Don’t Play With Sharp Objects
Using a seal vice is a good way to avoid accidentally cutting yourself if you hold your seal stone in your hands and the seal knife slips unexpectedly.
15 November 2015
Talking Seals
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Seal Ink Packets
Seal ink sold in packets is relatively moist, as opposed to ink sold in tins which is usually harder and dryer.
1 November 2015
Is It Soapstone?
“What stone is it?” is one of the most often asked question about Chinese seals.
15 October 2015
Corner Seals
Bottom corner seals (In Chinese yajiaozhang 押角章) are just as the name implies—seals placed to mark the corners of the finished artwork.
1 October 2015
The Stone That Wasn’t
An elderly Chinese scholar once asked me to cut a seal for him from a stone he had purchased in Taiwan.
15 September 2015
1 September 2015
Hard, Soft, or Both?
You might take it for granted that an expensive stone should be carvable but, as always, it’s buyer beware.
15 August 2015
1 August 2015
It Looks Broken!
An artist friend purchased a seal in China but when she tried it out it looked broken.
1 July 2015
Yin/Yang Seals
If you have both a first and last name seals they will usually be opposites in that one will be yin (dark background) and one will be yang (light background).
15 June 2015
Happy Accidents
Happy accidents can occur when carving a seal and the blade slips unintentionally or the stone chips unexpectedly.
1 June 2015