Year of the Dog Main Lantern · Traditional Style: Loyal Dog Guardian and Door God Imagery

Design the main lantern of a Taiwanese Lantern Festival for the Year of the Dog, about 13 metres tall, in the traditional craft manner, cast as a guardian. Build a pair of seated dogs facing outward in a formal symmetrical arrangement, each on a hand-bent bamboo frame skinned in hand-painted silk, their posture upright and alert like temple guardian figures. Paint the coats in warm ochre and cream with hand-brushed cloud and ruyi motifs along the flanks in gold outline, and add ornate collars with tassels, bells and a decorative medallion. Give each a dignified rather than fierce expression. Light entirely from within so the silk glows and the bamboo ribs read through it. Set them flanking a central carved stone gateway form with a calligraphic plaque above bearing auspicious characters. Add tall poles of red palace lanterns and hanging banners. Show a warm night with dense crowds passing between them. Photorealistic, symmetrical, warm and ceremonial, eye-level view through the gateway.