What is ink paste?
One of two primary classifications of printing inks, characterized by high tack and high viscosity. Paste inks are commonly used in letterpress, lithographic and screen printing processes. See also Liquid Ink. (See Ink.)
Is Chinese seal paste toxic?
Wipe the seal and store it carefully; dispose of the wipe with care as cinnabar paste is poisonous. This intaglio seal was carved by Qu Leilei, and says “The brush sings”, part of the famous phrase about painting ”the brush sings and the ink dances”.
How do you use Chinese seal paste?
When applying seal paste, it is better to press the seal evenly and firmly several times on the seal paste to ensure a good amount of paste is applied to the seal. Different seal materials may require pressing the seal into the paste a little more or less firmly. Whichever case, try to press the seal surface evenly.
What is Chinese seal paste made of?
China, Japan and Korea currently use a mixture of seals and hand signatures, and, increasingly, electronic signatures. Chinese seals are typically made of stone, sometimes of metals, wood, bamboo, plastic, or ivory, and are typically used with red ink or cinnabar paste (Chinese: 朱砂; pinyin: zhūshā).
What is cinnabar ink?
Vermilion is a dense, opaque pigment with a clear, brilliant hue. The pigment was originally made by grinding a powder of cinnabar (mercury sulfide). Like most mercury compounds, it is toxic.
What type of ink is used in offset printing?
Most offset printers today have shifted from using petroleum-based ink to a more reliable and eco-friendly soy-based product. Although not 100% biodegradable, it is four times better than petroleum-based inks and more easily removed in the de-inking process used for recycling.
What is the red stamp on Chinese paintings?
Most Chinese paintings have small red impressions in a stylized script, placed either inconspicuously at the painting’s outer boundaries, or scattered liberally through the image area itself. These seals (or “chops”) can indicate either who executed the painting or who owned it.
What is seal paste?
As a simple of authorship, seal paste, or yinni in Mandarin, literally meaning stamp clay, is the ink that is used when people stamp a document or a piece of art with a Chinese seal.
How does a Chinese seal work?
A Chinese seal (印章 yìnzhāng) is a seal or stamp used to mark important documents, pieces of art, contracts, or any other item that requires a signature. Typically, the seals are carved into stone, but they can also be made of wood, bamboo, bone, or ceramic.
Why do Koreans use a seal?
For Koreans, seals are taken for granted and many official documents for banks, insurance companies or authorities are sealed and not signed, as it is an easier way to make legal transactions.
What is Chinese vermilion?
Genuine vermilion pigment today comes mostly from China; it is a synthetic mercuric sulfide, labeled on paint tubes as PR-106 (Red Pigment 106). The synthetic pigment is of higher quality than vermilion made from ground cinnabar, which has many impurities. The pigment is very toxic, and should be used with great care.
Is vermilion paint toxic?
Naturally occurring vermilion is an opaque, orangish red pigment and was originally derived from powdered mineral cinnabar, the ore of which contains mercury – making it toxic. In fact in ancient times many of the miners who extracted the ore paid a high price, losing their lives.