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Painted for Issue 12 of Digital Artist Magazine. My article is about painting background, some compositions, and a lot about incorporating visual symbolism in the piece. It came together in a surprising way with a bonus of hopefully raising some awareness of some of the lesser known species that are vulnerable to extinction in China.
An excerpt from the article, unedited:
"The three critters depicted here are endangered analogues of the goat, monkey, and rooster in the race to place in the Chinese Zodiac. According to myth these three worked together to cross the river and won a place in the zodiac forever. Their endangered counterparts are: Himalayan Tahr, Golden Snub Nosed Monkey, and Elliot's Pheasant, respectively, and they symbolize global cooperative efforts of conservationists. Several other visual symbols are scattered throughout the piece to support the main theme of friendship and cooperation.
Chinese culture is rife with symbols and signs for good fortune in art, architecture, and even everyday routines. Objects, colours, numbers, and more all fall into the complicated system of traditional Chinese beliefs. These symbols have no meaning to those who are unaware of their auspicious nature. Indeed, all symbols are useless without the knowledge to identify and interpret their meanings. However, many seem to be universal for mankind such as the obvious symbols of friendship and overcoming difficult obstacles together. We all also have our own personal symbols that can be incorporated into our work for unique touches. It requires some forethought, but it certainly adds some fun!"
Some of the many symbols in this piece are:
The golden color of the animals, symbolizing luck
The animals emerging from darkness, symbolizing hope
Mulberry trees at the top of the painting, symbolizing the divine tree and supporting the sky.
Three Chinese hexagrams, used for divination, with the corresponding numbers for each of the animals.
There are so many more, but I would like to leave it up to the viewer to interpret, or just go buy the magazine for the full six page article for most of the rest of the symbols. Most of them. :> Plus there's the whole step by step process for the piece.
Created in Painter X with a whole mess of tool, but mostly with my trusty Round Oil Pastel.
http://www.digitalartistdaily.com/back_issues.php
An excerpt from the article, unedited:
"The three critters depicted here are endangered analogues of the goat, monkey, and rooster in the race to place in the Chinese Zodiac. According to myth these three worked together to cross the river and won a place in the zodiac forever. Their endangered counterparts are: Himalayan Tahr, Golden Snub Nosed Monkey, and Elliot's Pheasant, respectively, and they symbolize global cooperative efforts of conservationists. Several other visual symbols are scattered throughout the piece to support the main theme of friendship and cooperation.
Chinese culture is rife with symbols and signs for good fortune in art, architecture, and even everyday routines. Objects, colours, numbers, and more all fall into the complicated system of traditional Chinese beliefs. These symbols have no meaning to those who are unaware of their auspicious nature. Indeed, all symbols are useless without the knowledge to identify and interpret their meanings. However, many seem to be universal for mankind such as the obvious symbols of friendship and overcoming difficult obstacles together. We all also have our own personal symbols that can be incorporated into our work for unique touches. It requires some forethought, but it certainly adds some fun!"
Some of the many symbols in this piece are:
The golden color of the animals, symbolizing luck
The animals emerging from darkness, symbolizing hope
Mulberry trees at the top of the painting, symbolizing the divine tree and supporting the sky.
Three Chinese hexagrams, used for divination, with the corresponding numbers for each of the animals.
There are so many more, but I would like to leave it up to the viewer to interpret, or just go buy the magazine for the full six page article for most of the rest of the symbols. Most of them. :> Plus there's the whole step by step process for the piece.
Created in Painter X with a whole mess of tool, but mostly with my trusty Round Oil Pastel.
http://www.digitalartistdaily.com/back_issues.php
Category Artwork (Digital) / Animal related (non-anthro)
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 1280 x 1010px
File Size 339.8 kB
It is not only your artwork here that is a joy to look at, it is the fact that all the research you put into this for all of the symbolism. Also, the fact that you were asked to provide such work and knowledge of what you did into a major publication. Thank you for sharing this and thank you for doing so much to creat this! }:=)
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