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JessicaMDouglas β K'i-Lin
Published: 2004-10-15 00:45:17 +0000 UTC; Views: 7661; Favourites: 244; Downloads: 2140
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Original: SoldPrints: Limited Edition still available.
The K'i-Lin, in china. Also known as the Kirin in Japan....
I'd like to say something here... This image was sparked after several people told me things like... "A dragon can't have hair or feathers. A unicorn can't have horse hooves or a curved horn. A naga-type creature can't have six arms." etc.
This is fantasy. The wonderful thing about fantasy is that you can make whatever you feel like making. So... with that in mind... I sat down and researched the K'i-lin. I didn't look at any other artist's rendition of this creature... I simply read page after page after page of descriptions on K'i-lin. Then I drew what my mind's eye told me. This is what *I* see when I think of the K'i-Lin. This is *my* interpretation of the words I read about a mythical (to some) creature.
I'll be doing an entire series... focused mostly on different culture's take on unicorns right now, since my researches lead me in some... interesting directions. Expect the unexpected...
But what I am trying to say is this: Please, take a little time to think before you say that something "can't be". Keep in mind that each time you say that, you are working to surpress an artist's creativity a little more... until they no longer want to express themselves through art. Unfortunately for all the people who have told me I "can't" do something.... I'm afraid that I don't listen very well. Sorry.
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Comments: 236
Amen to that! I like this, but I totally agree with you, and appluade you. Fantasy is of your own design, no matter how many times people have followed similar paths. Keep it up! ^_^
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Thank you very much!
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omg this is one of my favorite mythical creatures, and I love your interpretation of it, well done!
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Thank you very much
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that is so strange..and cool looking..O:
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Very nice job. Fantastical job! 
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Wow! This picture is absolutely gorgeous! 
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Geez, I can't believe that you got so much flak from people regarding what a fantasy creature should or shouldn't look like. I mean, that's why it's *fantasy*, right? Man, some people are so narrow-minded, they could look through a keyhole with both eyes...
Anyway, I think that this is a great drawing. Beautiful detail and I especially love the way you did the hair. The scroll is a very fitting backdrop. The only thing that I think may need changing (but only perhaps in a future drawing), is the structure of the legs. The raised leg on the standing unicorn looks a little spindly and floppy. A few more straight lines would help to cure this, I think, and would also make it a little more solid. But 'tis a small thing. Otherwise, it's a beautiful drawing!
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*laughs* it happens all the time, people like to have their fantasy rigidly structured. And I completely agree with you about their bodies. Hence the reason I'm not too fond of this pic. Ah well, I've got a couple of others in the works that'll be better.
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My first thought was not "can't be" rather, it was "what fantastic looking creatures!" You are damn creative!! I think you did a wonderful job on your interpretation. I say that not knowing anything about the creature. Do you have any links to information so that I could learn more about them?
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Im sorry I took so long. Here's a bunch of links, whatever I could find randomly on the net. Some are the references I used, some are just... cool things I found now that I wish I'd found when I started this *grin*
[link]
[link]
[link]
[link]
[link]
[link]
[link]
*phew* okay, there are a few. You can also look up qi-lin, qi'lin, kirin, and ki'lin on the net to get more links. Though some of them (kirin to be exact) will take you to the japanese unicorn, rather than the chinese. They're very similar though and are often interchanged.
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i have to say my favorite part is the scroll in the bg.. its stunning... i love the pic in its entirety too. just the scroll stands out.. a lot
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The colours of the manes are simply jumping at the viewers... And the bamboo on the scroll behind is so perfect, it immediately makes me think of the tea ritual for some reason 
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kirinkirin! ohhh! you make me happy! I love the airy flow, it gives it a real asain feel! ^-^
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that;s great and all...but i'm not quite sure what a Ki Lin is...:S
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There is no word that I can even imagine to think of that could describe how amazingly beautiful this picture is. Amazing work! +fav!
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bravo 
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ooaaaah
Heehee...there's even a horned hyena type creature that's Africa's unicorn. Cant wait to see where this goes.
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hiya hun 
see ya around!
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Gorgeous. I totally love what you said about the fantasy thing! You're 100% right! ^_^ Good job.
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I think this is really beautiful! And I completely agree with your comments! I don't believe in using the word "can't" in real life - why ever would anyone use it pertaining to art?
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Whoah, holy frick O___O! This is soooo awesome, I love all the detail 
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Who's to say what CAN or CANNOT be done with a mythical creature?
For the love of all things good and spiffy, NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN ONE OF THESE THINGS! It's not like there are photographs floating around of a carbuncle, or a hippogryph, or a unicorn, or a yaun ti, or ANYTHING out of a legend or a fantastical story. That means, every other picture in existence of ANY of these things are simply the conjectured imaginings of an artist who read that discription, and saw that beast in their minds eye, and drew what they saw. Other pictures drawn before, just because they might have similarities to each other, do NOT equal set laws about what that creature has to look like.
People were actually bitching about how a naga can't have arms? Well, maybe not in the traditional sense, no... but WHO CARES. Jeez, if nothing else, they could just chalk it up as a merelith and go on their merry way...
Er... sorry for ranting, but I'm fresh from EW and tons of comments about how I draw elves (MORE MYTHICAL CREATURES OMGWTF) "wrong."
Anyways, this picture is magnificent @_@ I always liked Kirins (more than unicorns, personally)... they're so variable. I've seen versions with antlers, versions with horns on their foreheads, versions with horns on their noses, versions with scales, versions with manes, versions with a zebra's brush, ones that look like deer, ones that look like horses, ones that have cloven hooves... and not one of those versions is THE true version β they can be whatever you want them to be. Your depiction of them is brilliant. The iridescence of their hair and scales especially stand out to me... and I love the minimalistic background.
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I'm a sucker for Asian styling of creatures. I absolutely love this.
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Ah, a pleasure ot behold.
There are so many interpretations of the Qilin, that over the span of the long long history of China, hardly anyone can claim that a certain one is the definitive, Qilin.
I look forward to seeing your series of such.
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right on! never let any one tell you your creative instinct is wrong
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The mane on these creatures strikes me as 'odd', not in a bad way at all, but a different style to what you usually use and the rest of the image. It works very well though I must say and gives the hair a very loose, liquid feel to it, also reminds me of the Chinese (Japanese, maybe, please excuse my ignorance) waterscapes (which is very fitting really).
Sorry to go off on a rant hereβ¦
I really don't understand the lack of acceptance of fantasy art and you have highlighted a nasty pet hate of mine, the words "can't be" should not be known to the fantasist. I would challenge them to show me a unicorn in the zoo, or maybe a dragon in the local duck pond, then standards maybe set for how to draw them.
Fantasy is what it is, a dream, a nightmare, a flight of fancy, how the artist brings life to their imagination, there are no rules to it, the fact that there could be is simple diabolical. But to me the same goes with the rest of art, there's no rules unless the artists themselves has set them, and even then they are there to be broken.
Sorry again, I'm off my soapbox now.
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They're amazing! I love the scroll in the back, really shows the Asian influence.
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Those that say things "can't be" are truly annoying. People without imagination are useless as far as I'm concerned--but I digress. At least they can be ground into nutritious paste if we run out of food.
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I totally agree with you, dear.
People need to judge not on subject matter, but on effort, creativity, and uniqueness. People need to open their eyes.
Anywho... This is a gorgeous piece! I absolutely love the colors, they compliment eachother so well. And the simple yet perfect background, the scroll, especially caught my eye. Excellent piece, as always.
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Whoa, these are amazing animals!
Gorgeous job on the scales. and I love the waving hair!
Stunning.
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The scales are simply amazing. I find myself studying this picture, trying to figure out just how you did them. So much detail! You must have the paitience of a saint. The hair is likewise gorgeous.
I know what you mean with people being "strict" about fantasy. I had someone tell me that I couldn't have gryphons that weren't strictly the lion-eagle cross and call them "gryphons," for my fantasy novel. I did wind up changing the species names of all the gryphon-varients in my story, and I like their new names better, but... I still worry that my work is not going to be accepted by the larger portion of fantasy fans just because I HAVE gryphon-varients and not just "real" gryphons.
From what I've seen and read of Kirins... your Kirins - to me, are Kirins! Unmistakable! I've seen sculptures of them where they were a little chunkier, given split-hooves, hard more hair, ect - but those are all vairients, whatever peoples' imaginations have told them that Kirins are.
According to my favorite manga (Petshop of Horrors), the Kirin chooses its own master to bestow great power on. The Kirin can make a person the ruler of the world if it chooses. The price of this power, however, is always paid in the blood of others. The Kirin in that story in the manga ("Dual"), part of the time, appeared as a creepy little Chinese girl with lots of jewelry. Hee.
As with any fantasy creature... how it's "supposed" to be drawn - it depends on if you're going from your imagination or if you are illustrating something. I mean, if you are illustrating Peter S. Beagle's novel, "The Last Unicorn," you need to make the unicorn have split hooves, because that is how the author described her. However, it does not mean that ALL unicorns have split hooves. Another story might have unicorns with horse hooves. If you're drawing just from your imagination, draw a creature however you want!
Some fantasy fans can be overly stuck-up, in my opinion. Keep drawing as you want!
(I've seen others draw dragons with feathers. It's not "wrong.")
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I was told the same thing about my own KiLin drawing [link]
That it shouldn't look the way I imagined it, and put it down on paper.
Well, yours are very neat, and so very tall :3
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Imust say thisis one of my favorite of your drawings. The ahir is so gorgeous and I love the scroll in the background. 
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Yeah, it's sad there are a lot of close-minded people out there who cannot accept that others have different interpretations of existing creatures.
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Oh.. well..
they're soo.. weird..
anyway great technique.. as always!
I do especially love the paper in the background
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This is a lovely rendition of one of the most fascinating mythological creatures that has ever sprung into the collective consciousness of a culture.
~ Sleepwalking-Dreamer
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bloody beautiful
and to all those people out there who say you 'can't', may I quote Mr Blake (the best poet of all time):
'He who mocks the Infant's Faith
Shall be mock'd in Age & Death.
He who shall teach the Child to Doubt
The rotting Grave shall ne'er get out.'
'He who replies to words of Doubt
Doth put the Light of Knowledge out.'
...hehe sorry I got carried away
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