Reading into Japanese Art and History
So that I can create an accurate and thorough character, I researched further into Japanese art and art history. This helped give insight into character creation, as some of the myths I read about gave backstories, which I think could be helpful when trying to create a story for my Fujin character. It will also give me more context as to what is correct and acceptable withint the realm I am trying to design for.
H, Batterson Boger. The Traditional Arts of Japan (1964) London: Allen and Company
Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology. (1959) London: Paul Hamlyn Limited
J Auboyer, M Beurdeley, J Boisselier, H Rousset Oriental Art, A Handbook of Styles and Forms. (1979) Switzerland: Faber and Faber Limited
H Munsterberg The Arts of Japan, an Illustrated History. (1957) London: Thames and Hudson
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I came across this book quite late in my research, but found that there are many more Japanese deities than I'd previously come across in my research. Looking at the deity of Fujiyama (Sengen-Sama), she looks quite human-like, and therefore may be a good character to base my second makeup on, as she wouldn't require any prosthetics, but maybe quite ethereal hair and makeup to make her look slightly beyond human and give her an eleviated status.
Shinatsuhiko is another name for Fujin, as is Shinatobe (which may have in fact been the name for a female partner to Fujin).
This text explains to origin or Fujin and how he was created by Izanagi, who created many islands and deities with his sister and spouse, Izanami.
The Nihon Shoki is the second oldest book of Japanese history and translated means 'Japanes Chronicles' or 'The Chronicles of Japan'. It begins with the Japanese creation myth, which is where the Fujin is introduced.
I couldn't find a specific story detailing accounts of the Fujin, but it is mentioned here that fisherman and sailors are fervent worshippers of the lesser wind gods, so I imagine that they would also prey to Fujin. This could influence my design and plot concerning my interacting character.
This is another image I managed to find of Fujin from the Kamakura period (1185 - 1333). Although there isn't a lot of detail, I think he looks a lot more humanistic in this image. His eyebrows are quite pronounced and his hair seems curly and raised like in other images. He appears again with the bag of air and seems to be wearing some kind of shawl.
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I feel like these images of sculptures and Gods give me a more well-rounded idea of how to approach my design. Also the poses show good ideas for movement and how to portray the Fujin.
This book had many images depicting scenes from legends, images of masks, and images of powerful looking statues which I think could inspire my Fujin. I also like the look of the girls in the paintings. To westerners, I think they just look like geishas, but they are in fact usually upper class/wealthy girls. I think this could be a good starting point for my interacting character for the Fujin. Some kind of beautiful girl could be sent to him as a sacrafice....etc.
J Auboyer, M Beurdeley, J Boisselier, H Rousset Oriental Art, A Handbook of Styles and Forms. (1979) Switzerland: Faber and Faber Limited
Legends in Japanese Art
This book was the most resourceful that I found, although I didn't illustrate quite enough pictures, in my opinion.
I found a detailed description of the Fujin, which has led me to consider more options within his design. "The head of a demon", shows that I have made the right choice by bringing oni influences into the design, as oni are bascially demons/devils. I will leave his feet out od the design, but I do like the idea of creating some kind of hand prosthetics to create a more claw-like appearance.
I also read that there are many games in Japanese mythology, which I thought might be an interesting aspect to the story between the two characters and could bring some traditional mythology into my interpreted, updated context. I thought that maybe the girl and Fujin could play some kind of game and if she wins then he won't destroy Japan etc.
There were also many images of masks, which could influence my facial design for Fujin.
I read about the art periods in Japan trying to find mention of deities and Gods. It seems the Fujin would've been 'created' before the 5th century, before Buddhism. As I am interpreting the Fujin in my own way, I'm not going to base my design of him from a specific art movement.
The book also had another image of Fujin, looking skinnier than I've seen him previously. This image gives good inspiration for the hair, as it clearly depicts shape, size and direction. However, I still don't think that using real hair to create the effect would be a good idea, as I want to create a statue effect, and real hair would shatter that illusion.
Primary Research
Having been lucky enough to go to Japan last year, I have some first hand images of some of the statues and buildings.
I'm still unsure as to exactly what kind of texture and form the Fujin is going to take. I know what I want him to look like, but i'm not sure whether to paint him like the traditional colours i've seen him looking like, whether to interpret him more as a human (as my film research would influence). My favourite idea so far, is to have him as either a wooden or stone statue that re-awakens, although I think that could be quite difficult to do, but it does give me a lot of opportunities with prosthetics, painting and textures.
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