Geishas Partying

#shigenobu #japaneseprint #surimono

GEISHAS PARTYING

This surimono shows 3 geishas rehearsing their music or possibly playing for their own pleasure and not a patrons?

Notice how they look at each other smiling and not outwards at any onlookers and one of them has loosened her hair or hasn't finished arranging it while one is reinserting a loose comb and has her robes loosened too and the woman with the samisen is chatting to the zither player perhaps about the sheet of song lyrics ?

I wish I could read 18th japanese cursive. 

Enjoy !

COMING SOON 7 ODD ZHI

Hoping soon - well this week - an #E-book #pdf called

7 ODD ZI 

This will be a medley of images of art  

my own and others plus info and stories and sheer speculation about 7 of my favorite ZI

It will be published via my 

JVartndesign Patreon midweek 

#Shigenobu #japaneseprint #cosplay #geisha

GEISHA TRULY BEING "ART" PERSONS !

The Geisha of Osaka had a procession of historical and legendary personages from Japan and Chinese that includes cross dressing male roles.

Yes she is wearing a kimono but the large sleeves of the haori and the style of the hat / headress and fan indicate this is suppose to be someone Chinese!

I'll try to find some more of these!

Jakuchu - Plum Blossoms and the Moon

#jakuchu #plumblossoms #moon #scroll #painting

Jakuchu a 18th century Japanese painter was known for colorful works but in this painting his approach is both minimalist and maximalist. The tones are simple mostly gray with a hint of brown on the trunk and branches and the moon is a flat circle. Yet behold the glorious complexity of the crossing branches thick and thin like the brush strokes used to render them and the mass of white plum blossom is almost Rimpa style!

Shigenobu's Dragon Princess

#Shigenobu #ukiyo-e #cosplay

The Ukiyo-e Artist Shigenobu is known for Bijinga and Shunga and landscapes but also created a unique and wonderful record of a famous geisha costume procession held in Osaka in which Geisha dressed as famous people from both Chinese and Japanese or at least how they thought such characters dressed. It was perhaps more an ancestor of cosplay?

This woman choose to dress as Otohime a Dragon Princess with a Dragon head-dress and a costume with an outer robe patterned to suggest scales.

I managed to find another image showing a close up.

Bizarre yet Beautiful. 

Chen Hong Shou - Plum

Some #ChinesePainting for a change #plumtree by #chenhongshou

There are dozens of plum tree paintings online but this eye caught my eye during a random search due to the curve of the branches around the rock. Its Ming dynasty.

Shigenobu - Lady and Plum Trees

#Shigenobu #plumtrees #surimono #Japaneseprint

To Farewell Plum Season here's a #Shigenobu Print.

Special features to note

Angles of branches echoing drapes of robes 

This is a Lady / Courtier of the Heian era possibly a famous poet ?

Color balance blacks and reds showing what you can do with a limited palette 

Had Shigenobu been looking at some early Ukiyo-e prints with a limited color range?

Note how the branch creates depth despite the need for white space to add text ?

Shunman and Butterflies

#Shunman #japaneseprints #butterflies

SHUNMAN AND BUTTERFLIES

I've shared this one before but a long while ago. let's take another look at it together!

This is a print design by Shunman an very under valued artist. He's not as well known as Utamaro Hiroshige Hokusai or others but he covered a variety of themes in his work which have a certain quiet excellence.

Things I've noticed about Shunman designs.

Balanced layouts. Use of white space. Tones which give the colorist something to work with.

We have no surviving watercolors that I know of by this artist but the excellent of the coloring suggests he either made careful notes or showed the printer his color sketches.

Note that the arrangement distributes the colors to aid both the composition and probably make it easier for the printer to apply colors. Remember with this form of printing the black ink comes first and colors are separate blocks! Finally note how the gradient suggests the curve of the wings!