Reverse carving on copper painting

Mr. Duong Ngoc Long (58 years old), a famous bronze casting artisan in Phuoc Kieu bronze casting village (Dien Phuong Ward, Dien Ban Town, Quang Nam ), was taught bronze casting techniques by his father at the age of 15 and then became attached to the profession. About 5 years ago, Mr. Long switched to reverse carving on bronze to create valuable paintings that suit the tastes of users.

Mr. Long said that the difficulty of making copper paintings lies in the transformation of the patterns on paper into soft, vivid lines on copper. Because it is called a negative engraving profession, the craftsman must have a multi-dimensional view of space. "To create a copper painting, the craftsman must reach a level of mastery. Copper paintings have the advantage of durability, so they are loved by many people," Mr. Long said.

In the hands of the artisan, the hammer is like a scale, and the hammer is like a brush. There are many types of hammers, such as engraved hammers, chisel hammers, large hammers, small hammers..., but for the craftsmen in Phuoc Kieu bronze casting village, each hammer is only used once for one painting. To create vivid paintings, the craftsmen skillfully combine negative carving and reverse chiseling techniques so that when the work is completed, it can be viewed on the positive side.

Having just completed a bronze statue of the heroic martyr Nguyen Van Troi, sculptor Nguyen Van Huy (44 years old, from Phuoc Kieu village) is exploring new directions for the Phuoc Kieu bronze casting brand. Initially, Huy only made souvenir products from pure bronze with light weight as souvenirs for tourists when coming to Quang Nam. When starting to do it, he came up with another idea to spread the cultural and historical values of Quang Nam from Phuoc Kieu bronze.

Thus, a new line of souvenir products was born. The tower group in the My Son temple complex, the mysterious Apsara dancer, the Hoi An Bridge Pagoda, the portrait of the heroic Vietnamese mother Nguyen Thi Thu…, each product created by Mr. Huy has different sizes, weights and designs, most of them are compact, beautiful in color and shape.

Sculptor Nguyen Van Huy shared that to create a vivid and realistic painting on bronze, the craftsman must combine skillful processing with imagination of the image to know how to draw the lines on the carving, sometimes shallow, sometimes deep, thin and thick, and adjust the hammer force appropriately.

"When wearing a new shirt with a unique shape, style, and color, the traditional values of Phuoc Kieu craft village, which is over 400 years old, can last forever in today's constantly changing modern life," said Mr. Huy.

Phuoc Kieu craft village is famous for the talent of its artisans and the sophisticated carving process. Especially the secret family recipe for mixing special alloys to produce red copper, brass, green copper products... After more than 4 centuries of ups and downs, many generations of artisans in the village still keep the fire burning to pass on to the younger generation.

At its peak, Phuoc Kieu had more than 30 family foundries with about 200 workers and 10 artisans. Today, the artisans and workers of the village have improved and upgraded the bronze casting method to create unique products that suit the tastes of users, as well as opening up a new way of making a living for themselves. The reverse carving profession on bronze was born and exists until now.