Q on Samurai yukata colors

[Russ]

Hey, all -

I've started laying in the basic colors and shade areas on the El Greco samurai bust (1/12). Having just begun, I'm not looking for critiques, but rather color advice.

I'm pretty sold on the bright(er) blue for the main color of the yukata (is that correct? The kimono wrap), but I'm still thinking about the broad edging around the neck on that garment.

I'm considering gold-colored, but thinking that might be too flashy for this bust, and might even draw too much attention away from the face. Alternatives might include white, black, gray, or dark blue. I assume there wasn't a set palette, but wondering if any particular hues were more common (authentic) than others.

Any help will be appreciated!

 

[Oda]

Hi Russ,
Great job so far.Looking forward to seeing this finished.Colour options are entirely up to taste of course so let me add one or two points of historical accuracy for you to use (or discard for that matter).
a) In pre-modern Japan all dyes were natural and mainly vegetable derived which means that mainly "muted" colours and tints were achieved.The rich could go round that by having their fabrics enriched in a variety of ways (gold thread,weaving,embroidering,stamp printing)
b) In the Edo Period (roughly mid 17th-late 19th century) the Tokugawa family ruled as hereditary Shoguns establishing a kind of strict,neo-Confucian government,meaning that almost ALL aspects of life were regulated.Colour was one of these.Very bright colours,especially pink were the prerogative of only the very top layers of the socioeconomic stratum.These regulations were actually enforced by law.
That of course does not mean that you cannot use whatever colour you want,it just means that you'll be placing him within the social and economic structure of his society by your choice of colours.

Oda.

 

[Mirofsoft]

Yukata is a kind of kimono. Reportedly, it originated in the yukatabira (a light garment for bathing) of the Heian period



Heian period kimono
https://www.google.com/search?q=heian period kimono&tbm=isch&source=univ&fir=6JfO0ghY_a3SsM%2CO7o2cKlCXTH4uM%2C_%3B0WkWYjSBz3I9-M%2Ch6xIXoyygZ_D3M%2C_%3B-8-uSLxcBh7uxM%2CNBai-tf9Kh1qDM%2C_%3BnaoPFKVigui0NM%2CWWcJmn1Kp0iL_M%2C_%3BEF1oNB_LJYBDIM%2CXld4Ld1TLuPUyM%2C_%3BBm0siUNOFtx-dM%2CPiDAwC3R7Aw-PM%2C_%3BmazQab9qc8SEaM%2C2ARrvbQZ0i7UjM%2C_%3BTjm9WrOaQDkBwM%2CWWcJmn1Kp0iL_M%2C_%3BZIbMRqZqlhiZsM%2Cawyaw7kATNMFHM%2C_%3BshvohJcCQHqM5M%2ChyYbG--Dzoa8OM%2C_%3BQ9DWwxHndQ7w-M%2CMiQKkKsyB5OVFM%2C_%3Bzyq-ZacLRtGRlM%2CDnzD6IeP4rWprM%2C_%3Brmn7qZBXrStpvM%2CPiDAwC3R7Aw-PM%2C_%3BIJgk921RA7ZriM%2CHxP0Jv7Ts0-nqM%2C_%3BLmc0RixVMugFnM%2CUrwnPpN63ZA6aM%2C_%3BSEquEUaTTK3tZM%2ChyYbG--Dzoa8OM%2C_&usg=AI4_-kTwnSugZ-Weccdmc8jKxVXxH6Yt3Q&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi0ycH-zMH8AhVXy7sIHWtqBWYQjJkEegQICBAC&biw=1282&bih=559&dpr=1.5

So, simple, perhaps add the House symbol
Or be complex, see him as fabulously rich, see the one of the Edo period
https://daily.jstor.org/the-surprising-history-of-the-kimono/

 

[Oda]

Yukata is a kind of kimono. Reportedly, it originated in the yukatabira (a light garment for bathing) of the Heian period



Heian period kimono
https://www.google.com/search?q=heian period kimono&tbm=isch&source=univ&fir=6JfO0ghY_a3SsM%2CO7o2cKlCXTH4uM%2C_%3B0WkWYjSBz3I9-M%2Ch6xIXoyygZ_D3M%2C_%3B-8-uSLxcBh7uxM%2CNBai-tf9Kh1qDM%2C_%3BnaoPFKVigui0NM%2CWWcJmn1Kp0iL_M%2C_%3BEF1oNB_LJYBDIM%2CXld4Ld1TLuPUyM%2C_%3BBm0siUNOFtx-dM%2CPiDAwC3R7Aw-PM%2C_%3BmazQab9qc8SEaM%2C2ARrvbQZ0i7UjM%2C_%3BTjm9WrOaQDkBwM%2CWWcJmn1Kp0iL_M%2C_%3BZIbMRqZqlhiZsM%2Cawyaw7kATNMFHM%2C_%3BshvohJcCQHqM5M%2ChyYbG--Dzoa8OM%2C_%3BQ9DWwxHndQ7w-M%2CMiQKkKsyB5OVFM%2C_%3Bzyq-ZacLRtGRlM%2CDnzD6IeP4rWprM%2C_%3Brmn7qZBXrStpvM%2CPiDAwC3R7Aw-PM%2C_%3BIJgk921RA7ZriM%2CHxP0Jv7Ts0-nqM%2C_%3BLmc0RixVMugFnM%2CUrwnPpN63ZA6aM%2C_%3BSEquEUaTTK3tZM%2ChyYbG--Dzoa8OM%2C_&usg=AI4_-kTwnSugZ-Weccdmc8jKxVXxH6Yt3Q&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi0ycH-zMH8AhVXy7sIHWtqBWYQjJkEegQICBAC&biw=1282&bih=559&dpr=1.5

Splendid research and info.

Oda.

 

[Nap]

Great question Russ

I learn more ref the samurai

Maybe Yellowcat will add

Look forward to seeing more on the bust

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Mirofsoft]

Great question Russ

I learn more ref the samurai

Maybe Yellowcat will add

Look forward to seeing more on the bust

Happy benchtime

Nap

OK Nap I don't know why, but here a yellow cat

 

[Bundook]

If you want authenticity (and not one of those baroque Russian confections) don't go overboard with bright colours and complex patterns. Look at ukiyoe prints from the period. This page has some examples taken from the art but drawn as modern fashion-plates.

 

[Mirofsoft]

Not bright !

 

[Russ]

Holy Moley, Mirosoft - I don't think I'll be painting that design in ANY scale, anytime soon.

 

[Oda]

Not bright !
View attachment 460230

A silk kimono of the finest quality today can reach up to several thousands of dollars or euro.This was true in the past too.Silk nevertheless was never available to the masses.Starting in the 16th century cotton became-progressively-the dominant material for clothing.Samurai of rank would add strips of rich silk brocades on their Jinbaori(usually woolen or cotton) to make them more elegant or lavish but as a general rule such bright and expensive garments were available only to the court of the emeperor and later to that of the Shogun.

Oda.