Chinese calligraphy must be done all at once, with no corrections or reworking.

People often assume it’s easier to cut a seal with fewer characters rather than one with more characters.

Most carvers will sign their name on the side of a finished seal. Depending on the color of the stone you may want to fill in these lines with paint.

Try using some red and white paint—gouache works well for this as it dries quickly and is water soluble—to experiment with seal modifications.

You can buy round, cylindrical seal stones but I recommend carving round seals from square stones.