I made my first rakkan (artist’s seal) in Hong Kong. In fact, I made the decision to pursue a career as a professional calligrapher while I was taking some time off, visiting the city. And in order to mark that day, I went to the famous “Seal Street” near Sheung Wan station and ordered just one small seal to begin with.
In calligraphy, a rakkan is like your signature—your face on the art. There are certain rules regarding where and how to stamp the seals, but I don’t really follow those rigid rules. I prefer to balance the negative space around the calligraphy with the seals. I use my rakkan as a subtle way to express my mood, it becomes a conscious part of the composition.
Last week I went back to Hong Kong after 10 years, so I knew I had to take the occasion to order new seals. Hong Kong’s “Seal Street” hasn’t changed at all! It is still the same narrow back alley lined with small stone booths. The atmosphere is a bit heavy, and it seems that time slow downs there. You can hear the traffic from the big avenues but muffled, distant...I walked down the street to get a feel for the selection of stones and finally found a booth that felt right. And like in a good story, that happened to be the same place I had gone 10 years before. As we chatted, I recognized the shop owner and told him that he made my first seal. He off course did not remember it, but when I showed him the rakkan I use, he told me : “this one I probably made! That one, I did not make, it is carved by machine”
He was spot on! One of my seals was made by machine: it has a very stiff, almost robotic feeling, which I like also.
All his seals are hand-carved, and the way he design the characters is incredibly creative. A traditional seal maker is not just an artisan, it is an artist on his own right.
This time, I created two rakkan: “粋墨” (Stylish Ink), which represents my motto, and “行雲流水,” a beautiful Zen phrase. I’ll share more about the meaning of “行雲流水” in a future post.
Comments