Sharp enough to cut through silk that’s been dropped over it, and can shatter blade and bone alike. Designed to slice in one motion from the moment it exits its sheath. The curve streamlines the blade’s edge, so the wielder can draw and strike swiftly, almost simultaneously, because of which the katana is lightning-quick. Scarcely is the blade drawn when the opponent must block the strike or be struck down.
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Samurai Sword
w42” x h29”, acrylic on canvas, 2019
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#katana #uchigatana #odachi #nodachi #tachi #samuraisword #samuraiswords #swordart #hamon #japanesesword #samurai #sword #katanasword #blade #blades #knives #japanesehistory #martialarts #sworddesign #samuraiart #刀 #acryliconcanvas #painting #japaneseart #japaneseblade
I made this with my own distinct hamon, or blade pattern, using my signature geometric style and brushstroke. Required a lot of precision and focus to place the tiny sections next to each other. Blade length is 31 inches (78.74cm), or in traditional Japanese measurements, 2 shaku 5 sun 9 bu.
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Palette is brilliant yellow green, lemon yellow, white, olive green, sap green, payne’s grey, and their combinations.
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Samurai Sword
w42” x h29”, acrylic on canvas, 2019
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#katana #uchigatana #odachi #nodachi #tachi #samuraisword #samuraiswords #swordart #hamon #japanesesword #samurai #sword #katanasword #blade #blades #knives #japanesehistory #martialarts #sworddesign #samuraiart #刀 #minimalistart #curvedsword #swordpainting
A katana is a Japanese long, curved sword used by samurai warriors. A traditional katana is made of a type of high carbon steel called tamahagane, which is made by smelting a type of Japanese iron ore, called iron sand, in a large furnace called a tatara.
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The tamahagane then undergoes an immensely complicated process involving heating, cooling, thereby removing impurities by bringing them to the surface, then folding the billet over on itself dozens of times creating more than a thousand layers in the cross section of the blade. Technically, these swords are made of iron that has never melted, allowing the craftsman to heat and cool to shape before the hardening process.
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Yaki-ire (hardening process) changes the molecular structure of the blade steel and gives the border a patterned sharp edge, shown as Hamon. As far as I’m aware, there is no other art form based on the chemical change of steel. This is also the point where the sword is given its distinctive curve, heated and rapidly cooled by water, and the process the katana is said to be infused with soul.
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Samurai Sword
w42” x h29”, acrylic on canvas, 2019
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#katana #uchigatana #odachi #nodachi #tachi #samuraisword #samuraiswords #swordart #hamon #japanesesword #samurai #sword #katanasword #blade #blades #knives #japanesehistory #martialarts #sworddesign #samuraiart #刀
Legacy
w23” x h33”, acrylic on canvas, 2019
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The blue is custom, what I like to call Electric Blue, my favourite, but based on cerulean blue. The gold is paler, a pale gold compared to the bronze gold of ‘Heritage’, and much trickier than you might expect of getting onto canvas. Took multiple passes to get the desired consistency and texture.
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#abdullahkhan #colorfieldpaintings #contemporarypainting #zenpaintings #goldpaintings #acryliconcanvas #colorfields #palegold #electricblue #modernartist #abstractexpressionist #minimalistart #minimalism #fineart
In 2016 I created ‘Heritage’, partially from my subconscious, and shortly after in the January of 2017, I happened to visit the National Gallery of Modern Art in Bangalore. Bear in mind I had just stepped into painting, just a year in, and what follows is one of those moments that really cemented the notion that painting was to be my vocation, a lifelong pursuit.
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What I saw, amongst a collection by a Japanese Zen master painter whose name now eludes me, a painting near identical to what I had visualised and created with Heritage just a few months prior. Mine was red and gold, rendered with a crisp line as is my style. This one, however, was blue and gold and painted freehand with multiple layers, of course. And it shared the line, and the entire composition and execution, and except the one primary colour choice it was identical. I was stunned.
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I wanted to immediately whip out my phone and take a picture, but this is one of those galleries where photography is strictly prohibited and security was circling me like hawks, but I just had to capture this moment. And if you swipe, you can see it for yourselves too.
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I never found out who that Zen master painter was. But as far as I was concerned, this was it. That sign we all look for, staring back at me in paint and canvas. This would be my contribution to the world. I give you, my legacy.
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Legacy
w23” x h33”, acrylic on canvas, 2019
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#abdullahkhan #colorfieldpainting #contemporaryart #zenpainting #goldpainting #art #colorfield #palegold #electricblue #modernart #abstractexpressionism
Acrylic palette consists of raw umber, burnt umber, naples yellow, with added grey and unbleached titanium for the background, along with various contaminations of other hues. These colours are distributed in a gradient based on 2 light sources. It appears tense, crouching at the entrance to a cave, lit by the sunlight behind, and a smaller, warmer fire inside the cave. One of my widest pieces at just over 2 meters wide.
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Cave Lion
w81” x h36”, acrylic on canvas, 2019
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• Sold
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#cavelion #cavepainting #lion #art #painting #pantheraspelaea #pleistocene #prehistoricmammals #cubism #minimalism #minimalistart #minimalartist #modernart #contemporaryart #bigcats #bigcatsindia #artasia #indianartist #acryliconcanvas #largepaintings #wallart #interiorart #artforinteriors #theartling #singulart #emergingart #cubistart
Cave Lion
w81” x h36”, acrylic on canvas, 2019
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• Sold
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Cave lions had rounded, protruding ears, tufted tails, and that at least some had a "ruff" or primitive mane around their neck, indicating males. Their body color possibly varied from a ochre-tinted gray to dark ochre brown on the upper parts of the body, while the rest of the coat was light brown.
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#cavelion #cavepainting #lion #art #painting #pantheraspelaea #pleistocene #prehistoricmammals #cubism #minimalism #minimalistart #minimalartist #modernart #contemporaryart #bigcats #bigcatsindia #artasia #indianartist #acryliconcanvas #largepaintings #wallart #interiorart #artforinteriors #theartling #singulart #emergingart #cubistpainting #ussayd
A young cave lion, male, drawn to scale. These have been extinct for thousands of years, and I was simply fascinated by their size and beauty. They were one of the largest species of lion to have ever lived, and because of not only fossils, but also depictions of the cave lions in prehistoric cave paintings, it has been possible to recreate what the animal looked like. Weeks of research went into studying the appearance and context to be able to create an accurate depiction and mannerism of this animal.
Cave Lion
w81” x h36”, acrylic on canvas, 2019
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• Sold
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#cavelion #cavepainting #lion #artwork #painting #pantheraspelaea #pleistocene #prehistoricmammals #cubism #minimalism #minimalistart #minimalartist #modernartwork #contemporaryart #bigcats #bigcatsindia #artasia #indianartist #acryliconcanvas #largepaintings #wallart #interiorart #artforinteriors #theartling #singulart #emergingart #cubistpainting #umber #ochre
Consonance.
Morning light.
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w26” x h38”, acrylic on canvas
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Made on the concept of consonance, the blend of non-contradictory ideas to form a more complex, coherent whole. Just like musical notes interfering or in harmony, consonance attempts to capture the true spirit of collaboration found in consonance, or resonance, where the waves instead of interfering or cancelling each other out, are in sync together and amplify each other instead. Relevant because it applies to ideas, how they interact with people, and their actualisation into reality. We’ve all experienced this when things just ‘click’ when working on something or with someone. Things just start out well, and bring dividends. Consonance in the brain, rather than dissonance, is a powerful thing. It leads to flow states.
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#consonance #minimalism #geometrics #geometricart #geometricalart #geometricpanting #geometryartist #geometricartists #geometricalforms #opticalart #abstractgeometric #geometricabstraction #hardedgepainting #art #artwork #hyderabadart #abdullahkhan #artasia #conceptualabstract #studioview #artistlife #silverpainting #acrylicabstract #acryliconcanvas #artforinteriors #interiorart #studiowall #modernartist
