Jun Qi - Art & Illustration

Jun Qi

storytelling and illustration

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Admiring the Gourds

March 09, 2022
Illustration
Children's Books

This painting was an experiment in painting in a more stylized, Chinese painting-inspired way, as a potential style for children's book illustrations. The subject matter was again inspired by my home garden, where we grow a bittergourd plant, and where the stray cats also like to visit in the evenings and nights when no one is around.

I am quite happy with how this experiment turned out and think this style has some potential (although it definitely does not really look like a Chinese painting), but more experimentation and practice would be required. Probably more practice in the traditional medium itself too.

The Chinese name 赏瓜 (shang gua) is a riff off the more common term 赏月 (shang yue) which means to admire the moon. I'm not entirely sure if cats actually admire gourds in real life though!

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