Flowers and Butterflies

Here's some flowers to mark spring and easter.

These were made during the Qing dynasty.

Hope this improves your day if you're in self-isolation or quarantine due to the pandemic.

Shunman and Butterflies

#Shunman #japaneseprints #butterflies

SHUNMAN AND BUTTERFLIES

I've shared this one before but a long while ago. let's take another look at it together!

This is a print design by Shunman an very under valued artist. He's not as well known as Utamaro Hiroshige Hokusai or others but he covered a variety of themes in his work which have a certain quiet excellence.

Things I've noticed about Shunman designs.

Balanced layouts. Use of white space. Tones which give the colorist something to work with.

We have no surviving watercolors that I know of by this artist but the excellent of the coloring suggests he either made careful notes or showed the printer his color sketches.

Note that the arrangement distributes the colors to aid both the composition and probably make it easier for the printer to apply colors. Remember with this form of printing the black ink comes first and colors are separate blocks! Finally note how the gradient suggests the curve of the wings!

Butterflies a Korean painting

#butterflies #butterfly #koreanpainting

For a change a painting done in 19th century Korea

The subtle differences in coloring in contrast to Chinese and Japanese styles may not be evident unless you've seen a lot of all three but they are there !

Note also no flowers and the different composition.

Butterflies - Zeshin Lacquer painting

#butterflies #zeshin #lacquer #painting

Yes this is lacquer not ink !

I hope you have enjoyed this butterfly series

Butterflies Shin Hanga Style

#shumman #shunman  #shinhanga #butterfly #print #japanese

A Shin Hanga Print by Shumman or Shunman (his name is spelt either way)

Check out the rest of my series.

Butterflies - Japanese Embroidery

Todays #butterfly image is a close up shot of silk emboridery on a furisode kimono sleeve.

I love and admire the way Japanese textiles combine various techniques stencil tie-dying  and embroidery too Enjoy!

Butterflies - Utamaro

#Utamaro #ukiyo-e #butterflies #book

While Utamaro is well known for his bijinga he also created illustrations for books.

Whoever carved the plate for the print seems to have split Utamaros drawing in half but fortunately the actual print producers who inked and colored and made the print for the pages did a good job with the final trim and his insects and flowers are as elegant as his other beauties.

Butterflies - Zhu Rui Ning

#zhuruining #qingdynasty #chinesepainting #butterflies

Another Qing dynasty Painter who depicted butterflies with exquisite mastery of color and line was Zhu Rui Ning

Notice the careful balance of colors and tones. I suspect there's just a little indigo mixed in with the ink for the grasses and likewise a little ink with the green of the leaves.

Change of Theme coming! Butterflies

I'm expanding shifting and changing the Year of the Bird theme towards Flight and Flying and then Butterflies perhaps. So watch for new themes!

Most of the best Butterfly ceramics prints and paintings seem to date to the Qing dynasty?

This pair of double gourd shape vases are "famillerose" overglaze enamels form the Qing dynasty.

I am wondering if the overglazes developed during that dynasty allowing polychrome with richer colors plus the popularity and spread of  "how to paint" huapu books of examples are interrelated?