The commonly used pigments for watermark prints include gouache paint, ink, and watercolor paint.
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Watermark printmaking is an art form that carries the spirit of traditional Chinese aesthetics. The mirror image pattern of the painting is drawn or presented on the wooden board through a special method and engraved. Then the water-based pigment is applied to the engraved wooden board, and then covered with paper of different dryness and humidity for rubbing and printing. The art work is a watermark print.
Traditional watermark prints belong to the category of replicating woodblock prints. They are mainly used to copy Chinese paintings for the purpose of printing and dissemination, and can maintain the style and style of the original Chinese paintings and even achieve realistic effects. Although traditional watermark printmaking follows the basic logic of woodblock printmaking in principle, its artistic appearance has a unique aesthetic taste from the perspective of subject matter, content and production technology.
When wooden boards with water-based pigments and Chinese rice paper meet, the blending of color and water, and the close superposition of wood board textures, woodcut patterns and flexible paper can create thousands of changes.
Therefore, the production of traditional watermark prints is not a rigid assembly line operation. It requires the producer to accurately grasp the properties of printing tools and materials, the shade and color difference of pigments, and the humidity of paper and environment during operation. As well as the changes in the speed and intensity of the printing process to ensure the completion of the work, it is a secondary creation of the original Chinese painting.
Watermark prints from various periods in history have unique looks and aesthetic values ??that meet the needs of the times. Traditional watermark prints have laid an aesthetic tone rich in traditional Chinese culture for the construction of the modern Chinese watermark woodcut aesthetic system - it has the vigorous, bright and clear "flavor of knife and wood", but also is rich in hazy elegance and dripping water color. flavor.
Many painting manuals, paper manuals, ancient book illustrations, woodblock New Year pictures, etc. recorded in historical records all show the unique charm of traditional watermark prints, especially the "Shizhuzhai Calligraphy and Painting Manual" and "Shizhuzhai" in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. "Jian Pu" and "Mustard Seed Garden Painting Biography" etc. have developed traditional watermark printmaking from monochrome printing to color overprinting, and have pushed this unique traditional Chinese skill to maturity.