Latest project sneak peek.

[Saionji Shonagon]

I'd been thinking I wanted to do something with dragonflies ever since we lost Date Saburou Yukiie-dono this summer. They were part of his mon and I thought their associations with victory might be auspicious for another kosode I could fight in.

The linen is from fabrics-store.com and is behaving nicely with the paints: Lumiere bright gold and Neopaque white. I should mention that I am using commercially available stencils. If you look carefully and have a good idea of the sizes you need to get a good, period looking effect, there's no reason you have to cut your own. The dragonflies are about 3 1/2 inches from antennae to tail and grouped as pairs give a big enough repeats.

[Ishida Kentarou Mitsumasa]

Which weight of Fabrics-Store linen are you using? That level of detail is something that I'm not sure I believe I could get using some of the looser weaves they have.

[Saionji Shonagon]

Dec 29, 2013 14:30:27 GMT -5 Ishida Kentarou Mitsumasa said:

Which weight of Fabrics-Store linen are you using? That level of detail is something that I'm not sure I believe I could get using some of the looser weaves they have.

It was an IL019 midweight and I believe the color was Crimson. That said, the weave can vary from bolt to bolt. If you remember, the linen I got for Lash-dono's kamishimo was problematic for painting.

[Deleted]

Dec 29, 2013 13:01:57 GMT -5 Saionji Shonagon said:

The linen is from fabrics-store.com and is behaving nicely with the paints: Lumiere bright gold and Neopaque white. I should mention that I am using commercially available stencils. If you look carefully and have a good idea of the sizes you need to get a good, period looking effect, there's no reason you have to cut your own. The dragonflies are about 3 1/2 inches from antennae to tail and grouped as pairs give a big enough repeats.

Are you brushing the paint on, or "pouncing" it with a spongy applicator? I've never quite gotten the hang of stenciling.

Are you making a regularly repeating pattern, or applying the stencils wherever your artistic heart leads?

[Saionji Shonagon]

I'm tapping the paint on with a round headed stencil brush. The key is to tap some of it off onto a paper towel first so it's not overly wet when you start laying it onto the fabric. I'm having a little bleed on some of the wings because the stencil cuts are so fine, but if I keep my touch light it's not too bad.

The dragonflies are paired as a regular repeat, the flowers are being scattered among them randomly.