Engraving artist stipples life pursuit on granite plate

(Voice by Wang Fan, Yao Lan and Qian Ruisha)

(ECNS) -- With a pen-like instrument made of metal, artist Zeng Anting, devoted to Shike yingdiao or hand-made shadow engraving, can vividly stipple a black and white depiction of either a person, animal, or any other subject onto a piece of granite.

Even though carving and engraving have both enjoyed a history spanning millennia, hand-made shadow engraving only came into being round 40 years ago when first created by his master Chen Lianhe in the 1970s, according to Zeng.

Using specially-chosen granites with reflective black surfaces and off-white centers, Zeng's work resemble 3D like black-and white photographs. Owing to the durability of granite, shadow engravings are easier to preserve than normal photos.

At his workshop in Beijing's Silk Market, the artist told ECNS that an engraving of 20cm in width and 30cm in length would take him about 15 days to complete. "I need to use the one-kilogram pen-like graver to stipple some 800,000 individual dots. It's tough, boring, but subtle work," Zeng explained.

Zeng was born into a rural family in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province during 1973. Speaking of his fate being interwoven with shadow engraving, he said everything happened purely by chance. In the early 1990s, a young Zeng left for Quanzhou, Fujian province, to seek a living. Upon first setting eyes on shadow engraving, he knew he had found his life goal.

Zeng went on to learn the art at master Chen's factory over a period of five months, spending countless hours perfecting his skills.