Gift #4 "After The Rain" (Kaguya Hime with Hydrangea)
Goes to beautiful and talented tl__dr. The official title I'm giving this piece is 『雨上がり』(Ame-agari "After the Rain"), the working title had been "Kaguya Hime with Hydrangea" for the past few days. She is not in the formal 12-layers kimono in this piece. My original image was of her just stepping out to enjoy the sun right after a nice light rain in the Hydrangea garden. I hope her feminine glory pleases you in this illustration of mine. :D This is gift #4 out of a total of 10 (because I have a list of 5 here and another list over at dA) from the gifting meme from January, 2009.
Started out innocently enough in pink washes, then it got more and more detailed. I completely worked backwards this time starting from overlay, moving onto the background, and then to the main figure. I think I just wanted to color the flowers first and have fun. XD This is the third in the series of Kaguya Hime pieces I've done this year. I'm basing my interpretation on Heian era Japan for her general style. This is because the origin of the story of "Taketori Monogatari" is unclear. What we know for certain is that it does get mentioned in the "Tale of Genji", so the scholars know they can trace it at least to that time. Heian period court gentlemen's and ladies' fashion is one of the most complicated in terms of style and customs that were followed for proper appearance. I wanted this Kaguya Hime to have a somewhat authentic Japanese appearance (although she is arguably extraterrestrial... XD). Once I got to the kimono details stage, I started my (late!) research into Heian textile, and found more than I was looking for. The depth of information and the intricacy of customs (They had color layer combinations set by seasons, patterns by layers, etc.) blew my mind and I totally ended up humbling myself with a realization just how little I knew! XD I did luck out in some respect that her layers' color combination is, in fact, something they wore back 1,000 years ago, in summer. The design on her outermost layer is based on an existing design from that era and appropriate for that particular layer that she is wearing. In case you might be wondering what those dots are on her forehead, those are part of customary make-up (They would shave/pluck the eye brows and draw those dots higher on the forehead.) and vary in shape from round dots to short horizontal strokes. Weird, I know! XD
~~~WIP gallery~~~ When a doodle turns out this detailed, I'd like to save several of WIP files just for the fun of it.
WIP1: Partial line drawing with pink washes overlay. 1 hour into the project.
WIP2: Flowers looked like fun to color, so without regard to practicality, I proceed...
WIP3: The inevitable next step arrives...
WIP4: All that remains is her kimono design detail... Approx. 9 hours. My research revealed that unmarried young ladies did not wear bright red hakama... *being grateful that this was a digital project*
Final: Floral design detail (Don't ask me how long it took...), highlights, dew drops (Can you even find them?) are added. *signs the piece* About 12 hours total.
Started out innocently enough in pink washes, then it got more and more detailed. I completely worked backwards this time starting from overlay, moving onto the background, and then to the main figure. I think I just wanted to color the flowers first and have fun. XD This is the third in the series of Kaguya Hime pieces I've done this year. I'm basing my interpretation on Heian era Japan for her general style. This is because the origin of the story of "Taketori Monogatari" is unclear. What we know for certain is that it does get mentioned in the "Tale of Genji", so the scholars know they can trace it at least to that time. Heian period court gentlemen's and ladies' fashion is one of the most complicated in terms of style and customs that were followed for proper appearance. I wanted this Kaguya Hime to have a somewhat authentic Japanese appearance (although she is arguably extraterrestrial... XD). Once I got to the kimono details stage, I started my (late!) research into Heian textile, and found more than I was looking for. The depth of information and the intricacy of customs (They had color layer combinations set by seasons, patterns by layers, etc.) blew my mind and I totally ended up humbling myself with a realization just how little I knew! XD I did luck out in some respect that her layers' color combination is, in fact, something they wore back 1,000 years ago, in summer. The design on her outermost layer is based on an existing design from that era and appropriate for that particular layer that she is wearing. In case you might be wondering what those dots are on her forehead, those are part of customary make-up (They would shave/pluck the eye brows and draw those dots higher on the forehead.) and vary in shape from round dots to short horizontal strokes. Weird, I know! XD
~~~WIP gallery~~~ When a doodle turns out this detailed, I'd like to save several of WIP files just for the fun of it.
WIP1: Partial line drawing with pink washes overlay. 1 hour into the project.
WIP2: Flowers looked like fun to color, so without regard to practicality, I proceed...
WIP3: The inevitable next step arrives...
WIP4: All that remains is her kimono design detail... Approx. 9 hours. My research revealed that unmarried young ladies did not wear bright red hakama... *being grateful that this was a digital project*
Final: Floral design detail (Don't ask me how long it took...), highlights, dew drops (Can you even find them?) are added. *signs the piece* About 12 hours total.