For this show and tell assignemnt I created another art piece. This is inspired by the traditional Japanese art style, ukiyo-e and an interpretation of Mario fighting Bowser (video game characters). I was influenced by Jed Henry’s ‘Rickshaw Cart’ Woodblock Print. My image depicts Mario as a ninja and Bowser as a dragon with a shell. I have drawn dragons in the past, so I did not use a specific refernce other than the print above for color choice and the generic build of the shell and face. For Mario, I heavily relied on the reference for the design and coloring, but I completely changed the scene and incorperated fire and a simplistic background. The dragon is blowing fire at the ninja, as he tries to protect himself with a shield. Ukiyo-e often incorporates symbolic elements to enhance the narrative and visual impact of the prints. These symbols are integrated in this scene of Mario and Bowser, which deepens their meaning. I did this by transforming Bowser, who is a personified turtle, into a dragon. He already breathes fire, so I thought that this was very fitting for him and in turn this dragon-form truly emphasizes his imposing nature. Jed Henry’s print has Mario drawn as a ninja, so I did the same. As a ninja, this represents Mario’s fleeting nature of his his adventures. Ninja’s usually fight and guard their superiors, typically to protect the Edo Castle, and Mario fights and protects Princess Peach (i.e. they are one in the same). By adapting these iconic characters, Mario and Bowser, into the ukiyo-e style, there blossoms an interesting merge of contemporary video game culture and traditional Japanese art. The fusion of Mario abd Bowser’s recognizable features with the delicate linework, vibrant colors, and storytelling elements of ukiyo-e creates a visually captivating and culturally rich art piece. I used orange, red, green, and blue hues to bring this scene to life. I centered the focus to Bowser’s fire and the action of Mario fighting back with the shield, which intensifies a dramatic type of vibe. Bowser has a powerful stance, displaying the strengh this protagonist has, while also breathing fire that I drew with a detailed pattern of linework, which is found in many ukiyo-e prints (like waves or clouds). Ukiyo-e is a popular art form during the Edo period of Japan and with the rise of wealthy merchants and growth of urban culture, this art stlye enhances the “floating world”, or ukiyo, representing simplicity of life: entertainment, fashion, and theater. These prints were affordable, making them accessible to a wide audience. The tales of Mario would be a great story to tell through traditonal Japanese theatre, as it incorperates a colorful and mesmerizing aspect of an adventure with a ninja fighting off a mythical dragon. Ukiyo-e is characterized by its intricate woodblock prints depicting everyday life, landscapes, and historical tales and combining vibrant colors, and detailed linework. I like this concept of depicting Mario and Bowser from the Super Mario franchise with the ukiyo-e style because of how well it blends the modernization of video games with the traditional Japanese art form, intensifying the characters that I drew.
“Haiku and Ukiyo-e.” Haiku & Ukiyo-e | Museum of Art | Bates College, 15 Apr. 2010, www.bates.edu/museum/education/thousandwordproject/lesson-plans/katherine-cargile-lewiston-middle-school-haiku-and-ukiyo-e.
For this extra credit image, I wanted to find another example of a woodblock print with a haiku. Last semester I took the printmaking introduction course, which introduced me to woodblock and linoleum (linocut) prints. It is a tedious and time-consuming process, but worth it in the end. Seeing the art that you took the time to intricately carve out (backwards) is worthwhile and rewarding. I admire haiku poetry and traditional woodblock prints, or ukiyo-e; when they are combined, the results are incredible. The minimalist form of poetry, Haiku, and woodblock printmaking originated during the 17th century. The prints were primarily used for ads and entertainment, but also an important medium of expression for artists. These two mediums of art, poetry, and printmaking, create such an impressive way of capturing the nature of being in the present and fleeting moments (i.e. describing a bird flying, a leaf flying, someone drinking tea, enjoying simple things). This combination reveals the beauty and importance of living in the moment and appreciating the small things in life, as it incorporates a short impactful haiku poem and a pretty visual to have along with it; it truly brings out the meaning of the art piece to life. Although this art form looks so simple, it takes a lot of time, thought, and effort to create and in the end, forms a deep connection with nature and art. Many scenes depict natural life every day in Edo, Japan: like sakura trees blossoming, snowy mountains, pretty landscapes, flowers, animals, the beauty/peace nature produces, theater actors, poses of women, and a wide range of people (including middle-class citizens and samurai’s— sold at low prices to appeal to not just upper-class people), and Japanese mythology. Through these scenes, deep emotions and feelings are simplified into a small poem and captivated by the woodblock print. “Japanese woodblock prints typically featured vibrant colors and were created using multiple blocks. A master artist would create the key block, and a team of assistants would then cut a block for each color used in the print.”. The woodblock print below is by Utagawa(Ando) Hiroshige, who was born in 1797 and died in 1858. He is the son of Ando Genemon, an official firefighter and a part of the class of samurai. Instead of pursuing this occupation, he decided to create woodblock prints and was very successful with his portrayals of everyday landscapes and “Famous Places of the Eastern Capital”, which he produced under a different name (幽斎(Ichiyusai)). After the popularity of these pieces, he decided to focus his attention on post towns, travelers, Mt. Fuji, and a series called “Fifty-Three Stages on the Tokaido”. The name of the woodblock print with ink and color on the paper below is Shiba Atogayama (Mount Atago in Shiba) from the series “Famous Places in Edo” made during the Edo period (10 x 14.5 in.) in Tokyo, Japan, by Utagawa Hiroshige. This scenery is a view of Atogoyama Hill in the Shiba district of Edo, which is now Tokyo. There are temples and buildings, surrounded by people, animals, and trees. The use of color for the structures and nature/sky is visually appealing, as it is made up of light yellow and bright yellow, and blues/greens. It gives off the vibes of a soft dreamy-like perspective. In the center of this print is a large tree in the foreground, along with smaller trees and people (giving it depth and drawing the viewer to look deeper into this piece). I couldn’t find a description or analysis of this print, but this was a popular place, given it is a part of the series and the number of people there, for either locals or even tourists. It seems like an enjoyable place to walk around and admire the architecture. I am not sure what the Japanese characters say on the left and toward the center, but I am pretty sure on the right is his signature ? Regardless, this piece is still very magical on its own and I’m glad I found this 🙂
“Haiku and Ukiyo-e.” Haiku & Ukiyo-e | Museum of Art | Bates College, 15 Apr. 2010, www.bates.edu/museum/education/thousandwordproject/lesson-plans/katherine-cargile-lewiston-middle-school-haiku-and-ukiyo-e.
“Haiku and Ukiyo-e.” Haiku & Ukiyo-e | Museum of Art | Bates College, 15 Apr. 2010, www.bates.edu/museum/education/thousandwordproject/lesson-plans/katherine-cargile-lewiston-middle-school-haiku-and-ukiyo-e.
In the first pdf, Otsuki Gentaku was a Japanese scholar, who studied Dutch; at thirteen he studied medicine, the language, with Dutch physicians. He was a prominent scholar, as evidenced by A Clarification of Misunderstandings in The Stories About the Dutch in 1797 (written by a disciple), and influenced rangaku scholars. Although Japan traded with the Dutch for years, not everyone knows of them to any extent, and stereotypes and rumors have formed throughout Japan. China and Japan believe that human beings will evidently be going to heaven throughout the world. People from Holland are aging fast and mentally being forced to withstand the fact that they will need to succumb to life out on sea; those who travel the sea to come to Japan looking older than they actually are. This might be due to rough weather, running into other travelers, illnesses on board, short on food; having to learn how to survive with limited resources and an unpredictable sea, as they experience life on the sea. It is completely different from anything else. People living in Holland are like people in Japan, varying human life-spans; anyone can die at any second. People from Holland are from a different place (as they appear taller with different eyes) and have different eye shapes compared to people from Japan and therefore were seen as animals. I think that because foreigners looked so different from the Japanese and Chinese people, they were confused and scared of what other people were out there and started to make assumptions and stories as to why they appeared differently. The foreigners (europeans) also have different skin tones, but evidently everyone is the same because in the end every single person is unique in their own way (even people from different places in Japan). This passage is saying that people from different places have slight variations in appearance, but in the end everyone is created and works the same. Japan came to the conclusion that people from different “homelands” just are slightly nonidentical compared to them. Everyone has heels, so everyone is technically the same because that is the base of how humans are mobile; Hollanders are not animals, but were suspected at this time in Japan. The Dutch fermented grape wines are imported from various places; Sake or “using” is a type of Japanese grape wine. Holland has grape wine, araki, chinda, and biiro(grain wine, which you eat after food. And Dutch-made glass wine cups are koppu and containers are flasks. The Portuguese influenced name, biidoro, is an ancient name for them (holland it is garasu). It is also expected that the people from Holland eat foods just like Japan; people living inland are gifted with animals “ from heaven”, but do not eat seafood, as they are not surrounded fully by water like Japan. Hollanders are stereotyped with always smoking tobacco pipes and blowing it all out. I think that this might appear overly excessive/harsh and out of the ordinary compared to how the Japanese smoke. The Japanese used the word “violent poisons” to describe smoking tabaco, which dismisses their cultural practices and disregards the fact that not everything has to be like how the Japanese do things. In Japan there are not a lot of drastic skin tone differences, so they are racist towards black people who travel there and see them as “monkeys”. This is honestly childish at this point, they are outwardly derogatory and offensive. If they assume that all humans go to heaven, die at some point, and have the same mobility as any other human (i.e. the heels, regarding walking). This whole passage is sad and disrespectful; the “black-boys”, who are poor people from India and servants for the Dutch are described in a dehumanizing and racist nature. This feels like the Japanese do not even see them as human beings and this is incredibly stereotypical and I think that this just teaches that you need to recognize and respect diverse cultural practices and identities of everyone. I understand that the Japanese have all of these misunderstandings of foreigners, but that doesn’t take away how wrong it is for being outright racist and disrespectful.
In the second pdf, it talks about the book, “Discussing Western Painting” by Shiba Kokan in 1799. It mostly expresses his admiration for Western painting techniques and criticizes the traditional Japanese and Chinese methods for their lack of realism; he believes that Western paintings are more valuable than written descriptions, as they provide accurate and detailed information. He also thinks that the Japanese do not appreciate and that they are “extremely foolish.”, which I think is being a little excessive. I believe that everyone should respect other cultures/art styles and people’s artwork, but no one needs to go to such an extreme where they need to change their whole view on art and what they like and enjoy. There are so many different realms of art, this guy needs to chill; if he really loves Western art, then great, but stop complaining about how Japan should feel the same way that he does. I don’t know, but according to Sir George Sansom, Kokan represents a significant restlessness among educated Japanese of his time who were impressed by the material and scientific aspects of Western culture. Kokan and other people in Japan are feeling restlessness and/or dissatisfaction with traditional Japanese culture, which is kind of sad (it’s ok to want to change the art style, but this is feeling very dramaticized; this is a completely different time and a change in an art style would be very drastic, so I guess I can see why he is being so pushy about it, but just let artists do what they want to do). The author admires the Western painting techniques and really critiques the traditional Japanese and Chinese methods, which indicates a kind of impatience with Japan for not appreciating Western painting’s like he does. This is so petty; not everyone needs to condone how you think and feel about different art. He doesn’t realize that anyone can have their own opinions and personal artistic value with their own art styles. Some educated people in Japan were attracted to western culture and the material and scientific aspects of it, and weirdly criticized their own culture for being stagnant and outdated. I feel like you don’t need to be so critical with art, I think that art styles can change all the time and there’s no need to diss other styles that you peticularly don’t have an interest in at the time. There is definitely tension here between traditional Japanese culture and the new ideas and practices introduced by the West, but generally, this was interesting to see the different perspectives of Western culture in Japan during the late 18th century, during the late Tokugawa period. Pasted below is a painting by Shiba Kōkan, which is beautiful and definitely referenced and inspired by the realistic soft Western style of art. I think that as an artist, it is impressive that he was able to branch out and find inspiration from other cultures and incorporate it into his artwork, but Japan as a whole does not need to follow through with his specific ideals on how the common traditional Japanese art at this time should change. I think that it was good that he changed his art style and found a medium and aesthetic that he liked, and this easily on its own could have been an example and incentive for others to find different references and ways of expressing styles of art. (i.e. he didn’t need to expect all of Japan to accept and change their art, just because he didn’t find the traditional Japanese art style interesting to him)
Ōtsuki Gentaku. “Misunderstandings about the Dutch.” In Sources of Japanese Tradition, Vol. 2: 1600 to 2000, Part One: 1600 to 1868, compiled by Wm. Th. de Bary, Carol Gluck, and Arthur E. Tiedemann, 302-309. Introduction to Asian Civilizations. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 2001.
Shiba Kōkan. “Discussing Western Painting.” In Sources of Japanese Tradition, Vol. 2: 1600 to 2000, Part One: 1600 to 1868, compiled by Wm. Th. de Bary, Carol Gluck, and Arthur E. Tiedemann, 310-313. Introduction to Asian Civilizations. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 2001.
To go down this rabbit hole🕳️ 🐇, I am going to elaborate on Tokugawa Ieyasu’s crazy strict control and intimidating tactics that gained him power during a time of political instability in Japan. He was pretty intense and a tactic of his was utilized through The Battle of Sekigahara on October 21, 1600, where trained musketeers used firearms in a strategically lined formation one after the other. This battle was significant in the fact that he was able to distinguish his power as the new shogun that would unify Japan. His need for absolute power consumed him and he used powerful individuals with a strong military background, generals (like li Naomasa), and allying with notable families: Kato, Hosokawa, and Kuroda. Along with these fierce forces, Ieyasu created an “Army of the East”, with support from his Matsudaira family and a network of spies. This gave him the advantage to attack Ishida’s defenses, and as soon as Ishida found this out he retreated, which ironically was exactly what Ieyasu expected. Despite the rain all through the night, after it cleared up, he used a vanguard of musketeers that crushed the Western’s defensive line at 8 am and then at noon The Easterners were going to attack, but because of his spies, they formed an alliance with the Kobayakawa family and defeated the East. As an act of true integrity towards this battle, Otani (the commander of the South for the Westerners), split his stomach open in “the ritual manner”. Now that the Southern force was down, only Shimazu, the general, was left and he charged through the center of the Easterners forces by confusing Ieyasu by changing helmets and leading 200 troops to attack. Even so, they were still defeated (Shimazu and 80 men escaped), and Ishida, a commander, and leaders of the Westerners were captured. After this gruesome battle, Tokugawa Ieyasu became a shogun.
