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Press Release

The Six Arts of Gentlemen Illustration

A' Design Award 2025 Bronze Winner in Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design

21 April 2025

The Six Arts of Gentlemen Illustration by Zhang Yuqi
The Six Arts of Gentlemen Illustration by Zhang Yuqi
The Six Arts of Gentlemen Illustration by Zhang Yuqi
The Six Arts of Gentlemen Illustration by Zhang Yuqi
The Six Arts of Gentlemen Illustration by Zhang Yuqi

Zhang Yuqi · CLIENT: Northeastern University of China

The Six Arts of Gentlemen is an illustration series based on the six arts of ancient China: ritual, music, archery, chariot skills, calligraphy and mathematics. The illustration presents these traditional educational subjects through character figures drawn in a new Chinese style. The work is created with digital painting software, using brush, airbrush and gradient tools to render light, shadow and texture. Traditional graphic motifs are added to detail expressions and eyes. The intent is to link traditional culture with digital art.

Press Kit

Unique Properties
From the aspect of cultural heritage and cultural innovation, it deeply excavates the six arts of traditional Chinese culture, presents the educational culture of the six arts with specific and innovative design, and closely integrates with modern characteristics, so that traditional culture radiates new vitality in the context of the new era, and promotes the integration and development of digital art and traditional culture.
Dimensions & Packaging
Width 3600 pixels Depth 3600 pixels
Tags
Illustration, Traditional, six arts, Culture, China
Production Technology
Decide on a theme and style, gather footage and sketch it, open a drawing software such as Photoshop to draw a line drawing, then lay out the base color and gradually paint the details, and add light, shadow, texture and other details to optimize the color.
Design Challenge
The new Chinese illustration style is a dialogue between tradition and modernity, integrating modern design concepts and expression techniques on the basis of retaining traditional painting skills and aesthetic taste. Outline the IP image with delicate lines. Combined with the composition principles of modern graphic design, the IP image is not only rich in traditional cultural heritage, but also meets the aesthetic needs of contemporary people.
Project Duration
Launching in China in 2024.
Operation Flow
Use the photoshop tool to sketch on a new layer to determine the silhouette, pose, and composition of the characters. Use the brush tool to sketch along the pattern and adjust the brush parameters to express line variations. and use brushes, airbrushes, and gradient tools for transition rendering to render light, shadows, and textures. Add traditional graphic footage to the appropriate location to depict details such as expressions and eyes.
Research
The six ancient arts of ritual, music, archery, car, calligraphy and mathematics carry the cultural genes and spiritual core of the Chinese nation. They not only build a solid framework for traditional education, but also have a profound impact on the development of Chinese society. The design is based on the admiration and inheritance of this rich cultural heritage.
Inspiration
The six major arts of ancient China, rituals, music, archery, chariot skills, calligraphy, and mathematics. It carries the cultural genes and spiritual essence of the Chinese nation and has profoundly influenced the development of Chinese society. This illustration is based on the admiration and inheritance of this rich cultural heritage.
Image Credits
Image #1 Illustration Zhang Yuqi 2024.
Image #2 Illustration Zhang Yuqi 2024.
Image #3 Illustration Zhang Yuqi 2024.
Image #4 Illustration Zhang Yuqi 2024.
Image #5 Illustration Zhang Yuqi 2024.
Patents
Zhang Yuqi.2024

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