Geisha Sakura

Faber-Castell Polychromos

Koh I Noor Toisin d'Or pastel (background)

Strathmore 500 Series 2 ply Bristol Plate, 11 x 14 inch

Licensed: DepositPhotos

I have to confess that I have always been fascinated by Japanese culture. It really is one country that I would love to spend considerable time. Conversation may be initially limited as my knowledge of the Japanese language is restricted to about 5 words: one is alcoholic, one a paper folding art and one is snow. I was clearly a fast learner as a wee young bairn when Japanese students stayed, but I am sure I would pick it up quickly now!

So, on to this piece... it was my first outing with Strathmore 500 plate and I absolutely loved it. I would love some thicker 4 ply, but it seems rarer than Giraffe eggs. It had a little warp on it, so the first order of the day was to wet it completely on the back and stretch it. That worked a treat, I held my breathe the entire time, this is pricey stuff!

Rough outlines drawn, I started with the background. Despite sounding like an ice cream, the koh I noor soft pastel covers quickly and effectively. Two layers, fixative applied, another layer and final fix, didn't even get much on me for a change. Bonus!

The dark grey background section between arm and face was completed first: the value was important as it needed to be in the Goldilocks zone to allow the eye lash to show when added later.

Hair and decorations came next, taking care to reproduce the lovely sheen and precise styling from the photo. I think my pandemic enforced self-hair cutting skills helped a little here. Maybe.

I had a heap of fun weaving the silk kimono, blocking in the main areas first and building the fold layouts as I went. Then it was on to the wonderful decorations, refining my rough outlines as I went, developing them flat initially and then adjusting values for shadowed areas and folds. The Sakura part of the name apparently means cherry blossom (not pigment marker!), this featured throughout.

Some embroidery, fabric folds and cord followed before finally coming back to the face, which I opted to leave until last on this occasion. The skin was an interesting experience with beautiful colours, reflections and shadow to play with. I didn't transfer much detail initially as I am inherently lazy and it was too intricate, so some careful measurements and dead reckoning were needed to place the features before finishing them off.

So there you have it, a quick scan and all done! I had so much fun with this one, love the paper and will definitely use again. Hope you like it too. Off to expand my Japanese vocab now, sayanora! 🖖