On Instagram, the artist Senju Shunga emphasizes the difficulty of designing the Japanese dragon in irezumi (the traditional Japanese tattoo). It is a challenge to get all the different elements right. If one part is designed in a sloppy way, the whole thing falls apart. He has designed numerous dragons in his twenty year career in irezumi and the last one is always the best because of the accumulated expertise.
The Golden Dragon
His latest piece entitled ‘Kinryu (Golden Dragon)‘ features his latest dragon. Senju: ‘The Golden dragon ascending is a very auspicious motif, and not possible to tattoo in the way I have chosen to design it for the anonymous woman wearing it in my painting.’ Although his influence is rooted in Japanese culture and art, and a big fan of simpler, more energetic artists and styles, he himself includes lot of details in his paintings.
Shorter Hair-Due
The first image below is of the painting in the early stage with the prepared detailed linework already in place. It’s interesting to see that Senju initially planned a shorter hair-due for the female figure.
Painting in progress
‘Kinryu (Golden Dragon)‘ (1 March 2021)
Close-up detail of the woman’s back
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Kinryu is available in a print edition in the artist’s gallery…!!
What do you think of Senju’s latest piece? Leave your reaction in the comment box below…!!
