China and Russia are major geopolitical competitors for the U.S. in Mr. President and as such, they have their own dedicated segments within the game turn called China Acts or Russia Acts.
Like our Oval Office painting, I gravitated towards the symbology and messaging with Presidential offices. This post is about painting a scene in the office of the President of China. We wanted to evoke that within Mr. President, the President/player could be anyone so we decided to not show the President’s likeness, but only his back.
Little is known about the office of the President of China, compared to the Oval Office, which leads to a lot of analysis and speculation. There are entire articles written about what pictures are displayed in the office. Meanwhile, some have even speculated that the office is actually a stage.
The main details I focused on were the pictures on his shelf, drawings, the beautiful minimalist artwork of the Wall of China prominently seen behind him always, and the People’s Republic of China flag.
His desk is also very minimal, with papers with text barely visible and an odd double-red phone and a white phone as well. It’s existence and functions have puzzled even the most avid of researchers, and its a high topic of discussions on Chinese forums due to it’s allure and different look.
Given the increase in political, economic, and military conflict, I wanted to depict him pulling a classic book, The Art of War. Written in the 5th century B.C., The Art of War is an ancient military treatise by author Sun Tzu. It is one of the most influential military strategy works.
It was first translated into French by Jesuit priest Jean Joseph Marie Amiot in 1772, and then translated into English in 1905 by Everard Ferguson Calthrop. Many political and military leaders like Takeda Shingen, Mao Zedong, and Norman Schwarzkopf have cited the importance of the book.
Great care was taken into drawing the characters into the painting, and I used the traditional Chinese colors of Gold and Red for the book’s cover to make it more visually poignant to the viewer. I also made sure the books are properly shaded to mimic the real look from his office and his desk.
The final composition included 35 layers of digital oil paint and it took around 12 hours to complete. As always, thank you for your time in this art journey of Mr. President.
