Ghost
Girl : The drawing started
out with the idea of drawing a common Chinese and Korean weaving pattern and
tassles as an outfit. I spent the most time just getting the weaving pattern
right.
When I was finished I felt the girl looked a little otherworldly with the flaring loops so she took me in a supernatural direction. I often have a good concept of the drawing before I start, although sometimes I'll add a lot of ideas during the pencilling stage, like this one.
Decorative tassles (sool) hang from ornamental macrame (norigae) and are found on hanboks and in households alike. The braiding is similar to the Chinese style with certain differences.
The ribbons on her hat say "yu ryang" and "kyu shin," both Korean words for "ghost" (according to my little dictionary).
The poles on her back are totems that used to be placed in villages to represent the Guardian of Earth (left) and the Guardian of Heaven (right). The ghost girl occupies that intersection.
In her left hand is a thatched Korean egg crib, occupied by heads instead, wearing Korean dance masks.
The wicker basket she stands in was what Korean women used to carry around when leaving the house in the old days, like a huge purse. I kind of like the idea of her hat being the lid to the basket, as if she could emerge from it like a genie in a bottle or a spirit from Pandora's Box.
Her would-be razor blade rimmed hat (a la Oddjob in the movie Goldfinger or Kung Lao in the game Mortal Kombat 2) is a typical Korean broad brimmed style, called a "gaht." There's a Korean expression that goes,
"Put on your gaht (hat) and await your doom."
It's supposed to mean that your hat bares your self and standing to the world. ... Right.
I experimented with more painting techniques in this one, using more white and grey mixes.