Monday, September 12, 2011

Parrots. インコ、音呼、鸚哥

The Japanese term for the Parrot family is inko. Nowadays it's written in katakana but it also has a few Kanji (although they are unused) 音呼、鸚哥...
Most bird names are written in katakana or hiragana alphabets now which is kind of a shame because they have these exquisite kanji. Take the following examples...
cockatoo, oumu 鸚鵡
cassowary, hikuidori 火食鳥 (this kanji literally means fire-eating bird!)
eagle, washi
flamingo, beniduru 紅鶴
Japanese nightingale, uguisu
kingfisher, kawasemi 翡翠
wren, misosazai 鷦鷯

Maybe it's just me?

I've been back into sketching in preparation for some new projects.
Crimson Rosella. Whose Kanji by the way is impossible to find but its Japanese name is akakusainko

Upside down! Rainbow lorikeet, a.k.a 五色青灰鸚哥 goshiki-seigai-inko!!

The next step is to turn my sketches into something textiles and magnificent! (the hard part!!) Will keep you updated as my design ideas progress...

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