Tuesday, March 25, 2014

The Color of the Fox

About the art:
This is quite a leap from my recent art work that are digital paintings. I think I got a bit weary from the consistent painting, and went back to challenge myself to do what I did with my Futuristic Sailor Moon art. I wanted to see if I can still maintain my line art skills. But don't worry, I'll be painting again soon. I've just been lacking some motivation....and original art work. haha. So this is another art to add to my originals. Follow me on Facebook to see more updates. <3


 Stories:
A lot of people would say that this is a kitsune from the Japanese folklore, and it is. However, I am Chinese, and to me the fox demon is actually called   Hu Li Jin (狐狸精). The word "demon" is a bit too strong of a word for the Chinese word "jing," because in Chinese 'jing' actually means witty. According to the Japanese folklore, the more tail a fox has the wiser it is. In Chinese folklore, the fox is more known to be full of trickery, and fool people into a complicated puzzle or problem. In the stories that I've heard through past from my family is that the fox sprite are both benevolent and malicious. She's almost like a succubus, except without the killing...most of the time. Most the movies I've seen with the fox sprites always tend to fall into a forbidden love with a human, and eventually gives up her power to be with them. ;-;

Another interest thing to know is 'Hu Li Jin' the phrase is consider an insult to a beautiful woman who takes a man from another woman to become adulterers. But I don't know, it kind of sounds like a compliment to me. Since it's like saying "you're so witty and beautiful, so you stole my man". >_>' My mother who told me some of the folklore said "she used her beauty to persuade men to leave their wives, that is trickery and wickedness." I'm like, "only weak men gets persuaded by mere shallow looks."

Any ways, if you know any fox sprite stories, please leave a comment below! because I haven't heard any solid ones.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Daylight Star

Hi hi! Long time no post! I hope my professor, Christian, isn't bored to death because of this neglected blog, and is having a wonderful trip in china. :D

This is an art work I've been working on for quite some times, but was put aside because of a lot of school work. In this art work I was trying to capture the feeling of "daylight star". This drawing was inpsired by the song "Garden of Everything" (It's screaming, please free me from all the school work. haha jk)

I'm quite happy with the result of the colors, they look like how I wanted it to end up in my mind. I wanted her to feel like a goddess, and overwhelm the viewers. What do you think? Did I?

 

About the progress, I started off with a color splash. I wanted to quickly get down the colors I had in mind, or close to it. I always think it's really important to grasp on to that initial feeling of inspiration, because that's how life is born in art. >^< 
After grabbing the art's soul (lol), I went into black and white to pull out the contrast. After that, refining the figure and the chiffon. Finally, adding effects and making it pop. I hope you enjoyed it!