Last Terracotta Artisans: Mr.Du

Continuing the portrait series of all the last terracotta artisans I made for the Thanh Ha Terracotta Park and Museum for a documentary film project; today I would like to introduce another portrait of Mr.Du. He is one of the important figures in the area who is very professional and highly skilled at making terracotta kilns in Thanh Ha village - a 500 year old pottery village at Hoi An city, Quang Nam province, Vietnam.

"Five hundred years, Thanh Ha Pottery
Burning-flame during day and night under the mossy house-roofs
The grass curved in the village streets
Pot- jar, bottle-vase, a pink white and blue pottery color"
(unknown)

In Thanh Ha village they built kilns in a tradition way, with the desire to preserve the local culture and retain the style of the village. There are two kinds of terracotta kilns, upsidedown-kiln and overturned-kiln. And the kiln which be used now to create pottery items is the upsidedown-kiln. The overturned-kilns or a sphere kiln were only used for burning large items such as bricks and tiles with a large number up to ten thousands, at first there were seven-door kilns and later, these were increased to twelve-door ones. This is one of upsidedown-kilns that Mr Du made at the Thanh Ha Terracotta Park and Museum.

When I accepted the invitation to join the documentary film project, I didn’t want to draw just their face like the photos they sent me, so I took a trip to Thanh Ha village to meet each artisan, talked to them to understand in more depth, and catch the moments at their home and workplaces. I wanted to show more of their life and their work. As a professional kiln maker, Mr. Du was very proud of all the kilns he made with high quality. I drew him standing proudly in front of the beautiful kihn he made at Thanh Ha Terracotta Park and Museum.

First I drew his general shape, catching all the details on his face and body.

Then I added more to the background, showing him with his upsidedown-kiln at the Thanh Ha Terracotta Park and Museum.

Then I add more shades for his face, body and the kiln.

Then I refined all the details. Here is the final scribble drawing of Mr.Du

You can check more posts from the portrait series of all the last terracotta artisans I made here:
Last Terracotta Artisans: Mr.Biec

Thank you all for taking time to read this post, I hope you enjoyed it. It gives me great joy to be able to share my experiences with you all. If you enjoyed reading this, please share it with others by resteeming this post.
❤
@livvu