Looking at the Walls: Stone Reliefs of Qilin and Figures

Show one of the paired stone wall panels that face each other in the entrance porch of a Taiwanese temple. Render a rectangular relief panel about 1.5 by 1.2 metres set into a red brick wall with a moulded stone frame. Carve within it a qilin standing among rocks and auspicious clouds, its scaled body and flame-like mane rendered in deep relief with the head turned outward, surrounded by carved peony and bamboo. Work the composition in several depths so foreground elements are almost free-standing and the background stays shallow. Use a dark blue-grey stone whose colour contrasts against the surrounding warm red brick and the pale granite plinth below. Detail the surface with visible chisel work in the recesses and smoothed high points. Show the panel's partner faintly visible on the opposite wall at an oblique angle. Add the timber door frame and threshold at the edge of the frame. Light from the open front of the porch, raking across the relief. Photorealistic, deep carving, dark stone against red brick, eye-level view.