Gracie Woodblock

This is the original woodblock for Gracie. It is called The Geisha Itsutomi by Chobunsai Eishi (1756-1815)

 

There are a lot of soft folds on the red undergarment. However with the tatewaku effect it is difficult to do a lot of them. I put in one fold by couching in a guideline and then breaking the lattice lines along the fold.

 

The tatewaku effect is more difficult to do than I expected. Maybe I should have used a 1F for the 2 side stitches. They are too subtle to see when done. And I forgot to check to make sure that the diamonds line up both horizontally and vertically - oh well.

I have not couched in the fold yet. In fact I may add in an extra fold by just couching on top of the tatewaku diamonds. I will sleep on that.

 

Kimono Undergarments

I used a very pale cream color for the knots in the lattice holding of the butterscotch undergarment, as gold knots fade too much into the foundation. Most of the round knots did not turn out with the perfect "S" shape according to Susan Stevens instructions.  They are small enough that I hope they won't be obvious.

Then I started on the red underskirt. The static electricity was really bad today, even with licking the thread a lot, so didn't do much. I hope it's the winter condition and not a property of the red silk.
I am considering adding a fold on the red skirt - like in the original woodblock - to give it a little softness. That will involve "breaking" the steam rising (tatewaku) novel effect along the fold, and couching on a fold line. I am apprehensive as I haven't seen anybody else doing it.