Comparison of expressive language between paper-cutting and shadow puppetry
Shadow puppets and paper-cutting both use traditional Chinese artistic expression techniques - lines to shape the objects of expression. The use of lines has appeared since ancient times. The innocent and simple decorations on painted pottery in the Neolithic Age opened up the emphasis and love for lines in Chinese painting art. This tendency to use lines to shape objects of expression has also affected other art categories.
Shadow puppetry and paper-cutting, two traditional folk art forms, directly inherited and carried forward the traditional Chinese line drawing art once they appeared. They used knives instead of pens to depict various images on leather and paper respectively. Due to the freedom of lines, It vividly expresses the shape, dynamics and personality characteristics of the object through thickness, length, curvature and other shapes. In shadow puppets and paper-cutting, craftsmen also use the expression techniques of positive carving and negative carving. Yang carving is the "empty bottom". When carving, only the structural lines of the object are left. In shadow puppets, it is mostly used to express the face of the character. , the lines are clear and lively, concisely outlining the characters eyebrows, eyes, nose, and lips. Under the background of light and shadow, it can achieve the purpose of directly reflecting the characters personality characteristics. Intaglio is also a "solid base", that is, a large area is left when depicting. In paper-cutting, the use of intaglio is mainly to express the main image. After cutting out the outer outline of the character or animal, a large area in the middle is left. The facial features are depicted on the top, and the space other than the theme image is mostly matched with auxiliary figures made of Yang carving. In this way, the virtual and the real correspond, which not only highlights the main image, but also enriches the overall composition of the picture.
Lines can delineate a specific frame and can also be adapted to the shape within this frame, changing and combining into various decorative patterns, showing the artistic quality of flexible lines, which also embodies the working peoples abstraction of beautiful things. Graphic conversion ability, and this ability is based on traditional aesthetic concepts. After a long development process, it has gradually formed a set of concepts and expressions of beauty. (More reading: Linear comparison method of Chinese folk paper-cutting)
