Artistic characteristics of Chaozhou woodcarving

Chaozhou woodcarving is famous for its exquisite carving. In the process of making it, it is necessary to draw up a sketch first, that is, to make a good design, and then choose wood according to the actual needs of the carving object. Its technological process generally goes through three processes: rough cutting, fine carving, painting and bronzing, and some wood carvings need to be painted with gold lacquer. Painting and gold plating technology are its outstanding features. Gold lacquer painting freehand brushwork, by. After long-term practice and exploration, Chaozhou woodcarvers have gradually formed a set of unique artistic techniques, including relief, sinking carving, sawing through carving, through carving and round carving.

The choice of craft form depends on the specific requirements such as the theme, purpose and position of the carving object. Sometimes it is single, sometimes it is cross, and sometimes it is comprehensive and flexible. Among them, multi-level carving, especially multi-level carving that absorbs the advantages of round carving, relief, painting and sculpture, is the most representative form of Chaozhou woodcarving. Chaozhou woodcarving pays attention to teaching students in accordance with their aptitude. For works with complex and rich contents, zigzag arrangement is often used in composition, with clear paths and distinct levels, so that limited space can accommodate more contents. For example, when dealing with a complex story and a large number of characters and scenes, through reasonable and orderly arrangement, the characters will haunt the winding paths in the mountains, or be interspersed with pavilions, or walk on bridges and flowing water, or be active in the halls and courtyards, which are unified and coordinated, full of complexity and lively atmosphere, but they will hide from each other without showing traces. The nuances of dynamic images are never vague and sloppy. Characters' hair, men's beards, clothing lines and facial expressions, swords and halberds held by soldiers, crowns on their bodies, reins of war horses, flying and walking patterns of birds and animals, swimming and climbing postures of fish, shrimps and crabs, etc. It's all carved with great care. Detailed description of flowers and birds, insects and fish, patterns and other details can achieve the artistic effect of fine outline, unscathed and concise form.

In the process of completing Chaozhou woodcarving, every working procedure and various technological forms are so delicate and the works are so exquisite. Painted gold-plated works are shining and dazzling. Gold-plated wood carvings with gold-painted paintings and gold-painted figures enrich the cultural connotation and make the artistic expression more luxurious and solemn, thus forming a delicate, delicate, magnificent and magnificent artistic effect and style.

Chaozhou wood carvings are mostly made of camphor wood with moderate toughness, and the carving forms are rich and varied, including relief, re-carving, round carving, carving and general carving. The carved products are exquisite and rich in layers. In a sculpture, Chaozhou woodcarving is often composed in zigzag layout, and the story of twists and turns is skillfully divided into different pictures by using the landscape pavilion, which makes the characters complex but not chaotic and the plot vivid and orderly. Considering the viewer's line of sight, the wood carving decoration placed at the high end of the citron beam often exaggerates some parts of the characters, such as deepened eyes, raised nose and protruding mouth, which is just right when looking up. In composition processing, Chaozhou woodcarving imitates Chinese painting or opera stage, which is characterized by presenting stories that happen at the same time in different time and space on a woodcarving surface, and its narrative way has the so-called "path" (dealing with the context of characters' activities in a special composition way). The most striking decorative pattern of Chaozhou woodcarving is the door, which is divided into top transverse abdomen, railing, doors and windows, abdomen, middle transverse abdomen, big abdomen and lower transverse abdomen. The themes, forms and techniques used in the decoration of each part are different. Chaozhou woodcarving can be used to make decorative objects such as pavilions, sedan chairs, boxes, furnace covers, candlesticks, fruit bowls, etc. Its carving forms are generally divided into heavy carving, relief carving, general carving and round carving.

Chaozhou woodcarving is widely used to decorate buildings, furniture and sacrificial vessels. The bronzing effect is dazzling and contains a strong Lingnan style. Sculpture themes are rich, and complex stories often overlap up and down through the front, back, left and right. In a limited space, arrange the reasonable layout of mountains, pavilions and pavilions, with realistic proportions of characters, vivid facial expressions and lively atmosphere.