Sources| Daily Economic News, China Post official website, China Post Daily, China Pictorial News
On January 5, China Post's "Year of Nongyin" Tiger Zodiac Stamps were officially released, and the 2022 Chinese Zodiac Stamps were set of two stamps, which were national fortune changlong and tiger auspicious. This is the 42nd consecutive year since 1980 that China Post has issued zodiac stamps.
However, this set of realistic pen style "tiger tickets" has caused some netizens to complain that the design is too ugly. There are also many netizens who complain that the tiger on the stamp is "slightly sad", the brow is locked, it looks sick, and there is no mighty tiger on the mountain.
China Post: It is the mountain tiger of Qi YuXuan
There are two sets of Tiger Year Zodiac stamps for the Year of the Tiger, with a face value of 2.40 yuan, of which the first stamp is called "National Fortune Changlong", and the national plan is to issue 40.4 million stamps; the second stamp is called "Tiger Yun auspicious", and the national plan is to issue 38.8 million pieces.
On the day the stamps are issued, philatelic enthusiasts from all over the world compete to buy them. Some citizens even wait in line after 3 a.m. to buy.
According to the official website of China Post, the image of the tiger in the special stamp of "The Year of Nongyin" starts from the "real", gets the nature of the tiger, and carefully interprets the beauty of the tiger. The stamps continue the design concept of the fourth round of zodiac stamps, interpreting the concepts of "country" and "home". The first picture, "National Fortune Changlong", depicts the image of an airy mountain tiger, standing tall and ambitious, conveying the meaning of the country's prosperity and ambition.
The first picture of the Year of the Tiger zodiac stamp issued by China Post Source: China Post official website
The second picture, "Tiger Yun Auspicious", depicts a warm scene of a gentle-looking tiger mother with two baby tigers, implying that her children and grandchildren are prosperous and the family is happy.
The second figure of the Year of the Tiger zodiac stamp issued by China Post Source: China Post official website
However, netizens do not think so, "The tiger in the first picture looks a little sad and full of sadness; in the second picture, the tiger mother with two cubs is not happy." The big tiger has no tiger power, and the little tiger is not agile. Some netizens even doubted the painter's level.
Some netizens also believe that it is not "silly" but "silly" and "a little cute".
Author: Animals also have joys and sorrows
According to the official website of China Post, the special stamps of "The Year of NongYin" are the seventh set in the fourth round of Chinese zodiac stamps, created by the famous painter Mr. Feng Dazhong.
Feng Dazhong, a national first-class artist, began to enjoy the special allowance of the State Council in 1992; his works of art are especially famous for painting tigers, and he also attacks landscapes and flowers. Feng Dazhong was the president of the China Gongbi Painting Society, the deputy director of the Chinese Painting Art Committee of the China Artists Association, the vice president of the Chinese Painting Society, the director of the China Artists Association, the member of the China Writers Association, and the president of the Liaoning Provincial Old Artists Association.
According to a Report by China Post Daily in September 2021, Feng Dazhong's Tiger has always been hailed as the "World's First Tiger". He became famous for painting tigers, pioneered a new technique of Gongbi Tiger, and formed a unique artistic symbol. His works have been selected for many national exhibitions and won awards, and 18 works have been collected by the National Art Museum of China.
"I have been painting tigers for nearly 60 years, and this year I can design the Zodiac stamps for the Year of the Tiger for the country, which is an affirmation of me." In May 2021, Feng Dazhong was invited by China Post to design the Year of the Tiger Zodiac stamps, he agreed to it, and polished the stamp artwork in more than a month, during which he twice rushed from his hometown of Benxi, Liaoning Province, to Beijing to discuss the revision of the stamp.
Different from the previous three rounds of Yinhu Zodiac stamps, the image of the tiger designed by Feng Dazhong is more realistic, which also continues his consistent style of painting tigers, obtaining the nature of the tiger and truly restoring the beauty of the tiger.
According to the China Grammail Newspaper, Feng Dazhong has liked to draw tigers since he was a teenager, and due to the lack of publications at that time, he often took a bus to the zoo for observation, during which he also had several experiences of escaping from danger.
Through the intensive study and understanding of traditional tiger culture, Feng Dazhong explored a new direction for creating animal theme paintings. "Animals also have joys and sorrows, so the tiger must crack this code, break through its animal attributes to paint, anthropomorphize it, and strive to convey a spiritual emotion." Feng Dazhong stressed.
When he received an invitation to bid for the design of the stamp of the Year of Ren Yin, he did not dare to be careless. Before creation, he first listened to the guidance of the stamp issuing department and relevant experts, and then carefully studied the zodiac stamps previously issued, learned the various forms and characteristics of the zodiac stamps, and saw how others designed them. After some thought, Mr. Feng Dazhong determined the specific concept of the two stamps.
The first "National Fortune Changlong" wants to express the meaning of national prosperity and national fortune, so it paints a fierce tiger on the mountain, which means to ascend to the high and far, aim at the peak, and see the mountains. In the picture, the horizon is lowered, and the tiger looks forward with a proud and majestic posture. At the same time, taking into account the inherent echo and Gu Pan relationship of the two stamps, in the process of modification, he handled the high tiger head slightly lower, and elongated the tiger body, increasing the sense of volume of the picture.
Source: China Post official website
The second "Tiger Yun Auspicious" shows the tiger's natural love, showing the tiger mother and its two baby tigers. Feng Dazhong said that he originally drew 3 small tigers, and then removed a small tiger, and then pulled the remaining two small tigers apart a little, so that after this modification, not only the composition is more plump, the main body of the picture and the blank distribution are more comfortable and appropriate.
Some painters have analyzed that the tiger in the painting is indeed a little timid, and does not reflect the wild nature of the king of the mountains and forests. Some painters also said that the author Mr. Feng Dazhong has more than 20 years of experience in painting tigers, deliberately weakening the color difference of the picture, the tiger he paints is not without loss of benevolence, courage and gentleness, and the tiger also has happy, sad, and missed times.