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Fire and Smoke by ~melukilan:iconmelukilan:

Categories Traditional Art > Paintings > People

©2006-2009 ~melukilan
:iconmelukilan:

Artist's Comments

Class assignment: I was given the phrase 'nuclear war' and told to do something new with it. I've got several more ideas that I'm working on, but this is by far the most aesthetically pleasing.
The style is inspired by ukiyo-e, Japanese prints that often showed a scene of daily life or a beautiful woman. The geisha's costume, hair, and makeup are reasonably accurate. I'm not as certain about the incense she's setting in the sand; I could find few photos, and most were taken from Buddhist temples, not family shrines.
Her kimono is patterned with a mushroom cloud. Her obi is patterned with the ruins of a city.
Memory assimilates the horrors of life, and can make something beautiful from it.

(Edit: I hope no-one is offended by what now seems to me like trivialization, rather than subtlety. I am not as skilled an artist or thinker as I would like to be.)

Comments


love 0 0 joy 0 0 wow 4 4 mad 0 0 sad 0 0 fear 0 0 neutral 0 0
:iconthomasina:
~thomasina Oct 14, 2006, 11:50:28 PM
Stunning. Just stunning. :heart:

--
~thomasina + ~jackwass = ~free-birds
:iconaksinia:
~aksinia Oct 14, 2006, 11:51:13 PM
as beautiful as this...
:iconstacey73:
*Stacey73 Oct 15, 2006, 1:27:53 AM
Brilliant.

--
Just because perfection is impossible, doesn’t mean I've given up attempting to achieve it. :aww:
:iconangelgunboy:
~AngelGunBoy Oct 15, 2006, 2:55:36 AM
oh my. beautiful and poignant...the gesture of holding back her sleeve is just perfect, and so typical of the style and pose. i also love the tiny triangle of visible skin at the edge of her hairline that's traditionally left bare, and the curls of smoke that echo the cloud on her kimono...as usual with your work, it's in the details.

a family shrine - a butsudan, looks like a little square cabinet, and the incense holder would be smaller, but i don't think that's at all necessary here and would clutter the composition, as well as draw attention away from the patterning of the kimono and obi.

wow. yeah....

--
the holy icing on your slaughter-cakes
:iconblack-ravyn:
~Black-Ravyn Oct 15, 2006, 3:33:09 AM
ah, this is so lovely. The soft colours used and the fine use of the brushes is ace. Really awesome work :)
:icondrgnelf:
~drgnelf Oct 15, 2006, 9:11:25 AM
This is so wonderful, your skills with watercolors are excellent.

--
"Every artist was first an amateur." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."
~Pablo Picasso
:iconhadore:
~Hadore Oct 15, 2006, 12:32:41 PM
Wow, that's such an original idea, given your assignment. It's beautiful! *_*

--
"Fall in love with whatever you can--with a frog or tree bark or an ant or your best friend. It doesn't really matter." ~Sacred World

"Girls should be allowed to play in the mud." ~Margaret Atwood
:iconkutsuwamushi:
~kutsuwamushi Oct 15, 2006, 12:46:52 PM
I can see what you mean about trivialization, although I also think that there can be non-trivializing interpretations of it.

Putting that aside, it's a very interesting image, and definitely not something I've seen before. The way that you did the patterns on the obi and kimono is neat.
:iconchompie:
Mood: Mesmerized *Chompie Oct 15, 2006, 2:18:13 PM
She looks more like a Maiko than a Geisha, but kudos for the beautiful painting. I truely love this picture. :3

--
Wanted dead or alive
:iconmelukilan:
~melukilan Oct 15, 2006, 2:26:35 PM
The white collar and the lack of decoration on her wig mark her as a geisha, rather than a maiko. She's probably a bit younger than most geisha, but it's hard to tell under the stylization and paint.
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