Seal cutting is an art that has evolved from more than 3000 years of use of seals. In the Chinese Empire, officials ruled by means of the seal bestowed on them by the emperor upon appointment. The seals embodied royal power in ancient society, and officials wore them. Later, old seals became treasured objects of value among writers. Originally, calligraphers did not work as seal cutters. The combination of both arts became widespread in the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). This «new» art also had an important influence on calligraphy at the time.
Today, seal cutting is a part of Far Eastern calligraphy. A self-cut seal rounds off your own calligraphy very nicely. Seal cutting is not very complex and requires few tools.
It takes more time to conceive and design a seal than to cut it. First I select the characters that the seal should contain. I look for Chinese characters that suit the student and make suggestions. Attention is paid not only to the meaning of the characters, but also to their appearance in the style of the seal script. Then you create different variants of drafts for the chosen characters.
