenience, rough contour is very fast, ten minutes to get it. The efficiency has been greatly improved, and as for the details, the handwork can show a variety of demeanors, especially the eighteen Arhats, which are lifelike.

As long as it is not shoddy, tell the player the inside story in advance, it is not a lie. A few hundred dollars basically can't buy pure handmade nuclear carving, this is the law of the market. One or two thousand can be bought purely handmade, but it is not a famous work. As for the famous masters, there are at least tens of thousands, and the masters have no price.

"What do you think of this string?" Zhang Yang took out a string of arhats and asked Lao Liu to comment.

He took it and looked at it for a while, and said with a heavy face: "I'm sure it's good to carve by hand!" But? ”

"But what?" Zhang Yang's essence flashed, and he hurriedly asked.

"Hey, but it should be an assembly line work!" Lao Liu sighed lightly.

Zhang Yang said: "This string is a senior player's work specially for us to expose, a few years ago he spent a lot of money to buy a so-called famous master's boutique, and later learned that it was the apprentices OEM!" And it's not just one person, it's several people doing it together! ”

"Well, some craftsmen are famous, and they can't finish the goods by themselves, so they can only secretly find apprentices to do OEM. If there are more, you can only take the assembly line operation, and each person is responsible for a part, for example, A only carves the eyes and nose, B is only responsible for the mouth and chin, and C is responsible for minor repairs. ”

"Not only is it very efficient, but it is also purely manual, one person has been working for a long time, practice makes perfect, and the details are difficult to distinguish."

Wu Shixiang continued: "What about the whole? An arhat is the work of several people, it must be incongruous, right? ”

"Hey, there's no way, it's not fake! You can't deceive the connoisseurs, and in the long run, you will smash your own signboard! ”

It was already noon, everyone was eating together, Wu Shixiang looked at Lao Liu's craftsmanship, and could only say that it was average. At least he can't look at it, this time he has to find a fixed supplier, fifty or sixty strings a month, and Mu Yuanju is also a category.

"Below I have collected some questions from players on the WeChat platform, and I ask Lao Liu and the three guests to answer them." Zhang Yang is going to ask the last few questions, and then this episode of the show is over.

"It is said that olive pits are only beautiful if they are oiled, so what kind of oil should they be oiled? How do I apply oil? ”

"You can't be in a hurry to get oiled, you can't reach it quickly, and impetuousness is a taboo in playing. When the effort arrives, some of the nuclei are denser, and the olive pits may not be colored in a short period of time. However, if there is too much oil, after a long time, the oil will slowly come up, and the unevenness will be mottled and irreparable. The color of the olive pit is precious in nature, the accumulation of the sun and the moon, the color that is quickly formed within a few days, and the only thing that brings the work is loss. ”

Lao Liu Zhengse said: "Oiling is nothing more than the frequency of oiling and how much it is on." You don't need too much oil, once a week is fine. Do not exceed once every 3 days. As for the quantity, it is subject to no oil accumulation. ”

"As for the method, my personal experience is to pour a little oil into the palm of your hand, be sure to rub it with both palms. Then don't be in a hurry to play, wait for the oil to absorb about the same, that is, after about 4-5 minutes, it seems that there is no oil in your hand at that time. In fact, the oil is in the fingerprint, and it comes out as soon as you play it. This is just right, and the oil is not too big.

"Players can try Johnson & Johnson emollient oil, Johnson & Johnson emollient oil is easier to sizing, it belongs to mineral oil, but the color effect is not good, and the color is black. It is better to use olive oil, which is relatively good on oil and does not have much effect on the color. The viscosity of edible olive oil is too high, and the concentration of low-strength olive oil is moderate, and the effect is excellent. ”

Yu Hongfei continued: "You can also refer to my method, first use a toothbrush to gently rub on the inner wall of the oil bottle, don't stick the entire toothbrush tip into the oil, and then use blotting paper, such as napkins, etc., to absorb the oil on the toothbrush as much as possible." But no matter how you absorb it, there will definitely be oil on the toothbrush, and this residual oil will do. ”

"After brushing the olive pits, the surface looks cleaner and fresher, and you can't see too much oil accumulating on the olive pits, which is the best effect. Do not wash the toothbrush after use, and you can use this toothbrush to continuously brush the olive core in the future without having to oil the toothbrush again. You can brush it about five times before oiling your toothbrush. ”