This Lightning Won’t Forge Itself (Fūjin Raijin Diptych)
⊛ This Lightning Won't Forge Itself • Fujin Raijin Diptych
⊛ cut paper on wood
⊛ 10.1 x 7.2 in • 257 x 182 mm
⊛ private collection
Raijin and Fūjin have always struck me as the odd couple of the Japanese Shinto pantheon.
Two ex-demons pressed into service by the powers-that-be, they are forced to work together despite their opposing personalities. If they are The Odd Couple, then Raijin is a moodier version of Felix. Focused, determined, ominous. He doesn't have time for Fūjin's playful, needy antics. Or does he? Is that the slightest sliver grin at the corner of his mouth as he dutifully ignores the looping breeze?
Raijin and Fūjin are fascinating and awesome (in the traditional sense of the word) as typically depicted raging through a storm.
When I sat down to sketch this piece, that was my first approach as well. After a while, I started wondering how they spent the quiet hours between typhoons.