Seals are an important and distinguishing feature in Chinese art. There are several kinds of seals (also known as a "chop"). Seals are used in paintings to balance the Qi or energy flow of the artistic work. Name seals identify the artist. And mood seals add a poetic flavor to the composition by adding a symbol or short adage.
Seals are as important to a Chinese artist as his or her brush, ink and paper. They are also collected as art work in themselves as they are beautifully carved in stone.
The seals are carved using the ancient Chinese seal script (common throughout latter half of 1st millennium BC) that is the forerunner of today's modern Chinese characters. Seal script is elegant and distinctive.
I personally feel a strong connection to this script and love to practice it with a calligraphy brush and I add it on my paintings as often as I can.
In the video below, you can watch Henry Li carve the special mood seal that I commissioned from him in Nov. 2023.
