Indanthrone blue presented by Qi Dandan
Added 2023-11-28 18:25:04 +0000 UTC(Remember to also check the Request Thread!)
I really have tricked myself into doing more digital paintings with these huh. We'll see where this whole bit can take me in the future.
This time around "What if an old anime promo art was also a 1920s-1930s Shanghai commercial poster?"
Like these:
(Definitely check out this article too for some extra contextual info: https://ying-xiang.org/articles/re-examining-shanghai-calendar-girls-gendered-modernity-and-media-parallax)
Specifically this is also made in imitation of the advertisements for Indanthren blue cloths (or 阴丹士林 as it was called), which were very popular in Republican era China. Kinda became a symbol for modern women and intellectuals of the time, since a lot of qipaos and student uniforms also used these blue dyes.
EDIT: ALSO, I just recently figured out what Qi Dandan's theme song should sound like! It was so obvious and was staring in my face all this time! Its the theme song from the film Center Stage (1991)!
The film is based on the famous 20s-30s Chinese film star Ruan Lingyu. Ruan Lingyu is actually exactly what I've had in mind for what I want Qi Dandan to evoke (other than her namesake Li Dandan ofc).
So far I quite like the film Love and Duty (1932) and the Goddess (1934)! It still holds up really well.
