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Published: 2007-10-22 02:36:20 +0000 UTC; Views: 4055; Favourites: 138; Downloads: 129
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Description
My 2nd thesis illustration depicting the act of 'seppuku'. This is where a dishonoured samurai can regain honour by self diembowlment. The more common name is 'hara-kiri', which is the name that covers all acts of this manner (commoners, etc.) Seppuku is reserved for the samurai... Or so I researched.Jigai is reserved for females.
I actually didn't go through any colour roughs for this... It was the colour rough that I had to send to my instructor, surprisingly he liked it. We'll see how he likes the original on thrusday. This therefore, may not be the final.
Acrylic and ink on wooden canvas + collage
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Comments: 31
wow, this is very beautiful and depressing. The flow of his hair, and the light blood amount is very good!
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glad that i have found your galleryοΌthis came out very well, the perspective is excellent and the coloring is great too
i love all of your art and this one of your best picture
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Well, there isn't much perspective in this piece, but thank you. XD Most of my work for this project is going to be fairly flat in appearance.
Thank you, I'm glad you like it!
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it looks really cool. I like the unique style. Oddly, often there would be a second person with sword standing overtop so if the samurai (usually) did not do this fast enough the other guy could save his honour by cutting his head off :/.
They yell "gomen." and *shing!*
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Yeah, I know, but I didn't want another figure in the piece, it would ruin my entire concept. 
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Uwaa, this is stunning! I absolutely love the hair, and the color choice gives it a definite Asian feel.
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I do hope your teacher likes it. I was quite impressed with the emotion and thought depicted. And I'm not usually a fan of such works. lol.
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Well, I emailed him it to get his feedback, and he seemed to like it.. And the print is much nicer than the digital, IMO... So hopefully all will be well. I'll find out tomorrow!
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Yay! I love it! The white petals are a bit hard to see but I have horrible eyesight, ha ha.
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It may also be your monitor settings.
They are a bit harder to see, only because I didn't want them to be totally distracting
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heh, still better than anything I could do!
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this has some fantastic stylization to it. great job with the coloring
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you're welcome, sorry i haven't commented on all of your stuff recently
good luck with the thesis, think you're gonna do fine!
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Oh man this has GREAT textures - I love the cooler colors in contrast to the sati picture, too. o.o Beautiful work.
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Thanks Hokuto! Yeah, I like how the warm colours of the backgroung kindof draw you into the cooler foreground. Thanks for the comment.
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You're leaving out some very distinctive facts about seppuku:
For male samurai, the act was a ritual disembowelment, but for the female samurai, it was driving a knife into their throats that allowed them to commit the act of restoring honor.
Also, in both cases, the samurai committing seppuku would also have their heads cut off by a trusted "second" as soon as the the act was completed. This was to prevent the samurai from causing further dishonor by showing any pain before the witness/es that had been there to observe it.
-- Stephen
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Oh, and if this was a female, the ritual would no longer be a seppuku, but a jigai, so I would have to change the title otherwise.
I had to play a little artists license in the hair for this one, I decided to have the hair down, and not tied and or shaved in the tradition of the samurai during the period where seppuku was most popular, part of my concept was to see the hair as a Tsunami, which signifies strength and power. The clothing, however is from that period.
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This is a male samurai. Thanks for the other facts, but the entire concept of my thesis is not to show any bloodshed.
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-- Stephen
I've never read that novel, but I've heard a lot about it.
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You should get a copy at read it... it readly gives you an eye opening view of what life was like back in Feudal Japan; both from the POV of the samurai and commoners alike, and from the foriegners -- Portuguese, Spanish and English -- as well.
I actually read the book after seeing the "Shogun" mini series on TV (both my grandparents had lived in Japan, and they said I should watch it). There's a lot the book goes through that isn't in the series, but both do give the ceremony of seppuku justice.
I recommend both, if you'd like something to further your understanding of Japan and their history.
-- Stephen
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