06 November 2008

The Sea Turtles

Turtle

The millions of Chinese citizens who study in the west and then return to China are called "Hai Gui" or "Sea Turtles." In a recent column, New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof wrote of the Hai Gui, "The biggest force for democratization isn’t the Group of 7 governments, but is the millions of Chinese who study in the West and return — sometimes with green cards or blue passports, but always with greater expectations of freedom." I wanted to include a Hai Gui in my little tableau of life inside China. I think of these insects, flowers and birds as a depiction of the wild and unregulated communist-style capitalism that is developing in China.

Here's how this area of the print developed:

MoreColor
I added a few more spot colors first

LinesCarved
Carved out the linework on the same block

Linework
And printed the linework in a dark brown

3 comments:

d. moll, l.ac. said...

Hai Gui looks great, I like the brown line work, too.....

Ellen Shipley said...

Love this. He looks like a happy turtle too. Gorgeous work.

Sharri said...

And, I love that happy little frog!