Koi I & II – ink paintings

Two large indian ink paintings, mainly drawn with a chinese calligraphy brush.

Koi are fancy breeds of Japanese carp. Interestingly most of the colourful varieties have been created in the 20th century only, but we are very familiar with the koi iconography featured in old prints and in traditional tattoos and ink paintings, in Chinese as well as Japanese culture. I was drawn to them as a subject for a variety of reasons. Koi have a rich mythological history, and enjoy cult status as highly prized animals. In general they are considered ‘lucky’. Judged in popular contests on various criteria including the ‘artistic value’ of their pattern, champion koi can be traded for hundreds of millions of Yen.

As an animal symbol the koi carp stands for courage, perseverance and a strong character attaining high goals – presumably because the fish swim upstream to breed, overcoming various obstacles including waterfalls. This is probably where their popularity as tattoo subjects comes from. In feng shui Koi are used to bring prosperity and attract money, either on paintings or in ponds and aquariums. Often they are used in a number of nine, sometimes with one black Koi to ward off evil. Koi ponds are also said to promote serenity, peace of mind and introspection.

Besides all the interesting folklore and various legends around koi, the coloured koi are incredibly beautiful ‘man-made’ animals. All the colours I added for the prints are from actual koi breeds, which is astonishing considering that the original koi is the chagoi, meaning ‘tea-coloured’.

In the two drawings I used the feng shui number of nine koi and placed them into a rather condensed square space, also highlighting a duality in the ‘attracting prosperity’ element of their mythology. Many of us spend our lives crammed into small spaces somewhere in a city, chasing an elusive ‘prosperity’. We are made to believe that we do this out of our own free will. Furthermore the perception of our material needs is fluid and dictated by outside pressures to consume and conform, and sometimes we overlook the boundaries between necessity, pleasure, vacuity and greed. This may deprive us of some of the other valuable koi associations: serenity, introspection and peace of mind, and having the courage and perseverance to attain noble goals.

Koi are now very popular in many countries all over the world and new varieties keep being bred, including fish with metallic or glittering scales, not all of which are approved of by the traditionalists. If you look up ‘koi varieties’ you can discover all the koi featured in the paintings, plus many more.

This is some of the work in progress. I used mainly calligraphy brushes to paint. They are not technically the right tools for drawing, because you don’t have so much control – the hair on the brush is long and soft and it’s all about the movement of the whole hand and arm. If you look at the fish scales, you can tell i applied the rows in one go, they are just ink dots made with the calligraphy brush. To draw like this requires the right frame of mind, otherwise you can’t get the rhythm and regularity. It’s a mix between concentration and relaxation, or what some call ‘a state of flow’. There is of course a risk to get it all wrong, but the result can look much more beautiful and coherent than if I tried to precisely place every scale in its ‘right’ place.

I like to use simple black ink as a medium, afterwards I added colour digitally to create another version of the work and make it into a scarf print.


Furs – pen and ink drawings

FOXES, MINKS

Two pen and ink drawings of fox fur stoles or mink fur stoles, which have traditionally been worn as accessories and status symbols by elegant and affluent women.

I am fascinated and intrigued by this enduring fashion – wearing a mummified dead animal skin complete with paws, dried nose and empty wrinkly eye sockets or glass eyes is somewhat bizarre. Alive, the same animal would most probably be considered ‘vermin’ and met with disgust or fear by the majority of the wearers. The act of wearing an entire animal makes a very different statement from using the fur as a precious material only, removed from the identity of the creature.

Wearing fur stoles as ‘trophies’ and status symbols is probably something we have been doing for thousands and thousands of years – I was asking myself if it is nowadays just a weird primal remains of our earliest aspirational moves? The fact is that fur stoles have somewhat survived our contemporary contempt for non-domestic furry creatures.

Another interesting angle is that whole animal furs have also been worn for shamanic practice, using the identity of the animal to interact with the spirit world or as a protection totem.

In hunter-gatherer societies wearing fur was the obvious thing to do, but nowadays it is in my opinion unethical to wear a product an animal has specifically been killed for, or worse – bred and raised in horrific conditions and then killed. The fur print is a signature item in my fashion line, I love the visual texture of fur and it forms part of our fashion history.


Page Builder V9

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Ea mei nostrum imperdiet deterruisset, mei ludus efficiendi ei. Sea summo mazim ex, ea errem eleifend definitionem vim. Ut nec hinc dolor possim. An eros argumentum vel, elit diceret duo eu, quo et aliquid ornatus delicatissimi.

Ea mei nostrum imperdiet deterruisset, mei ludus efficiendi ei. Sea summo mazim ex, ea errem eleifend definitionem vim. Ut nec hinc dolor possim. An eros argumentum vel, elit diceret duo eu, quo et aliquid ornatus delicatissimi.

View Project
export_images-0013-comp
export_images-0018-comp
export_images-0022-comp
export_images-0009-comp

Page Builder V8

UGMONK

by Jeff Sheldon
BRANDING / WEB DESIGN  / IDENTITY  / MAGAZINE
THE BREIF

Proin facilisis varius nunc. Curabitur eros risus, ultrices et dui ut, luctus accumsan nibh. Fusce convallis sapien placerat tellus suscipit vehicula. Ea mei nostrum imperdiet deterruisset, mei ludus efficiendi ei. Sea summo mazim ex, ea errem eleifend definitionem vim. Detracto erroribus et mea.

WHAT WE DID

Proin facilisis varius nunc. Curabitur eros risus, ultrices et dui ut, luctus accumsan nibh. Fusce convallis sapien placerat tellus suscipit vehicula. Ea mei nostrum imperdiet deterruisset, mei ludus efficiendi ei. Sea summo mazim ex, ea errem eleifend definitionem vim. Detracto erroribus et mea.

export_images-0003-comp
export_images-0003-comp
export_images-0004-comp
export_images-0004-comp
export_images-0008-comp
export_images-0009-comp

FINAL VIDEO

Soft, Smooth & Sophisticated

Page Builder V6

Oshin – WordPress Theme

A Multi-Purpose wordpress theme with 12 stunning & unique demos. Crafted with passion & perfections

oshin-responsive-1
oshin-responsive-2
iphone-oshin-513x1024

Page Builder

Oshin comes with our powerful custom drag & drop page builder. With visual previews in the backend and with unique features like copy & paste, you will fall in love with this super fast builder.

Modern Design

Oshin has a striking balance between beautiful design and functionality. Each demo has been carefully crafted & with balanced typography and unique layouts you can easily create a great looking websites.

Unlimited Portfolios

With Variable gutters, multiple columns, gradient overlays, 8 hover options, 7 Title styles, likeable items and many more options, Oshin literally provides unlimited ways to present your work.


Page Builder V3

HELLO POEM

By Dennis Adelmann
View Project
export_images-0000-comp
export_images-0020-comp

Page Builder V2

SUPER MODELS

A Photoshoot for Supermag, in Los Angeles. CA
View Project

Right Floating Sidebar

About the Project

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s

View Project

Carousel Gallery

Man by the Lake

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s

View Project

Privacy Settings
We use cookies to enhance your experience while using our website. If you are using our Services via a browser you can restrict, block or remove cookies through your web browser settings. We also use content and scripts from third parties that may use tracking technologies. You can selectively provide your consent below to allow such third party embeds. For complete information about the cookies we use, data we collect and how we process them, please check our Privacy Policy
Youtube
Consent to display content from - Youtube
Vimeo
Consent to display content from - Vimeo
Google Maps
Consent to display content from - Google
Select your currency