From The Lion & the Cardinal, St. Michael fighting the devil:
Now here is something unlike anything I've drawn previously. This ink and gouache drawing of the St. Michael fighting the devil was commissioned by a priest of the Maryknoll Missionaries, an order with a long history of missionary activity in Japan. He asked whether I thought it possible to create an image of the archangel in the style of traditional Japanese art without the result being kitsch.
I was certainly willing to make an attempt. While inculturation is not something that I have consciously attempted in the past, I was eager to explore some of the illustrative ideas in Japanese woodblock printing. Utagawa Kuniyoshi, one of my favorite artists, provided most of the inspiration here.
I was also curious to see how successfully I could maintain the western iconographic traditions in the content and arrangement of religious pictures while using an eastern style of illustration.
I am pleased with the result - enough that I plan to issue a limited-edition giclee art print of the drawing soon. Please e-mail me if you are interested in purchasing one; the response will help me to decide the size of the edition.
I am also thinking about making more religious drawings in this style, showing major events in the history of Japanese Christianity - the arrival of Francis Xavier, the martyrdoms at Nagasaki, et cetera.
I also experimented for the first time with authentic gold leaf, using it for Michael's halo.
I was certainly willing to make an attempt. While inculturation is not something that I have consciously attempted in the past, I was eager to explore some of the illustrative ideas in Japanese woodblock printing. Utagawa Kuniyoshi, one of my favorite artists, provided most of the inspiration here.
I was also curious to see how successfully I could maintain the western iconographic traditions in the content and arrangement of religious pictures while using an eastern style of illustration.
I am pleased with the result - enough that I plan to issue a limited-edition giclee art print of the drawing soon. Please e-mail me if you are interested in purchasing one; the response will help me to decide the size of the edition.
I am also thinking about making more religious drawings in this style, showing major events in the history of Japanese Christianity - the arrival of Francis Xavier, the martyrdoms at Nagasaki, et cetera.
I also experimented for the first time with authentic gold leaf, using it for Michael's halo.
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This is AWESOME! Makes me want to do a Manga version of Curmudgeophan. :)
ReplyDeleteI second that. That is really really awesome. I'm really big into Japanese and Chinese art - I think you've done it up really well.
ReplyDeleteNot you but you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteThe artist has also done some other great work. Now that I know there's interest I may post more on the Japanese martyrs.
ReplyDeleteExcellent and most interesting post. THANKS! JC, Calgary
ReplyDeleteThis looks just like the work "St Michael" by Daniel Mitsui. More of his work (including St Michael) can be seen here: http://www.danielmitsui.com/artwork/religious.html
ReplyDelete