In the treatment of the body of the stone sculpture and the base, the base, as a functional body that sets off the main body of the stone sculpture, must give full play to its role as a foil in the treatment of the body. For a stone carving work to highlight the rich and varied shape of the stone carving itself, in addition to the background of the environment, another key is the base. The shape of the base should be changed in accordance with the shape of the main body of the stone carving. When the shape of the main body of the stone carving is relatively simple, the shape of the base cannot be more complicated than that of the main body. In this case, the base generally chooses a simple cube or cuboid. When the shape of the main body of the stone carving is rich and changeable, the base can be adjusted appropriately according to the needs of the main body, and the relationship can be coordinated. If the richness or complexity of the shape of the base exceeds that of the main body of the stone carving, this will make the main body of the stone carving unable to attract the attention of viewers, and such a stone carving work will lose its meaning of existence.
In terms of depiction, we need to enrich the content of the subject, and we must fully match the depiction of the subject with respect to the base of the object. Only when the subject is refined can we express the image of the subject that we want to shape more prominently. On a certain level, the depiction of the base is negligible, because there is basically no need for depiction of the base compared to the main body of the stone sculpture. However, some finer stone sculpture still require the depiction of the base, so we cannot completely ignore the depiction of the base.
Virtuality and reality exist in every stone carving work, just like sketch works, overall virtuality and reality, individual virtuality and reality, partial virtuality and reality, and detail virtuality and reality, such layers of virtual reality relationship constitute a complete picture. The same is true for stone sculpture. What we are talking about here is mainly the virtual reality of the stone carving as a whole, and it is also a relationship between the main body and the supporting body. Reality is the requirement to express and shape something in a real way. Emptiness is just a little touch, just like Chinese ink painting, it exists between what is there and what is not. There is also such a relationship between the main body of the stone sculpture and the shaping of the base. The overall relationship of the stone carving comes from the virtual and real performance of the main body of the stone carving and the base. The real is in the main body, and the virtual should be in the base. The ultimate goal is to fully highlight the main body of the stone carving to achieve a complete artistic effect.
All in all, everything has a primary and secondary, but the secondary part also plays an important role in the development of the whole incident. The same is true in the field of stone carving. A complete stone carving also has main parts and secondary parts, and the role played by the secondary parts cannot be ignored. Just like the dialectical relationship between the principal contradiction and the secondary contradiction in philosophy, the two transform and relate to each other, and transform into each other under certain conditions. The main part of stone carving is important, but the secondary part should not be sloppy, because the success or failure of a work must first grasp the overall relationship, so to complete a complete work, you have to grasp both the main part and the overall relationship. The secondary part, and the secondary part that is easily overlooked by people, we should pay more attention to.
