Visual Arts & Making · Craft & Handwork
Seal Carving
Cut a stone seal in mirror image, so the impression reads correctly
A Chinese seal is a name stamp, cut into stone and pressed in red paste to sign a painting or a letter. A soft stone, a steel blade and a tin of that paste is the whole kit, and a small seal takes a few hours. Everything goes on mirrored, so the characters are written backwards before any cutting. Most people begin with their own name.
First stepGet a soft carving stone and a knife, write your surname backwards on the face, carve it, and ink a print to check it.
Barriers
Cost to start
Under $50
Going deep → $2k–10k
Alone or with people
On your own
Effort
Sitting
Without a teacher?
Best with a class
One session takes
1–2 hours
Where
At home
Why people take it up
Related guides
Keeping the spending in checkStarts at Under $50, going deep runs $2k–10kSkills
BuildsFine hand control