Description: Aoki Shigeru, Paradise under the Sea

 This is an oil painting on canvas of an ancient Japanese legend. The composition shows three figures in an implied triangular shape. The figures were painted with a lot of detail in the fabric and the draping of the fabric. The brushstrokes are lightly painted and look very effortless. The technique he used in painting the fabric looks like the figure was dipped in water to make the cloth form to the women's bodies. The tree the male figure is sitting on looks as though each leaf and branch was made one brush stroke at a time.

He used a good mixture of cool and warm colors in this painting to show some warmth and also to show the depth of the water. The tree is made up of mostly earthy green colors while the women's clothes are painted with some warmer pastel colors and were painted to look slightly transparent. He even painted the figures faces with rosy cheeks to make them look more lifelike. The male figure also includes shadows and highlights on his face and body. He used a warm yellow color to draw the eye to the male figures face and made it look like a halo of light surrounding him.

Picture:  http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aoki_Shigeru_-_Paradise_Under_the_Sea.jpg

References: Kampen-O'Riley, Michael."Japan and Korea." Art beyond the West: The Arts of Africa, India and Southeast Asia, China, Japan and Korea, the Pacific, and the Americas. New York: H.N. Abrams, 2002. 243. Print.