telophase: (Default)
telophase ([personal profile] telophase) wrote2010-01-16 11:41 pm
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Dead Guy In Waterfall

Okay, so I don't really have a title. :)






I've been working off and on on this painting since early December. It was an attack painting that hit me as I was reading Ghosts and the Japanese: Cultural Experience in Japanese Death Legends by Michiko Iwasaka and Barre Toelken in an attempt to get inspiriation for my Yuletide story. The book is full of reproductions of ghosts painted on scrolls, and when I saw this one (image from Pink Tentacle - see this and many other ghost scrolls in their blog entry here), of a bloody ghost holding a baby standing in a waterfall, the image wouldn't leave me.

It also wanted to be painted in a Chinese novel style, or at least as close as I could fake it, so I had to work that out, too. XD At any rate, what we have here is a sort of wuxia-flavored version of a Japanese story. The story, by Encho, is Kaidan chibiusa enoki, which has been filmed a couple of times although I haven't seen it. The basic story, which I've gathered from the intartubes, is that Utagawa Shigesumi, a painter, is killed by a ronin who's taken a fancy to his wife. Utagawa's ghost comes back and wreaks vengeance upon the ronin, and saves his infant son, who was thrown over a waterfall.

Many thanks to [livejournal.com profile] myrialux, who patiently posed for me holding his Chinese sword and my stuffed Sanzo doll (from [livejournal.com profile] fourthage) when I couldn't find any pictures online that were in the least bit helpful. :D




And because I'm also putting the non-bloody version up on DA to allow prints to be made from it for those who don't want a large slashed throat featuring in their wall art, I'll also put it here:



Crossposted to my Dreamwidth account at http://telophase.dreamwidth.org/1655029.html. You can comment here or there.

[identity profile] meganbmoore.livejournal.com 2010-01-17 06:30 am (UTC)(link)
For some reason, I thought "nonbloody version" was going to be myrialux posing...

[identity profile] telophase.livejournal.com 2010-01-17 06:33 am (UTC)(link)
Hee! Nope, a more straightforward interpretation of the theme. :)

[identity profile] lady-ganesh.livejournal.com 2010-01-17 03:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Those are awesome.

[identity profile] telophase.livejournal.com 2010-01-17 04:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks!

[identity profile] movingfinger.livejournal.com 2010-01-17 06:57 pm (UTC)(link)
That is a fine, fine story. I guess I need to read more about Japanese ghost stories!

The picture is gorgeous. You solved the water droplet problem well, I love the effect.

[identity profile] telophase.livejournal.com 2010-01-17 11:00 pm (UTC)(link)
The Japanese have a lot of ghost stories! And monster (youkai) stories as well.

Thank you!

[identity profile] seawolf10.livejournal.com 2010-01-18 01:10 am (UTC)(link)
*whistle*

Gorgeous.

[identity profile] telophase.livejournal.com 2010-01-18 01:29 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you!

[identity profile] rurounitriv.livejournal.com 2010-01-18 04:42 am (UTC)(link)
Great job - the blood really makes it go full-scale scary instead of a more mundane "sorta-samurai noble defender" pic.

[identity profile] telophase.livejournal.com 2010-01-18 04:43 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks!
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[identity profile] vito-excalibur.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 03:05 pm (UTC)(link)
I love the way this came out in the end. Especially the water.

[identity profile] telophase.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 04:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you!