Vagabond 3 by Takehiko Inoue Inked drawing by Takehiko Inoue, coloring by me in Photoshop CS4. Tweet Review: With swords like that, why fight? If I can turn ANY club readers into graphic novel fans...I am going to be very happy, but then so will you. As most club readers are also artists, this challenge especially emphasizes the relationship between words and pictures. And, as in graphic novels and manga...that's exactly what you get! A little look into Japanese manga is enough to pique anyone's interest. The manga artists keep up with societies interests. The stories written are illustrated for all age groups; boys and girls, men and women. The series Vagabond , my April book is seinem manga which means it's written for men ages 18-40. But I don't think I'll be arrested for reading it. The first two things to know about Vagabond is that the artist Takehiko Inoue is also the author and his drawings are done, up until very recently, with a black ink...
Head-dress with rays like the sun, made out of colours of rainbow – an exploration of ego? The sun gives light like this? Of the power of the individual to make art and its costs, including the self-confidence required and the loneliness of the studio? I can’t help but feel there is a sort of return to the image of the Native American and an updating of it.
ReplyDeleteFalling leaves, autumnal theme of death and regeneration. The turquoise rays which stand out so much in the colour scheme – blue is associated with nobility, with the true gaze, with the heights of heaven above?
The white space behind is a significant structuring facet of the painting. It is perhaps significant that the hair is colourless – is there an imaginary scalping going on here, at some level?
A fish swims to or springs from the lips of this blood clouded, Janus-faced totem (significant, because we’re actually coming up to the end of year and January – Janus’s month) with a bloody tear and a fire smoulders to his or her left… A very complex piece of work.
The whole piece is made up of an illustration of a leaf from a Redwood Tree. It is a spin off of the idea of a tree spirit. It is only a section of a very large drawing/painting and colored in Photoshop. I didn't use the obvious tree colors just for something different.
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