16/12/2015

Kisetsu Portraits - Tetsuyama Chiyo

Second portrait in the series!


Lady Chiyo, consort of the daimyo of Inaba, Tetsuyama Osamu.

"A short silence followed. Taiken broke it, crossing his arms, worried. 
      – And... chichi-ue believes Chiyo-san will be able to get the necessary information? Figuring out what the hatamoto knows may not be difficult, but... who’s actually investigating the Ayakashi is the commander who captured it. 
      The daimyo raised an eyebrow, accounting the reasoning for a moment, then shrugged. His mien became a little lighter when he finally answered.
      – ...Don’t underestimate her. Chiyo is more cunning than all of Itou-dono’s fools and the hatamoto of Sado put together."
(Kisetsu - Spring, Chapter 6: Bloom) 

The kanji-hiragana reads her name, accompanied by her family's mon (crest). She wears light ecru colors such as neri-iro and kinari, with hints of gold and grayish pinks. Her kimono has a magnolia motif, and her uchiki and obi feature kikkou (stylized tortoise shell) - also the base of the Tetsuyama family mon.

Kisetsu - Spring is avaliable in portuguese on Amazon, and it's currently being translated to english!

04/12/2015

Kisetsu Portraits - Ashigawa Kiyoko

Although I have decided not to illustrate my novel, I'm working on a series of "unnoficial" Kisetsu portraits... Light, soft drawings to give a small sneek-peak on some of the story's characters and convey their personality, more than their actual features. These portraits also feature the style of clothing they tend to wear, or even garments they actually wear at some point in-story - a great chance for me to draw Muromachi period kimono! ^^

So, to the first in the series...


Princess Kiyoko, niece of the seii-taishogun Ashigawa Yoshinobu.

"From the time they were presented, Ikeda Jin had met Ashigawa Kiyoko four other mornings, to bring her a daily dose of his medicinal infusion and to examine the waning cut on her ankle. This, however, was the first time Moegi wasn’t present at the time. Kiyoko assumed that her tutor was busy, perhaps helping Aoi to cense her lady’s uchiki...
Her absence was strangely enjoyable. "
(Kisetsu - Spring, Chapter 6: Bloom)



The kanji-hiragana reads her name, accompanied by her family's mon (crest). She wears toki-iro and usubeni pinks-based ensemble, and her uchiki features sakura (cherry blossom) motifs. All the motifs in her uchiki and kimono were drawn by me. 

Kisetsu - Spring is avaliable in portuguese on Amazon, and it's currently being translated to english!


13/08/2015

Pastel Snow White

I wanted to experiment a new, more "painterly" style... Something soft, with no lines and pastel tones. So, here's Snow White, in 1950's-ish cute clothes. :)


...I really liked the result, so you may expect more of these coming. ;)


05/08/2015

Kimono Q&A: Concubine/Consort Garments

From Orangenbluete on DeviantArt: "Can you tell me which kind of "Kimono" a concubine of a high ranking person (Shogun, Tairo) wore?"

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Hello! The garments of a concubine/consort of high-ranking men varied according to two factors: the time period and if they were civil or military aristocrats.

In Heian period (794-1185), the civil aristocracy (kuge) from the Imperial court retained political power - therefore, they were the high-ranking class. Court ladies (including wives, consorts and daughters of court officials and noblemen) wore junihitoe, ("12 layered robes", althoug the actual number of layers reached 20 in some periods). You can read/see more about junihitoe here, in this chart from my DeviantArt gallery.

A modern replica of Heian period junihitoe.

From the end of the Heian era, the military aristocracy (buke/samurai) gained more and more status, and the political power shifted towards figures like the shogun and provincial lords (daimyo), from the buke class. Samurai ladies wore simpler garments than civil/kuge ladies. During the Kamakura-Muromachi-Sengoku eras that followed, they wore kosode combined with thin obi and a few layers of outer robes (uchiki) over it - no more hakama or mo. Kosode was the "grandpa" of modern kimono, wider and with short sleeves, sewn to the main body - like in modern men's kimono.

This style with kosode+thin obi+uchiki was worn by high-ranking samurai ladies (including wives, consorts and 
daughters of the shogun and daimyo) during about Momoyama to Sengoku periods. The hair, as in Heian era, was worn 
long, loose or tied at back in suihatsu taregami style. Photo from Jidaya Arashiyama.

During the Edo period (1603-1868), the kosode slowly became less wide and the brocade/dying techniques advanced, transforming towards the kimono we know today. There was a lot of variation in fashion during the centuries. But, for an example of this period... At the XVIII century, wives and consorts of shogun/taiko/daimyo used to wear koshimakitsugata, i.e., "koshimaki style"- an over-robe tied at waist. Althou high-rank samurai ladies used to tie their uchiki at waist during summer since the Muromachi era, at the height of the Edo period this "evolved" into a specially flamboyant style, with a special obi to keep the uchiki's sleeves open while the koshimaki was worn.

From left to right: Sengoku period koshimaki style, worn on summer, and Edo period-style koshimaki. In Edo period, the special obi (koshimaki-obi) kept the sleeves open, creating a "wide wings" effect on the waist. Photos from the Kyoto Costume Museum.

 As typical from the Edo era (specially in its later period) straight low-tied hairstyles often changed into complex buns. Several styles existed, and were worn by specific class of women. Some hairstyles were for commoners, other for rich merchants, other for geisha, other for noblewomen, etc... This is not my specialty field, so I won't say much about it... ^^; But you can check out some examples of nihongami (traditional japanese hairstyles) and their use in this deviantart gallery.

A TV drama's costume of a lady from the Ooku - a term that despicted an isolated area of the castle were 
lived all women related to the shogun (or powerful daimyo), such as their mother, wife, consorts/
concubines and daughters. This costume is related to the Edo period.

Meanwhile, civil court ladies from the Imperial palace still wore very traditional junihitoe for formal occasions, even during much later periods than Heian. Junihitoe worn by Imperial family ladies in XIX century had little differences compared to Heian period ones. The most visible change was the hairstyle, called osuberakashi, that had a high "lamp-shape", and was worn with golden hair ornaments.

Heian era junihitoe (left) and end of Edo era junihitoe (right). The most significant change in Imperial 
ladies' formal garment during these distant periods was their hairstyle.

A close-up on Edo period osuberakashi hairstyle.

...I hope this helped at least a bit on answering your question, Orangenbluete! Sorry it's just a quick overview, but this is a quite wide topic (which I'm not an expert at, I must admit! ^^;). Any other questions or if you're interested in more about a specific time period for consort-concubine garments, feel free to ask!


24/07/2015

Kimono Q&A: Crests/Kamon and Kimono Formality

From Raxiell on DeviantArt: "I have a question as well /o/. In your tutorials, you say the outfit 'become more formal if crested'. What really is crested, how do I identify it? Sorry if it's a dumb question... '-'."

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It's not a dumb question at all! Please don't worry!

"Crested" means the kimono has crests on it. A japanese crest is called mon, and, as in western heraldics, represents a family, group, etc. A mon that specifically stands for a family (and not an organization/store/other kind of group) is called kamon. So a crested kimono features little symbols of the wearer's family, kamon, and therefore, is more formal.

The kamon in a crested kimono can be 1, 3 or 5. They are always put on the same position:

- 1 kamon (quite formal): under the eri (collar) at the back. 
- 3 kamon (formal): same as 1, plus both sleeves (over the elbow, more to the back)
- 5 kamon (super formal): same as 3, plus both front sides of the eri.

Super formal kurotomesode features all 5 kamon. Less formal kimono can feature no kamon, just the one at the 
back of the eri or that plus the ones at the sleeves. Beautifu kurotomesode found on K-Bridal.

Some kinds of kimono can have their formality "pushed up" by adding kamon (see the articles on kimono types for more details on each case). Other, like yukata, are too informal and never feature kamon. Why? Think that it's like wearing stilettos and a minaudière (you know, those tiny sparkly evening purses) with your gym sweater and shorts. It would just look unfitting together. ;p

I hope this answers your doubt, Raxiell! Thank you for your question! ^^


26/01/2015

Lovely Houmongi

Houmongi are one of my favourite kinds of kimono!



This pink/rose houmongi from K-Bridal is surely lovely! The circular motifs make such an interesting pattern flow, and the muted colors with this sprinkle of gold create a very harmonic and elegant palette. It's a traditional-style piece, but I think it's a bit more unique compared to the most common ones, pattern-wise. A great mix of creative and classical look!


I love the detailed motif. There are flowers from all seasons, a common "trick" for making the kimono wearable throughout the year.