Well, here it is! My first contest entry for the club I'm currently apart of, Kimono Lovers. Come check us out. We're pretty awesome if I do say so myself.



The theme was "Hanami", or Cherry Blossom viewing, and I more or less knew what I wanted to do from the start.

I was inspired mainly by the "Bijinga" works of Shimura Tatsumi, a simply incredible artist, and got the pose from one of his works, but the drawing itself is all mine. I didn't really want to put Cherry Blossom trees in the background, but rather have the Kimono (and the model) be the Sakura that was being admired. I carried that theme over into my Kimono design, by having the sleeves and the bottom of the Kimono be like an Ukiyo-e design, or traditional Japanese artwork, with beautiful flowing women in fanciful Kimono admiring the Cherry Blossoms. It's more of a formal Kimono I would suppose, especially with the elaborate Obi (Which is a pattern of brightly colored fans and, of course, Sakura Blossoms).

Whenever I think of Hanami, I always tend to think of the beautiful Cherry Blossoms in varying shades of pink against a bright blue sky, and in the Kimono, that sky eventually fades to a white at the top. Her hair is decorated with various decorations, as well a pin consisting of pale pink Sakura Blossoms. She holds a golden fan to round it all out.

Hope you all like it! My Scanner kind of ate some of the color, so I apologize for any flaws!

Copyright:
Pose: Shimura Tatsumi
Drawing: ShoShanaShira 2009

Materials: #2 Pencil, Inking Pen, Prisma Colored Pencils, Regular Paper