Art Gallery – Chibi Kokeshi

This adorable little kokeshi doll is by Linda Kentie of Oranda Kitsuke. Several years ago, she was creating these precious little gifts for facebook friends whenever their birthdays rolled around. I’ve been meaning to share mine for years, and I finally remembered to do so! She did a wonderful job of re-recreating my first-ever kimono outfit. She also knows how much I love all things cephalopod and included the sweet little pink octopus on my head! I love this art so much. <3

Art Gallery – Memento Mori

This is a very special piece. My friend Olga K, an incredibly talented and creative illustrator, decided to draw something inspired by my kimono obsession, but with plenty of room for experimentation and personal expression. I love this piece so much, all the depth and colour of it, and how Olga put her own personal twist on the outfit while still keeping a very clear stylistic connection to traditional kimono and Japanese arts. Every time I look at it, I notice new details that I hadn’t seen previously.

It may not be typical kimono artwork, but I think it’s all the more special because of that.

Art Gallery – Beautiful traditional-style digital artwork

I paid more for this (in Gaia Online game currency) than I generally would for a commission, but Lutherum‘s style and skill level were absolutely perfect for what I had in mind. He did an incredible job of replicating all the details of the outfit, especially considering how ornate and fussy this particular kimono is. He was also already familiar with proper kimono and kitsuke, so I didn’t have to explain details or anything, which was nice. I also really love how the artist merged his own personal style with a more traditional sumi-e painting style, and sort of desaturated the colours to give the piece a more cohesive feel.

Art Gallery – More kimono artwork

This is a fairly old piece, but I still love it to bits. It’s got a really pretty ethereal anime feel, which is in rather stark contrast to how rumpled I looked when I actually wore this outfit. Thank goodness for artistic liberties, right?

The artist was very pleasant to and worked with me to ensure I’d be happy with the final product, and I really am. To see a larger version, you can either click the image or visit the artist on her DeviantArt page.

Art Gallery – Incredibly detailed vector art

This piece was actually done for a contest on Gaia, and it was definitely one of the most amazing entries I received. As you may know, this particular furisode is incredibly special to me so of course I’m going to be biased when it comes to artwork of it. But look at the sheer amount of detail in this piece. The artist, Elsa Lee, put in a painstaking amount of work to faithfully reproduce the pattern on the kimono. What’s more, can you believe she did it with a mouse?! My hand hurts just thinking about it.

If you want to see the incredibly high-resolution version of this (and believe me, you do!), you can check it out on Elsa’s DeviantArt account