Wen/Li Zhenkai Translate by Atsknsk southkingze
Experience traditional culture
I am very fortunate to receive the relief creation task for the 2017 Lunar New Year silver coin. When I got the artwork, I was immediately caught in the eye-catching picture, which reminded me of my childhood memories. The snow-covered courtyard, the stupendous snowman, the rotating windmill, the red lanterns, the Chinese knot on the door frame, and the Dafu character on the middle of the large wall of the screen, made my family reunite on New Year's Eve. New Year's Eve dinner scene, people feel warm and happy. These pictures all show strong auspicious features and a strong sense of history.
People now live in high-rise buildings, but they have lost many memories of the tradition. So, I want to regain lost memories in the process of making reliefs.
The painting uses the large house as a scene, and uses the powerful Shufu character on the wall as the main center of the picture. Combined with a variety of auspicious elements, it is concentrated on a circular currency with a diameter of 25 mm and an embossed thickness of 0.18 mm. How to deal with so many levels of space, and arrange these rich elements properly, can not lose the atmosphere, it is a very difficult thing.
First of all, I tried to separate four levels.
The first level is the snowman and 3 yuan denomination. Because it is at the front of the coin, it is portrayed very finely. On the basis of ensuring that the height cannot be too high, the fullness of the volume is ensured as much as possible, and the snowman's hat and scarf are emphasized. The big windmill in the snowman's hands, because of the small area, I just distinguish the big blocks and use the special effect of sandblasting beads to make black and white effect.
The second level is the door frame, lantern, and Chinese knot in the upper part of the screen. The position of the lantern is next to the Qingbian. The height is very thin, but it is also very difficult to reflect the large and round feeling of the lantern on the painting. I tried to make 6~8 different lanterns, and finally selected 3 options. The Chinese knot was magnified separately. Although it was small, I think that some of the details should also be portrayed.
The third level is the production of the video wall, which is also a more complex and detailed screen center. The blessing characters of the Imperial Book were made into a flat relief, and the small words behind were also completely described to make a thin relief. The diagonal brick lines are carved with fine lines, bats on the four corners, white snow falling on the walls, a pair of couplets, ancient brick patterns and other details. I have studied and elaborated carefully.
Whether I made some worn-out textures on the entire wall of the picture, I was hesitant. In the end I decided to give up my texture. The reason is that the size of the commemorative coin is too small, and the effect may not be as good as expected. This means that often the elements on the artwork look good. If you add it without adding it, it will become ugly.
The last level is the hardest, with columns, houses, windows, floors and bricks. With so many elements, I must compress them within 0.07 mm of thickness. The house in the distance, in addition to the pillars, I have adopted the line engraved method to reflect. Pillars and railings have played a small curvature, blurring on the post-effect processing, and creating a sense of space. The ground is also a hero to create a sense of space. The square brick pattern helped me very well. I also deliberately portrayed the vertical lines in an exaggerated manner. The oblique lines, which are more oblique than the artwork, better interpret the visual experience of the near-large and small. With the polishing effect of grinding effects, the lines will not jump out.
The characteristics of the Lunar New Year coin are auspicious and festive, reflecting folk customs, and I hope my works can achieve this effect. (Author: Shenzhen Guobao Coinage Co., Ltd.)