I was commissioned to create the cover for an annotated edition of The Art of War by Sun Tzu, a classic of Chinese culture that is still applied today to countless areas of everyday life.
Conflict is an essential part of life. Often, without conflict there can be no progress or learning. Although it is generally a stressful experience, conflict is an integral part of existence and simply another everyday phase of it.
I once heard a very well-read and cultured man say that conflict is nothing more than “the clash of two wills”—an idea that can be traced back to the thinker Carl von Clausewitz, who extensively theorized about the nature of conflict, warfare, and its different forms.
In Chinese philosophy, particularly Taoism, the idea of impermanence and constant change is also deeply rooted, often represented by water and the countless forms it can take.
Bringing these two ideas together, I envisioned a way of representing a battle from both perspectives: as two streams of water, each with a different color and character, colliding with one another and creating a conflict between them.
Simulating fluids
To bring this idea to life, I used a free fluid simulation tool that allowed me to experiment with the concept directly in my web browser. I captured different shapes and patterns resulting from the collision of the two streams, gradually building a library of visual resources.
Simulator website link: https://paveldogreat.github.io/WebGL-Fluid-Simulation/
Composing and painting
I then combined these elements with some freely available photographs and vector graphics found online, along with a little digital painting, to create the final result.
Some of the captured simulations were used to create a neutral cover background with a subtle watery texture.
Final cover
After adding the titles, subtitles, official logos, and book summary according to the client’s specifications, we arrived at the final result.
Illustrating the Chinese Zodiac
Likewise, I was also asked to draw each of the animals of the Chinese zodiac to illustrate the heading of each chapter. Following the same ideas that inspired the cover illustration, I depicted each animal as if it had been created from a living, moving ink blot, animated by a will of its own and momentarily taking the shape of a particular animal.
