KoalaMilk's ninth project on fxhash, Abura 油 (meaning ‘oil' in Japanese), evokes strong emotions like peacefulness, freedom, and hope-at-first-sight due to its serene landscape nature. Working from bottom to top, each generative artwork in the 100-piece set features a sea layer clashing into cliff layers, along with a sky layer containing either a sun or moon shining down from above.

The artist's goal with this collection was to have each piece appear oil-painted, hence the name Abura 油. When looking closely, you can easily see that KoalaMilk captured oil painting with code to great effect. Each iteration seems made up of tiny brushstrokes going in all directions, providing the exciting textures we see.

There are six different color palettes and the chance for birds in the sky (only 26% of the pieces have them) that help bring lovely diversity to the collection’s outputs. Part of what makes Abura 油 so special is not only the art itself but also the names of the color palettes. For example, the most common color palette, ukiyo-e, is named after a genre of Japanese art popular from the 17th to 19th centuries, while the second most common palette, Kanagawa, is named after a Japanese prefecture just south of Tokyo.

The rarest color palette, yoru, is a very fitting name because it means evening or night in Japanese, and all five pieces that have this palette feature darker colors with a night sky and yellow crescent moon up above. So, while all color palettes are stunning, their names add an extra dimension of meaning to this beautiful collection.