Oriental Interior Design 09 Range

So we've got another range for 2009, squeezed in at the end of 2008. This one is set to be hot for 2009, Oriental Sweetness is all about Eastern Inspired Art, Oriental themed decor & artwork. The full range of Oriental Art can seen here and also check out our Interior Design Trend that we produced earlier this year.

"Oriental Sweetness" is exactly what is says it is, Asian & Oriental influences, delicately combined to form a killer Eastern inspired Interior. Vintage floral Japanese textiles are key here, forming striking, yet subtle clean & simple shapes. The colour palette for Oriental Sweetness is all about strong vibrant colours like burgundy, deep reds and moody purples (see the striking Black Leaf Rose, left) which you can contrast with brighter tones for accents colours. Base colours can be made up from deep earthy colours. Remember, Bold is beautiful. As your colour base, we recommend off-whites to give a majority cover and some clean contrasting lines.

Oriental and Japanese floral designs have always been orientated around very minimal block colours and flat earthy tones to give a bold, simplistic image. In fact, Oriental art with it's minimal approach could be compared to Pop art, but centuries earlier. Simple shapes are the key focal point to a design, no detail is necessary with this simple yet very elegant & understated style. Stand out canvas art will also add a level of personal input. But think carefully about what you want.

Don't be shy here - accessorise with some really bold primary colours & try sourcing some interesting oriental side pieces. You might also consider some subtle metallic's. Chrome light switches and plug sockets highlight the subtle tones of whites and blacks. There are no limits to what you can do! If you want Oriental Decors, we recommend Recreated home furnishings made from Vintage Japanese Floral Textiles. You could also try certain Auction Sites for Oriental room accessories. For the ultimate, and if you fancy splashing out, we would recommend some reclaimed teak Chinese furniture. Vintage reclaimed Chinese furniture is big at the minute, watch it's emergence in 2009, we recon it's going to get bigger.

So, onto the art now.. Traditional Japanese colours are prevalent here. You are looking at stark primary colours - bold blues and brash reds - contrasted with earthy and textured backgrounds - Check the "Trad Japanese" Print (left) and Japanese Blossom (above) for the more authentic Oriental art.For more soft and delicate Oriental art, check the Oriental Sweetness beautiful brushed strokes and pastel tones, you might also want to check Eastern Stamens (right) for some classic floral art with vibrant almost citrus colours, with an Eastern twist.

Over the last 4 years at WHoArtNow we've really pushed Japanese Art in particular, seeing a niche market, but for 2009 we believe its only going to get more popular. Watch this space for more, 2009 is only around the corner now.. Feel free to subscribe to this news blog and as usual, hit us up if you would like any bespoke artwork or you have any briefs for us to work to.

New Manga Art Range

We are proud to present a brand new Manga Art Range that we have launched, all canvas art & prints are exclusive to WHoArtNow.

Manga, in case you didn't know, are hugely iconic cartoons & comics (They are known as komikku コミック), in Japanese and conforming to the defining & unique style that developed in Japan at the end of the 20th century. If you look back far enough, you can find Manga that date from just after World War II, but have a long & complex history in earlier Japanese Art.

Manga, literally translated, means "whimsical pictures". The word came into usage in the late 18th century with the publication of works like the Santō Kyōden's picturebook "Shiji no yukikai" (1798) & the hugely celebrated Hokusai manga. There a a various different theories about the origination of Manga comics, one of which is that when the US occupied Japan (1945–1952), Manga Art was influenced by U.S. cultural aspect, including U.S. comics brought to Japan by the US Army and by images & themes taken from U.S. television, cartoons & culture, like Disney for example.

The other other school of thought is that Manga is a direct continuity of Japanese cultural & traditions, which has been developing for thousands of years.

Which ever way of thinking is right, and who knows, it might be both, we at WHoArtNow don't really mind. It is great art and we love it - we love all things Japanese and Kitsch in fact. Manga is huge in Japan, enjoyed by people of all ages. It has a certain iconic status in the West too, the USA in particular. Manga are typically printed in black-and-white, although some full-color Manga exist. Our take on Manga Art has a bit of a twist on Modern Art, where we have re-drawn and re-created some sections of our favourite comic strips. Colours are bold, vibrant, and even garish in places. It's that whole Japanese, Full-on colour palette. Think Fluorescent Japanese washing power boxes on acid, and you're about half way there. There's no messing about with subtle colours or black and whites, it's Fluorescent Yellows, cerise pinks, on Black backgrounds like the Cerise design, and if you like it even brighter, check the Fluro Hentai design.

Having said that, there is a more subtly coloured piece of art we slipped in, and it's one of my favourites too. Komikkutu mixes two deep green tones to form the background with a chocolate brown / latte foreground. This wouldn't look out of place in most walls, it's subtly is the key here to a half way commercial piece of art.

As you may have noticed, a few of the designs are a little rude.! This is a certain type of Manga, aimed at adults, & called seijin ("adult," 成人) manga. These designs were able to come into fruition with a relaxation of censorship in Japan after the 90s, where a wide variety of explicitly drawn sexual themes appeared in manga, intended for male readership. And we at WHoArtNow decided to take advantage of this lack of censorship and design some ourselvess! jū hachi kin is just one of these designs. In Japan, sexually explicit material is often called "jū hachi kin" (18禁; prohibited for sale to persons under 18). So please do not try to make a purchase if you are under 18!

So that it for now, more bits of Manga art will be added as and when. As usual what this space by subscribing to this News blog if you want to keep informed on what Art we are putting out, and don't forget to check the new Manga Art range!

2009 Interior Trends: Oriental Sweetness

WhoArtNow: Interior Trends 2009

Oriental Sweetness:

After Woolmark has launched its new interior colour trends for 2009/10 at the start of the New Year, it looks like Japanese Inspired themes are going to be prevalent. It is still early days as far as interior predictions for 2009, but we are going to look into one of the trends that is looking hot for next year, Oriental Sweetness & produce a dedicated range of canvas art prints to compliment it.

It's all about the East: Asian & Oriental influences are key here. Look to vintage floral Japanese textiles for inspiration, simple and minimal shapes with striking colours.

The colour palettes for the 09 season features strong tones of red, purple and burgundy, contrasted with brighter shades or neutral tones in unlikely combinations. The base for all the colour palettes can be made up from Neutrals, white, brown and bark.

Japanese, Oriental florals are inherently simple in their form, one of the aspects that I love is the minimal block colour approach, it is like pop art, but pioneered hundreds of years early. If you look at Japanese & indeed a lot Asian art, it closely resembles what graphic design has now become in a CAD based world. Blocks of colour that would have been intricately painted with a watercolour brush is only now becoming a popular graphic design technique, thanks to Adobe Illustrator.

Simple, vector based shapes are the key focal point to a design, little or no tone is apparent or necessary.

To quote us from the inital 2009 trends forecast we did, "The use of floral images and light colours simplify things and help keep its grace. Look no further than our floral canvas art section, where Japanese & oriental florals have featured prominently for the last 4 years." And we mean it, we've been all over Japanese florals for years now, what better a time for it to come through than now, when we have tonnes of original artwork!

We are well and truly on the ball with this trend, already loving a Japanese inspired floral design makes it easy for us, as the passion for what we do is there.. So, we've currently designed a selection of brand new floral canvas art, you can see some of them featured on this news blog. The rest can be found on our floral art pages, check them out, feel free to hit us up if you need custom art producing.