Tulip and Baby

Chihiro was said to be able to accurately depict babies at different months of age without having to refer to a model. In this work, without using any lines to define the shapes, she clearly portrays a baby’s form through gradation and the blurred edges of the watercolors. The borders of the hands and feet, as well as the fingertips, are painted using heavier concentrations of watercolor. The baby’s plump belly and bottom were painted using a brush with less water, allowing more paint to be drawn up by the bristles and making possible subtle blurring, as if the watercolors simply dissolved into the surrounding background. The tulip’s red flower seems to symbolize the baby’s future, which has just begun to bloom.