Oamul is a very talented Chinese artist I discovered during one of my explorations of the interwebs, looking for fellow cats (notice the 猫 character in his name?). You may not have heard of him, but this Chinese New Year Google Doodle might look familiar to you. Yup, he drew that. Nice, huh?

Not just one Spring in Chinese, but six!

Rather than just drawing one illustration, Oamul decided to draw 6 animated illustrations for Spring. Why 6 you ask? Well, it’s not because he just had a lot of inspiraton and trouble deciding which one he liked best :p There’s a very logical reason for this.

24 solar terms

In Ancient China (and throughout Asia), a calendar was devised based on observations of astronomical (such as an equinox) and natural phenomenons (such as when insects start to awaken from the winter frost). This calendar is called the 24 solar terms. It was used to guide farm work, so each solar term has a pretty down to earth description.

Since there are 6 terms for each season, Oamul drew 6 illustrations, each depicting one of those Spring terms.

This is also why it doesn’t say 春天 on the first picture.

Had you noticed that?

Once 立春 and spring has begun, then snow turns into rain.

Then the insects awaken.

After the equinox, it’s all bright and clear out.

During this solar term, the Pure Brightness festival takes place. It’s also known as the Tomb Sweeping festival, as one of the key traditions is to visit your ancestors and sweep their tombs.

Once it’s all bright and clear, grains start to “rain”.

And then once this last solar term, summer starts! What a nice way to describe the different phases the world goes through in Spring, don’t you agree?

Note: Date-wise, these solar Terms are a little over a month ahead of us. So, while it only begins today for us, it started in February according to the Solar Terms. The only time they actually correspond is today, as it’s the Spring Equinox, in addition to being the first day of Spring.

Enjoy the sunshine!

The Nincha Team

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For Batman cat, Mario cat and more sweet pop cats, check out the “Iconic Cats” Collection by Shanghai-based illustrator A Ke!

I don’t know why but I could love see a movie based on these cats! They are cute; well design and hillarius. You must check it out.

The Pop Cat King and his friends

A Ke has made reaaly funny pics with pop culture star turned into cat. We also made a gallery with more picture of pop cat. You will find it at the start of this article.

Here’s what some of these iconic cats are called in Chinese.

•  The pop cat 猫王 Māo wáng  : Elvis Presley

Notice Elvis’ name in Chinese? It means the Cat King! So this Chinese Elvis Prescat is spot-on!

• 达斯·维达 Dá sī·wéi dá – Darth Vader

• 马里奥 Mǎlǐ ào Mario, as in “It’s me Mario!”

• 李小龙 Lixiǎolóng is Bruce Lee’s Chinese name, his birthname is Cantonese and is: 李振藩 Lee Jun-fan.

• 财神 Cáishén aka 招财猫 Zhāo cái māo the lucky cat!

See up to this article for the gallery  :

But where is Lupishu cat?

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Jian Guo – A Chinese artist’s take on virtual and sci-fi world

For good reason too, as his rather unique representations of their worlds really stand out. See what I mean?

Gates of Argonath

Deep into Moria

More than simply beautiful illustrations, Jian Guo – 郭建  in Chinese –  reinterprets his favorite fantasy worlds in a style reminiscent of stained glass. He is one of the best Chinese artist of today Sci-FI themes.

Quite impressively, he manages to sum up an entire chapter of Lord of the Rings in a single picture! For instance, look closely at the picture above of the passage in Khazad-dûm, the city of dwarves. From the mines’ entrance to the pursuit of goblins, the appearance of the Balrog and Gandalf’s sacrifice, everything is portrayed! The key moments to depict are carefully selected, all the characters are present, the rendering is rich in details and his use of colors is outstanding.

From Lord of the Rings to World of Warcraft

Jian Guo doesn’t only draw Tolkien’s universe. He also seems to love Blizzard games,  especially World of Warcraft, games that I happen to be fascinated by too!

Chaos of Blizzard

See how Jian Guo decided to represent Blizzard Universes’ most important figures? They might look different but he definitely manages to keep their legendary charisma intact! I prefer Jaina Proudmoore, how about you?

Palace of guardian: Ulduar

This illustration of the different Ulduar bosses is stunning. The hierarchy between the different bosses is perfectly respected and once again, the colors are impressive. I love Kologarn and General Vezax. Boy, does it bring back a lot of good memories!

Excellent traditional artwork, too!

Jian Guo’s style isn’t limited to this Stained Glass technique. He can also produce more traditional-style artwork; which remain nonetheless very impressive:

Fallen Ulduar

This version of Ulduar isn’t bad either, don’t you think? ^^

Eclipse – I have a big crush on this one!

All these are just a few samples of the Chinese artist Mr. Jian Guo’s impressive gallery. Do go check out all his other works, you won’t be disappointed!

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Yang Liu, a Chinese designer currently living in Germany, proceeded to do just that in her book East vs West (buy the book). See more pictographs after the jump!

East vs West explained

Expressing opinion: East vs West

Sundays on the street: East vs West

Are you more a fan of big crowds or calm moments on your own? Take your pick!

The boss

Are the pictographs a bit clichées? Sure, and the book favors the German way of thinking (as the author lives there!)… but the book is still quite entertaining!  To see more East. vs West pictographs, head to Bored Panda!

A similar method was used more recently to contrast Paris and New York. If you’ve never seen this book either, check it out!

The Nincha Team

Ninchanese is a new platform where you’ll have fun learning Chinese. Stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google + and Weibo.

The post East vs West – one pictograph at a time appeared first on Ninchanese.