ART: Wu Ming Zhong (武明中) - Heart of Glass

Wu Ming Zhong (武明中)
Web  -  Yang Gallery
[52 images / 2 pages]

   Wu Ming Zhong was born in Hebei province China in 1963. In most of his paintings he uses a monochrome palette with reds as the defining accents.  He is the Associate Professor & Director of the Oil Painting Research Office for the College of Fine Arts at Capital Normal University. He was a visiting scholar at Liebin Academy of Fine Arts in Russia & Buffalo State College in the USA.

HAIKU Art Review: Wu Ming Zhong

Fragile heart of glass
In a cold monochrome world
Life painted in blood

   "My work isn’t like the work of Edward Munch – paintings shot through with obvious expressions of pain. My paintings, rather, are easy on the eye & serve to dissipate the pain."

---

Ad: Rocket Languages Chinese

Learning Mandarin is easy with Rocket Chinese

---

ART: Kriangkrai Kongkhanun - The Torments of Sin

Kriangkrai Kongkhanun (เกรียงไกร กงกะนันทน์)
Blog  -  Facebook  -  Tumblr
[53 Images / 2 Pages]

   Kriangkrai Kongkhanun was born in 1980 & graduated with a Masters degree from Silpakorn University in Thailand. He attempts to characterize the dark thoughts & emotions of humans whose minds are seized by sin as described in different legends & ancient Buddhist scriptures. Kriangkrai's art depicts the abstract concepts of hatred, anger, vengeance, greed & jealousy, his Neo-Primitive designs symbolize the karma of humanity.

HAIKU Art Review: Kriangkrai Kongkhanun

Creatures of desire
Evil manifestations
Our karmic mirror

---

Ad: Pencil Drawing Made Easy

Learn to Improve your Pencil Drawings

---

ART: Kazu Livingstone - Graphic Poetry

Kazu Livingstone aka Slim Panda / Kayzer Bubu
[68 images / 3 pages]
DeviantArt  -  Facebook  -  Twitter  -  Behance

   Kazu Livingstone is a Eurasian poet & political artist from Penang Island, Malaysia. His art has been exhibited on five continents & he's collaborated with artists from around the world.

HAIKU Art Review: Kazu Livingstone 

Graphic poetry
Artistic activism
Pop propaganda

---

Ad: Drawing Secrets Revealed

Learn to Draw from Pro Artist: Sarah Parks

---

ART: Nekoshowgun (猫将軍) - Inked Wild Things

Nekoshowgun (猫将軍) - [66 Images / 3 Pages]

Web  -  Facebook  -  Twitter  -  Shop

   Nekoshogun is an illustrator who was born in Wakayama prefecture in 1982. She's expanded her popularity in Japan & also in the United States since she uploaded videos of her drawing process & her illustration has been used by the famous singer, Kyosuke Himuro. She recently published her own illustration book, Illustration Making & Visual Book

HAIKU Art Review: Nekoshowgun

Master of contrasts
Primal urges, black & white
Color's a sweet treat

Buy Nekoshowgun's Artbook on Amazon

Illustration Making & Visual Book (JP)

ART: Artgerm's Superbelles

Artgerm aka Stanley Lau (53 images)
DeviantArt  -  Facebook  -  Livestream

BUY Art Prints @ Society6

   53 gorgeous "Superbelles" from Singapore based artist Stanley "Artgerm" Lau. Stanley & Imaginary Friends, the design company he co-founded are sought out by the biggest names in the gaming, comic book & entertainment industries because of his rare ability to illustrate sexy, strong, confident female heroines.

HAIKU Art Review: Artgerm - Superbelle

Infectious beauty
Superbelles saving the world
Spreading artistry

SUPERBELLE | Book Two - 24 pages

   Born & bred in Hong Kong, the multifaceted Stanley wears different hats as an illustrator, designer, concept artist, creative director & instructor at 3D Sense Media School - Concept Design & Illustration Program.

---

Ad: Pencil Drawing Made Easy

Learn to Improve your Pencil Drawings

---

ART: Jed Henry & Dave Bull - Ukiyo-e Heroes

Jed Henry & David Bull (40 Images)

Web  -  Facebook  -  Tumblr  -  YouTube

BUY Prints & Originals: 

Woodblock Prints  -  Portrait Subscription  -  Gallery Nucleus

   Jed Henry is an illustrator, lifelong gamer, Japanophile & all-around nerd. He grew up copying art from game manuals & years later, eventually got a degree in animation. He now works full time on Japanese prints.

Cat vs. Raven - signed giclée print (12 x 17 in)

   David Bull has been in Tokyo since before Jed was born, having gone there to learn what he could about the craft of traditional woodblock printmaking & has been making his living at it for nearly 25 years now. For most of that time, he worked as a solo craftsman (carving, printing, self-publishing), but for the past couple of years has been working with younger people to train them in the techniques, under the umbrella of his Mokuhankan publishing venture.

The Lone Hunter - #10 of 12 in Subscription Print Set

HAIKU Art Review: Ukiyo-e Heroes

Fan 2 fine artist
Outsider 2 old master 
Cultural reboot

Warrior - signed giclée print (12 x 17 in)

   "Not only are we making fun, meaningful art. We’re also working to save the Japanese woodblock community in a very real way. Through print sales, Dave has been able to pay a workshop full of apprentices & even employ seasoned masters in the craft!"

---

Ad: Rocket Languages

Learn Japanese Online with Rocket Japanese

---

EVENT: Kumi Contemporary at Moniker Art Fair

Kumi Contemporary at Moniker Art Fair Oct 15-18

Web | Facebook | Twitter

   Kumi Contemporary will be participating in the Moniker Art Fair 2015 on the 15th - 18th October, 2015 at the Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London. The Moniker Art Fair offers thousands of Londoners the opportunity to enjoy the events of London’s prestigious Art Week.

   This year, Kumi Contemporary is excited to join the fair & will be showcasing a wonderful collection of works by Takashi Murakami, Chiho Aoshima & Hush.

ART: Dali Roll - Surreal Sensuality

Dali Roll (달리롤) - (35 Images)
Web  -  Facebook  -  Tumblr

   South Korean artist Dali Roll (달리롤) creates digital dreamscapes erupting with symbols of female reproduction. Ovals, ova, eggs, & other vulvic shapes dominate her work. The cute, flat, comic style & cheerful colors contradict the obsessive angst of the subject matter. Her digital creations seem to channel cryptic cries from the feminine collective unconscious.   

ART: Zhang Yuxi (张玉玺) - Little Yellow Boy

Zhang Yuxi (张玉玺) - (19 Images)
Blue Dots Art  -  Asia Contemporary Art

   Zhang Yuxi was born in China, 1980 & graduated from Harbin University majoring in sculpture. The artist's work is easily recognizable by the tri-eyed little yellow boy, a main character he created in most of his work which represents hope & positivity. The tri-eye character represents the three different stages of life.

HAIKU Art Review: Zhang Yuxi

Little yellow man

Blinded by colorful past

All seeing 3rd eye?

    “The little boy reflects the experiences of those born during the 1980’s. As I was born in this time period, I know it well & portray this with childhood innocence.” 

---

---

ART: Sketch Master Kim JungGi

JungGi Kim (김정기) - (28 Images)
Web  -  Facebook  - YouTube

Shops:  US - EU - Japan - China 

   Master Kim JungGi loves drawing & seems to never stop sketching. He draws just about everything, as I have presented in these past posts; Ancient Asia, War & Holidays. 

   In this collection, I've gathered JungGi's sketches about sketching. These are less fantastic & more based on his actual surroundings; observing his art students at AniChanga, the art & animation school he co-directs, in the car with his family or just waiting around in a park.

HAIKU Art Review: Jung-Gi Kim

Freehand sketch master
Eraserless perfection
Divine fish-eyed view

See 17 more JungGi drawings in Sketches of Ancient Asia

---

Ad: Pencil Drawing Made Easy

See your Pencil Drawings Improve

---

ART: Tomas Overbai - Asian Characters

Tomas Overbai - (24 Images)
Web  -  Facebook  -  Twitter  -  Shop

   Tomas Overbai sells sketches of celebrities & famous characters. He's inspired by Akira Kurosawa, science fiction, post-apocalyptic fantasy & kung-fu movies. He has finished book one of his epic graphic novel series ICHIDO.

HAIKU Art Review: Tomas Overbai

Evolving pencil
Rough charismatic sketches
Longing for sumi

---

Ad: Drawing Secrets Revealed

Learn to Draw from Pro Artist: Sarah Parks

---

ART: Alice X. Zhang - Painted Celluloid

Alice X. Zhang
Web  |  Facebook  |  Twitter
SHOPs:  Store |  Society6  |  Nuvango  |  Inprnt  

   Alice X. Zhang is a full-time freelance designer, illustrator, & portrait artist with an enduring interest in cinema, comics, & pop culture.

   Alice's solo show "Moments II" is running until July 10, 2015 @ The Bottleneck Gallery in Brooklyn, NY. You can purchase prints online (the links below go directly to the store page, if the print isn't sold out already)

Scorpion & the Frog

ART: Yosuke Ueno (上野陽介) - Kawaii Characters

Yosuke Ueno (上野陽介) - (28 Images)
Web  -  Facebook  -  Twitter  -  Shop

   Yosuke Ueno was born in Japan in 1977. He has been building his world since a young child & had his first solo show in Yamaguchi, Japan in 1994 at the young age of 16. Ueno's work has shown with some of the most established galleries, including major exhibitions in his home country of Japan at the Shimoni-Seki Museum & Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. He recently had a solo show at Thinkspace Gallery

HAIKU Art Review: Yosuke Ueno

Fairytale characters

Surreal kawaii dreamscapes

Child's play DNA

   "My hope for a piece is to complete itself beyond my imagination."

ART: Casper Kang - Bridging Perspectives

Casper Kang - (25 Images)
Web  -  Facebook  -  Twitter

   Born in Canada in 1981, Casper Kang lives & works in Seoul, South Korea. He draws inspiration from the corpus of traditional Korean imagery, reinterpreting & presenting the history of his mother culture as a formal recollection of an alternate past.

HAIKU Art Review: Casper Kang

Outsider inside
Bridging cultures & history
Reconstructing time

ART: Craig Drake - Asian Influences

Craig Drake: Asian Influences
Web | Facebook | HeroComplexGallery
curated by YellowMenace (20 images)
*UPDATED: Nov 2017

   With minimal as the mantra of the 2010s, Craig Drake's art has come along at just the right moment. He balances simplicity with enough well placed detail & beloved pop subject matter to make his work irresistible.

   This post focuses on Asian movie, anime & comic pop icons. This isn't the first time I've featured Craig's art & I can guarantee you it won't be the last.

   Craig recently had his second solo show at Hero Complex Gallery. The links to purchase prints below all lead to the Hero Complex Store. (Art without links has already sold out)

Akira - Foil Variant (36" x 12") 

---

HAIKU Art Review: Craig Drake

80s graphic style

Artistic economy

Slick pop nostalgia

---

Beatrix or Gogo - Large Variant Editions of 25 (24" x 72")

ART: Sketches of Ancient Asia by Kim JungGi (김정기)

JungGi Kim (김정기) - (17 Images)
Web  -  Facebook  - YouTube

Shops:  US - EU - Japan - China 

   The argument over artistic talent vs effort ends with Kim JungGi. He is a uniquely gifted master artist who draws sprawling wide-angle murals, in ink with no references, relying only on images in his mind & without making any mistakes. His most recent accomplishment was setting the Guinness World Record for longest & fastest fish-eye art illustration at Odeon in Penang, Malaysia.

HAIKU Art Review: Jung-Gi Kim

Freehand sketch master
Eraserless perfection
Divine fish-eyed view

   To fully understand Jung Gi's genius, watch the drawing performance he did for Christie's Auction House. He travels all over the world performing his art. Typically, he works for 2-3 days on a large mural while cameras record his progress, then the time-lapse video gets upload to his YouTube channel.  

JungGi Kim's Drawing Performance for Christie's

Samurai Inspired Art Collection

Samurai Inspired (武士触発)
YM Blog | Pinterest | Tumblr
curated by YellowMenace (40+ images)

   The helmet, the armor, the blades & the code... Everything about the samurai is intriguing. Artists especially, amateur & pro have their imaginations ignited by this ancient Japanese warrior.

   I've assembled 40 of my favorite bushi from 40 brilliant artists creating traditional & historically accurate samurai, pop remixed ronin, sci-fi shizoku, sexy onna-bugeisha & abstract yakuza.

Yuta Onoda (Japan)  Facebook - Twitter

---

HAIKU: Samurai Spirit

Pure controlled motion

Restless pen, ink flows like blood

Soul of Bushido

---

Aditya Permadi aka Subjektzero (Indonesia)

Facebook - SHOP

ART: Korean Basketball Illustrated by Kim Minsuk

MinSuk Kim (김민석) - (13 works)

Facebook  -  Behance

   There's been a lot of basketball over the last 2 months & with the NBA Finals about the begin I wanted to present a different perspective through the incredible work of Korean illustrator, CEO & instructor, MinSuk Kim (김민석).

   Kim MinSuk aka Kwang33 is one of the leading sports illustrators in Korea. He designs for several sports organizations, magazines & international clients. He has worked 10 years as the lead designer for the Korean magazine, "Rookie" which covers the NBA. He illustrates for the Korean Basketball League as well as Jumpball magazine which covers the KBL. He shares many of his designs on his Facebook page NBA Illustration.

ART: Rudcef - Tear Away Faces

Rudcef  -  (21 Images)

Web  -  Facebook  -  Twitter  -  SHOP

    South Korean Illustrator Rudcef uses his art to connect with people & overcome social anxiety. He was majoring in statistics when the death of a family member caused him to reevaluate life & pursue a career in art. He has done many celebrity portraits, such as A$AP Yams & Rocky, Lana Del Rey, & Kendall Jenner.

HAIKU Art Review: Rudcef

Dark pigments align 
Sick artistic autopsy
Faces tear away 

   I draw for “compathy” - sharing my feelings via art to fill the absence of communication in my life. All humans appear different, but we have the same organs, so for me anatomy represents our genuine being.

ART: Jie Van - Dreamy Fairytale Worlds

Jie Van (羯梵) - (19 Images)

Web  -  Facebook  -  Tumblr  -  SHOP

   Taiwanese illustrator & painter Jie Van (羯梵) creates art that looks like pages from fantastic children’s story books. Balancing bold colors & strong textures, she walks a tightrope between gaudy & gorgeous. She combines immense skill & detail with vigorous youthful charm.

HAIKU Art Review: Jie Van

Dreamy Fairytales
Colorful storybook pages
Thickly textured worlds