Art derivatives make for a cheaper alternative for those without the means to pay for original pieces. An art derivative is created when an artist takes an original painting and uses the image on furniture, clothing, handbags or anything else they can think of.

Artists say such derivatives are not easy to make since simply printing an image on another object doesn’t always turn into something aesthetically pleasing.

Shanghai Daily speaks to three artists who have ventured into the art derivatives market. Although their experiences vary, they agree art derivatives have big potential since it combines art with ordinary life.

Li Yirong
— Seeking perfection

Artist Li Yirong is known for her brilliant depiction of flowers and cats. Perhaps that’s the reason why her paintings have been chosen by Haagen-dazs to appear on its packaging during the Mid-autumn Festival for three consecutive years.

“Today I’d rather be called an artist focusing on art derivatives,” she said with a smile.

Nearly a decade ago, Li held her first solo-exhibition at Liu Haisu Art Museum. It was at that exhibition that she first got involved in art derivatives although it turned out to be a disaster.

“I wanted to give a small gift to exhibition guests and I thought of producing a special silk scarf printed with the pattern of one of my paintings,” she said. “So I gave the image of my painting to the factory and ordered 500 scarves.”

The result “frightened” her.

“It was like a nightmare. The scarf was so ugly that even I didn’t want to wear it,” she recalled. “The colors were not right and the edge of the scarf was terribly coarse.”

Too embarrassed with the result she decided not to give out the scarves. This was a lesson — an artist has to focus on every detail of any derivative product rather than trusting a factory to produce something on its own.

Ten years later and Li’s art derivatives include cashmere shawls, silk scarves, pillows, canvas bags, folding screens, costumes and jewelry.

She considers each one a “re-creation” of the original painting.

“This is far more difficult than creating a painting,” the Kunming native said. “It is not about merely printing a complete painting onto a canvas bag or a shawl. Yet that’s the big problem among artists making art derivatives.”

She recalls the side-products of a Monet exhibition in Japan.

“The bracelet impressed me! It was not merely a repetition of the original work,” she said. “They used a pearl to represent a drop of dew on the leaf. How exquisite and creative!”

After countless failed experiments, Li says she found some elements and hues need to be exaggerated while others are best deleted.

“Flowers and cats are the main subjects of my paintings so they are highlighted in my art derivatives,” she said. “But the original colors and proportions all need to be adjusted.”

Redesigning the image is only the first step. The function of each product also matters.

Many of Li’s art derivatives are multi-functional, such as a two-sided wearable shawl, removable slipcovers and mugs with a specially designed lid that the user can place an apple on.

Li now has her own brand “Rong” at Tmall.com, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba’s retail platform.

“Life is filled with beauty,” she said. “Beauty can be on the things we use and wear. This is my purpose in developing art derivatives. Do you think many art lovers can afford the original piece in China? These side-products offer an alternative.”

She also uses her own art derivatives so she can learn how to improve it and make it perfect.

Li cites one of her super-light messenger bags that doubles as a handbag.

“On first sight, the bag looked OK for me considering its shape and color,” she said. “But what about the zipper, its comfort, and whether the colors fade during rainy days? It takes several months of use before you have the answers. At last, I decided to use some heat preservation material inside the bag, which could keep a lunch box warm, allowing office workers to use the bag to bring their lunch to work.”

She says she has worked with so many suppliers of fabrics and hardware fittings that she can’t remember them all.

“That’s why few artists are willing to get involved in art derivatives. But it is a must that I do the work all by myself, as a tiny detail might ruin the quality,” she said.

Now she is designing jewelry.

“Like many young women I am crazy about rings, earrings and necklaces and I have a big collection of my own at home,” she said. “I don’t think jewelry design is something difficult for me. I saw a short video on the Internet teaching some basics and then I started my work.”

She uses moissanite and gold.

“Moissanite is a new mineral created by a laboratory as a good diamond replacement,” she said. “I have exclusive rights to use it in China.”

Each of Li’s work is inspired from her paintings and they mirror the feel of her original creations.

Carrying a bag, wearing her jewelry and scarf with images from her paintings makes her feel happy and proud.

“I have established a WeChat page called chuangyizhongguo (创意中国), which introduces some creative ideas and design works from around the world. Take a look and you will see that life is so different.”

Chen Jialing — Function and beauty

Veteran artist Chen Jialing says art derivatives are more luxurious than handbags made by a famous fashion house.

Chen rose to fame in the late 1980s and has stayed in the spotlight in recent years for his cross-media art that retains a “boyish heart.”

He is also known as an innovator in mixing ink-wash paintings with Impressionism and Abstractionism. He has taken his water-ink patterns and applied them to porcelain, silk and classic rosewood furniture.

The artist credits his son, Chen Liang, for persuading him to venture into art derivatives.

“Our furniture in the Ming style is fused with a contemporary flavor since images from my paintings appear on each piece,” Chen Jialing said. “The furniture has garnered several awards in China, and one mahjong table made from sandalwood is in China’s National Art Museum.”

Chen Jialing says the value of his art derivatives lies in both their function and beauty.

“Art lovers can use one of my tea sets or furniture with prints of my paintings to enjoy a leisurely time,” said the Hangzhou native who was born in 1937.

His tea sets can cost tens of thousands of yuan.

“As I said before, art derivatives are luxury possessions and the price is determined by the value of art itself,” he said. “My target customers belong to the elite class in society, those who appreciate art and can afford it.

“Just think, many people spend 10,000 yuan (US$1,597) for a LV handbag. The price of my tea set doesn’t seem so expensive in comparison since it is something unique.”

Busy planning for a solo-exhibition in Hawaii this October, the artist isn’t too concerned about the cost of his art derivatives.

“The market needs to be nurtured,” he said. “I don’t believe that my art derivatives will become popular immediately. Now I am still focusing on creating my rice-paper artworks. Spreading my original works to more people will promote my art derivatives in the future.”

Lin Mingjie ­— New challenges

Artist and art critic Lin Mingjie says the digital era presents an interesting challenge for artists.

“In the past, an artist might gain overnight fame from one original work. But today a simple piece can no longer become the visual center. How many visitors attend one exhibition?” he said. “Do you know an artist named Lao Shu? Now he is rather hot on Wechat, but he was unknown a short time ago. This is an example of the power of the digital society we live in.”

In the past decade, artists have struggled to get galleries to exhibit their works and gain crucial exposure. But online exposure has changed the industry profoundly.

Lin says he learned painting at an early age, and pink fish has been his signature. But only a few people know his signature until it was printed on invitations for the Shanghai Art Fair and Kelemen Art Saloon.

“At first, I was quite amazed,” he said. “I couldn’t believe the invitations would create more publicity than my original works, but that is what happened.”

Hotel Equatorial Shanghai guests can also see Lin’s “pink swimming fish” inside elevators and on lamps in each room.

“Hotel Equatorial Shanghai has supported Kelmen Art Saloon (Lin is the founder) for two years, so when they proposed the idea of using my paintings to decorate the hotel, I immediately agreed,” Lin said.

His art also appears on ceramic tea sets at Taketang, a teahouse in the city.

“The owner of Taketang is a friend of mine,” he said. “All these art derivatives for my paintings are not for business purposes. It is a way to play with art and spread it.”

He says there are too few involved in the country’s contemporary art scene and that it is “too far removed from our everyday life.”

He believes only when art is related with life more closely will the mainstream show more interest in it.

Lin cites the example of Qi Baishi (1864-1957), a master in the country’s modern art scene.

“Almost everyone in China knows Qi Baishi and his paintings. Why? Because his paintings were ubiquitous in our life, and his work was printed on bottles, wash basins and enameled cups,” he said. “Today even my mother remembers Qi’s paintings.”

Although he doesn’t earn money from his art derivatives, he is optimistic about their potential.

“The market will grow as more and more people seek art to enrich their life,” he said. “Of course, the quality and standard need to improve to attract more people.”