Looking Back #1 - Go Designs

The Tortoise Shell

Go Butterfly

The Divine Move

Shoulder Hit on the Fifth Line

Move 37

Amsterdam Go

Fighting Spirit

Go Samurai

The Raccoon Dog Drums His Belly

Shared Life on the Goban

The Ear Reddening Move

Tsumego: black to play

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Today I want to introduce a new part of my blog called Looking Back, which I will use every now and then to share artwork that I have created in the past. As the first post of Looking Back, I would like to share a series of 12 go artworks that I have made so far. 
This ongoing series features animals, paper marbling (known as suminagashi in Japan and ebru in Turkey) and the game of go (known as igo in Japan, baduk in Korea and weiqi in China). Several of these designs refer to the names of patterns and shapes in the game of go that often are derived from nature. For other artworks I took inspiration from famous go matches or gave my own twist to commissioned work.
I sell these designs as postcards and posters in various sizes. This project started little over a year ago, when I realised I want to offer my art in an affordable format. I did however want to be able to guarantee the best quality possible and that is why I decided to make the products myself at home. After taking a chance and purchasing a professional printer in December 2018 I soon found out that it is not easy to find the right paper. Not too thin and shiny for the postcards, not too thick and plain for the posters. After several frustrating weeks of failed tries I finally found the right materials and started offering my work online. Since then I have worked together with many go organisations as well as individual buyers. 

For those of you who are new to the game of go: go is a strategic board game in which black and white take turns, placing stones on a board, specifically on the intersections of the indicated lines. The goal of the game is to surround territory with your stones and whoever has surrounded most territory at the end of the match wins. The rules of go are simple, but the game never gets boring as there is an almost infinite amount of possibilities that makes every match you play a new challenge.
I have been hooked on go ever since I started playing in September 2004. The game, mind sport, art of go or whatever you want to call it has had a significant influence on my life. It gave me an outlet for my competitiveness, made me part of a community, influenced my drawings and even got me several jobs promoting the sport. You can read more about my go background in the GAME OF GO tab.

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About the works:

The Tortoise Shell - A pun on the name for one of the strongest shapes in go called 亀の甲​ (the tortoise shell) in Japanese. A giant ponnuki of sorts.​​

​Go Butterfly - Originally created as a logo for the European Youth Go Championships in Zandvoort in 2015. The patterns on the wings of the butterfly show several tesuji shapes, such as the crane's nest and a snapback.

​The Divine Move - The elephant is admiring Lee Sedol's famous move 78 that made AlphaGo go on tilt in game four of their best of five match in 2016. Lee Sedol lost the overall match to the computer program by 4 to 1 games, making AlphaGo the first computer to defeat a top level professional in the history of go. This wedging move by Sedol resulted in the only victory in the matchup for the Korean and became a symbolic victory of human capability.  

​Shoulder Hit on the Fifth Line - These penguins are witnessing move 37 played by computer program AlphaGo in game 2 against Lee Sedol. Shoulder hits are often played on the fourth line, sometimes on the third line, but rarely on the fifth. At the time of play, many professionals regarded this move as a clear mistake by the computer. Once the game progressed, however, the move turned out to be brilliant, creating a sphere of influence towards the centre of the board.

​Move 37 - An atmospheric close-up of AlphaGo's innovative shoulder hit, a move that announced new chapters in artificial intelligence and go theory.

​Amsterdam Go - Originally created as a logo for the Amsterdam International Go Tournament in 2016.

Fighting Spirit - Kiai! Originally an illustration to the French book "Les Chants de Maldoror" written by Le Comte de Lautréamont (1868). In the book the main character Maldoror takes on the form of a giant eagle to fight God, who is half dragon-tiger, half serpent. The board position is from a game from the 18th century between legendary go player Fan Xiping (black) and Liang Weijin (white), known as "nailing down the guoshou title".

Go Samurai - An appropriation of a famous woodblock print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi.

The Raccoon Dog Drums His Belly - This artwork and its title refer to a beautiful tesuji combination of two stones played on the first line, capturing the opponent's stones. In Japanese this is called タヌキの腹鼓 (tanuki no hara tsuzumi).

Shared Life on the Goban - Originally created as a Christmas design for the American Go Association. The drawing shows a 6x6 whole-board seki. Seki (セキ) is the Japanese term for a local stalemate position of 'shared life' in which neither player can approach the other's stones. If either player would try to capture the other, he would end up being captured himself. This artwork illustrates the idea that go players share their lives on the go board.

The Ear Reddening Move - Created for the 3rd Latin American Go Congress that took place from 10-13 October 2019 in the Nihon Ki-in da América do Sul in São Paulo. The toucan, a bird species indigenous to large parts of South America, is taking the place of legendary go player Honinbo Shusaku. The go match in the artwork is one of the most famous go matches ever played, known as "The Ear Reddening Game". The match is at its most vital stage and the toucan is about to play a move that went down in history. Reportedly, when Shusaku played move 127, it mentally shook his opponent, Gennan Inseki, so much so that his ears turned red.

​Tsumego: black to play - The ring tailed lemur walks by unimpressed. Above him we see a remarkable life and death problem. Please have a look here if you want to know the solution.