Shandong Weifang Yangjiabu New Year Painting / Guardian Tiger / Year of the Tiger Spring Festival Print

Paper and festival culture share a deep, enduring connection. During the Lunar New Year, people wish for evil spirits to depart and auspiciousness to arrive. Aspirations and hopes for life are transformed into written couplets and depicted in images for New Year paintings or window decorations, affixed to homes. This practice signifies a desire for the domestic space to nurture inner joy and tranquility, allowing both home and heart to embrace renewal. **Weifang New Year Paintings: The Guardian Tiger** The "Guardian Tiger," often referred to as the "gate-guarding tiger," is traditionally placed behind the door. In Chinese culture, the tiger is revered as the king of beasts, symbolizing protection and the safeguarding of peace within the home, invoking blessings for family well-being. This artwork features two seals: "Guardian Tiger" on the left and "Ward Off Evil, Ensure Blessings" on the right. Magpies and pomegranates are incorporated to enhance the composition's balance and convey auspicious meanings of joy and fertility. ● This offering includes one piece for the left and one for the right, presented as a pair. ● Dimensions: (Due to manual trimming, each piece may have slight variations) Left / Guardian Tiger: Approximately 45 x 31.8 cm Right / Ward Off Evil, Ensure Blessings: Approximately 44.5 x 31 cm ● Origin: Printed in Weifang, Shandong ● Please Note: As these are handmade with traditional woodblock printing on handmade paper, expect slight variations in thickness, color, and dimensions compared to machine-printed items. Additionally, colors may appear differently across various screen settings; the actual product is the definitive reference. **/// Weifang Woodblock New Year Paintings ///** Weifang New Year paintings, alongside Yangliuqing of Tianjin and Taohuawu of Suzhou, are celebrated as the "Three Great New Year Paintings of China." Weifang New Year paintings are distinguished by their strong color contrasts and a style that is both rustic and vibrant, establishing a unique regional artistic expression. **Vibrant Colors** Hand-printed Weifang New Year paintings feature full compositions and emphasize symmetry. While the colors are bold, they achieve a harmonious balance. The character designs are distinctive, reflecting local folk artistry. **Selected Paper** Shu Huo has curated these Weifang pieces, choosing paper with great care. Bamboo paper, rather than the common paper used for many New Year paintings, is employed. The artist selected bamboo paper blended with *dantong* bark for enhanced toughness and cotton for improved absorbency, creating a semi-taut paper that optimally absorbs and releases moisture during the color-printing process. **Tempered by Time** The bamboo paper used for printing is aged for two years to stabilize its properties before the color plates are applied. After printing, the New Year paintings are aged for at least another two years, allowing the colors to settle. **Exquisite Color Layering** Technically, Weifang New Year paintings begin with an outline plate, followed by color plate printing, with up to 13 colors used locally. Some works in this series achieve subtle gradient effects, showcasing the intricate craftsmanship of the color layering technique. Each New Year painting is like a treasure trove of folk art, preserving the techniques of artisans, both traditional and innovative. They document the essence of folk life and customs. Receiving or acquiring a New Year painting is akin to embracing the wishes and blessings for the coming year, meticulously carved by the hands of its creator.