Zodiac print project

Damon Kowarsky and I have been working on a new project called Zodiac.
It's a suite of 12 etchings based on Damon's figurative drawings with my animals inspired by the deity statues that bear the characteristics of the twelve zodiac animals in Sanjusangendo in Kyoto.

Damon thought about this project while we were in the Art Vault last year for our Along the River project.

We started the production in late June this year and now we are back in the Art Vault in Mildura for printing the editions.

We've done 3 editions of Rat, Ox and Tiger so far in 3 days.

Tomorrow is a RABBIT day! :)

Manchot Adélie

Adélie II, 2014

I did a little sketch of a specimen of Adélie Penguin in the National Museum of Natural History in Paris in the beginning of this year.
I recently turned the pencil drawing into two versions of etchings.

First of all I printed Adélie for a print exchange project with Rona Green on the theme of animals and later I printed Adélie II with a second plate to introduce new and warmer colours.

Adélie, 2014

I remember watching a TV program about Antarctica as a child and saw the image of penguins sitting on the egg in the cold wind.
Male and female penguins take turns to incubate until the egg hatch.

It left me with a somehow strong feeling that penguin parents were the same as mine, keeping me in warm and comfortable place.  

Original sketch

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle

National Museum of Natural History was a beautiful place to be with lots of different animals including extinct ones. Lots of art students were drawing from the collection too.

I hardly buy any souvenirs for myself when I travel so drawing at museums and elsewhere is a bit like a memento. It's lovely to flip through the sketchbooks and re-visit the memory of the time and the places.

I could have easily spent another entire day or two here.

I have to go back to Paris and visit the museum again, along with so many other great museums!
I love to see you again soon Paris!

Chibi

Chibi, 2013

Chibi is a word meaning a little kid in Japanese.
This is a portrait of myself as a three-year-old chibi with gold fish.

Gold fish reminds me of summer festivals in Japan.

Gold fish scooping is a game at summer festivals where a player catches gold fish with a special scoop made of paper or net.
The gold fish caught at the game often ends up being neglected or abandoned. I remember feeling helpless looking at the gold fish at the festivals as I knew what was going to happen to the beautiful small fish.

To date my idea of gold fish is not only something beautiful but also transient.

I'm leaving wintery Japan tomorrow - leaving never fails to make me feel sad.

I'm heading to a colder part of the world, see you soon London!

Friend

Friend, 2013

I've drawn Tia since 2011 and made two prints since. (First and second one)
This time I put Lawes' Parotia with somehow startled look on her arm as her friend.

Lawes' Parotia is a bird of paradise family from Papua New Guinea that I drew from Melbourne Museum.
Just like all other bird of paradise, Lawes' Parotia has a very distinctive and fascinating courtship technique.
Males collect natural objects from the forest such as snake skin, mammal poo, furs, feathers, bone fragments etc and place them at their dancing court site - behaviour resembling to male bowerbird's.
Males do not use their objects in display and each type of item was removed by females.
They then spread their feathers like a skirt and dance.

Thank you so much Tia!!

Rachel

Rachel is a cat that has been living with me for over 9 years.

The name of this blog is dedicated to her.
In fact I have made quite a few art works dedicated to her, including artist books called Rachel's garden I and Rachel's garden II, paper-cut works from uni time and other prints and drawings.

I've made her portrait this time... hope she doesn't mind it!

Rachel's garden I, 2010

Rachel's garden II, 2010

Rachel's cabinet I, 2006

Rachel's dreamscape, 2006

Tia and Haniwa

Tia was my model for a different print in warm and cold colours.
Now she's a little grown up starting school next year.
I've made another print of recent Tia.
This will be my last print in 2011.

She's carrying a Haniwa terracotta clay figure on her head.
It's one of my favorite things I love to look and draw when I go to museums.
There are many different forms - horses, birds, dogs, shields, weapons, men, women etc..

They are ritural funerary figures used to be buried with aristocrats in Kofun period, late 3rd to late 6th century in Japan.
Some are used as a divider to create a sacred space. Some are used to keep the evil and bad spirits away.

Keeping Tia protected and safe!

More info on the print

Moody Tia

I printed my Tia with different colours at Australian Print Workshop yesterday.
This is a two plate etching with sanguine + warm red for the tonal plate and black + sanguine for the line and tone plate.
This proof shows more tone than the prints in actual edition.


Original Tia
This was prussian blue + raw amber for the tonal plate and black for the line plate.
Very cold compared to the Tia above.

Makes me want to experiment with all other colours available...

Tia

This is Tia - I met her briefly in April when I gave a watercolour portrait of her to her mum Catherine.
With Tia's sparkling eyes and Catherine's strong and sweet smile, I just wanted to make more...
More info about this here

These are some tests and rejects that might travel with me and Damon to Tokyo in September to work on the wall of Aesop's new Aoyama store.