Old Pine Tree and White Phoenix
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Old Pine Tree and White Phoenix depicts a white phoenix perched on a pine tree entwined with morning glory vines. Above the phoenix a grey sparrow is perched in the pine tree. The composition of the painting is asymmetrical with no vanishing point. Instead, the forms of the phoenix, tree, and bird are all in the foreground. The negative space of the painting is flatly colored, eliminating the background. Depth in the composition is implied only through three characteristics. The pine and the picture plane block the red sun in the upper right-hand corner. As a result, a background is slightly indicated. The forms that stretch beyond the picture plane also imply perspective. The pine branches, tail feathers, and wings of the phoenix all extend beyond the picture plane. Finally, the gradual shortening of receding forms implies depth, despite the severe lack of background.
There are eleven basic colors in Old Pine Tree and White Phoenix; gold, white, red, yellow, dark green, light green, iridescent green, blue, brown, grey and black. The gold makes up the ground of the painting; it is the negative space of the painting. In addition, the gold is used to define the shapes of the feathers on the phoenix. White is used almost exclusively on the phoenix’s body, though it highlights the stamen of the morning glory blossoms. The red is used to emphasize points of interest. This includes the phoenix’s unique tail feathers, its beak, and the red sun. The yellow pigment serves mostly functional purposes. It colors the legs of the phoenix and its nostrils. The yellow shade also appears on the husks of dead flowers and the breast of the small grey bird. The dark green serves similarly functional purposes, coloring the needles of the pine tree. The light green colors the morning glory vines. The iridescent green is used as an accent color, highlighting two particular tail feathers. The royal blue is also sparsely used, exclusive to the eleven morning glory blossoms. The brown shade serves functional purposes, coloring the bark of the pine tree and outlining the feathers on the sparrow’s breast. The grey is very selectively applied, limited to the body of the sparrow. Finally, the black acts as an outline for the vines of the morning glory, the texture of the pine bark, and the feather tips of the small sparrow.
There are no geometric shapes in the composition. The organic shapes are characterized by their repetition. This is particularly apparent on the phoenix. The feathers on the neck are patterned repetitions of thin at the bottom, wide and teardrop shaped at the top. The shoulders are patterned repetitive shapes of ovals that slowly grow in size as they approach the wings. The wings have the most traditional feather shape, patterned and repeated and concluding upon the repetition of sharp, knife-like tips. The tail has no pattern, but is still a repetition of curved rectangles that conclude upon red heart shapes that hearken to the traditional tail of Jakuchu’s peacocks. Repetitive shapes are also seen in the repetitive organic shapes, repeated lines to designate needles, the bark is repetitive ovals, brown outlined in black. Lastly, the repetitive pattern of brown lines across the yellow oval of the sparrow’s breast is characteristic of the shapes within Old Pine Tree and White Phoenix.
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