Digitally coloured bird sketch
Digitally coloured pen and ink sketches
The lovely etchings of Japanese artist Keiko Minami. (Click to enlarge them)
I did intend writing this blog last night but my favourite Criminal Minds was on and I couldn't possibly miss that, could I? I should have done it after it finished but then there was another CM repeat on and I couldn't miss that either. By the time I got to bed it was gone 1pm and my head was full of all sorts of goriness...LOL
I thought I would show a few etchings of my favouritist favourite illustrator Keiko Minami. She was a Japanese artist/printmaker who died in 2004 in her 90's. Her book of etchings is shown on the right hand side of my blog and is well worth buying in my opinion. I think her work is so delicate, fairy like and delicious. She was very restrained in using colour but even her uncoloured work is beautiful because of the lovely delicate lines and cross-hatching. Her work is very stylised and usually involves two sweet little sisters who spend time with animals, trees and lovely buildings. Talking of her trees: they are very stylised and the book features over 36 trees and every one is different. I cannot pick up this book without wanting to draw and although my old rapidograph is a poor relation of her wonderful etchings, I can get a very similar effect with cross-hatching and dotting. I have gained oodles of inspiration from this book and as you can see....I LOVE IT! I hope you enjoy her etchings anyway.
I enjoyed colouring my pen and ink sketches in digitally so much that I did some more over the week. A bird features (doesn't it always...LOL) and a couple of my pen and ink ladies with trees in the background. Like KM I love stylising trees. I am interested in getting a slightly acrylic, weathered effect on the backgrounds of my pictures at the moment and although these sketches are very roughly coloured, I like them. I do have acrylic paints but haven't broken into them yet. I don't know what I am saving them for though. One of these days....
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12 comments:
I know what you mean about feeling like you're talking to yourself on your blog! But I actually had 10 comments on my last little thing about spinning--what a surprise. anyways..you're very talented and I love your blog~ Jen
Your work is beautiful. What I would give to have your talent.
I am a big fan of Keiko Minami's works and I enjoyed this posting. My favorites are her uncolored works she produced in an early part of her carrier, such as La Petite Bergere. Her works are filled with tranquility. Some of her works are available for viewing at Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (http://search.famsf.org:8080/search.shtml?keywords=Keiko).
By the way, did you notice that none of girls in her etchings is smiling? Sometimes these girls even evoke some sad feelings in viewer's minds. And some say it's rooted in her personal life. Any way, in my view, her etchings would not be loved this much if these girls looked just fairy tales-like.
I agree totally. I get a feeling of peace and calm when I view her work. There is something intrinsic about it which goes beyond just what is on the paper. I don't think I have ever felt that exact same way with any other art I have seen...and I have seen a lot. I spend ages browsing through my book of her etchings and I always see something new that I hadn't seen before.
I didn't think about the smiling aspect but it is certainly true. I don't know very much about her personal life because I can find very little about it on the internet, or perhaps I am looking at the wrong pages. I think there is definitely something deeper about them than just attractive etchings of little girls. I also noticed that some of the faces are cross-hatched and quite dark - I assume this is her earlier work, and the later work showed the faces clear. Anyway, like you I am a great fan of hers and wish I had found her work years ago. Thanks for posting.
Thanks very much ~p~. That is very kind of you to say so. I get very inspired when people like what I do.
Hi Jen. Yes I noticed that you had had a lot of responses. You are getting famous...LOL I think it takes a lot of time to get your blog out there. It is a bit like Etsy - there are a lot of us around. I think your blog is lovely anyway.
Did I tell you I accidentally deleted my entire blog list. I thought I was just deleting one that I had put in twice but no, the whole lot went. It took ages to redo but I used the new blogger style which shows the name of the last post and the date it was posted. This is great so that I know who has put in a new post recently. I still haven't got them all back yet but I am working on it...LOL
You have a lovely blog! Thanks for stopping by mine.
I know the feeling about watching Criminal Minds rather than do the other stuff.... addictions are bad aren't they??:)
They certainly are Helen but compulsive nontheless. Especially CM which I love...lol
I have to thank you for introducing me to the work of Keiko Minami, her work is lovely! I really like all of your new sketches too - the greeting card design is my favorite. Thanks also for the kind words about my Halloween ornaments. :)
Thanks Stephanie. Glad you like her too. Your Halloween ornaments are lovely. The speed with which time is passing it will soon be here.
I love your rook drawing. What a wonderful design. I wish I had your graphic flair!
It's always a pleasure to visit here. Take care.
Thanks Mellanie. I love the graphic feel of linocuts but I am not very proficient so I try to make my drawings look a bit linocut-like.
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