Happy New Year to you all! Praying for a prosperous and peaceful 2026 with lots of positive vibes! 2026 is the Year of the Horse in Japan, the country I was born and raised. Although the Animal Zodiac originated in China, we celebrate New Year on the 1 January whilst the Chinese won’t be commemorating it this year until 17 February based on the Lunar Calendar. A great excuse for more festivities! And now, a painting I made the other day in preperation for this special occasion.
I wanted this time a gold background with a Japanese “bokashi print” effect. To achieve this texture, a blend of gold acrylic paints was spread with a sponge brayer on my A3-size page from Marabu Mixed Media Sketchbook. I then sketched my horse with watersoluble Stabillo pencil once paint was dry. Compared to previous years (especially Dragon and Snake years), it was not as a huge challenge to draw one as I’ve had had some practice due to attending horse events like Polo matches and snow racing and painting about them. That said, it’s not that often that I get to do so and as it’s been some time, I have to say it was not that easy. The snake itself was filled in with Opaque Titanium White by ARA. For the mane, I wanted texture and went for modeling paste, let it dry then tapped on some cold paint. Concluded with glitter glue for the red areas
Loving this East Asian feel to this painting with the gold background! And what do the Japanese writing mean? The red character on the horse (寿)is kotobuki which signifies longevity and typically used for celebrations, while those on the top right corner (賀正) reads gashō and is a shortened written form of Happy New Year. So…
HAPPY NEW YEAR AGAIN!
My Kawaii Quarter 