Geisha Birthday Present - Work In Progress

This weekend I’ve been working on a birthday present for my mother. She really loves Geisha (I don’t think she knows what they do for a job lol) and a couple of years ago I bought her a geisha doll which has pride of place in her bedroom. This year I want to give her a painting to hang next to it.

After looking around I found a photo by the talented Greg Elms who has very kindly given me permission to use his photo as a starting point for my mothers gift.

Below are a set of working progress photos, I’m about 50% finished and I’m loving how it’s going. I would go as far as to say it’s the best watercolour I’ve ever done!

My first step was to make a rough sketch so that I could get a idea of where I wanted to put the features and where the shades and fabric folds are. The kimono the geisha is wearing is very intricate so I have reduced the detail a little to prevent my pore brain getting dizzy!

My next step was to paint the black fabric of the kimono. I spent about an hour getting the shades and folds correct before adding any other details.

Next I put down some of the other blocks of colour including the face paint which was way too dark at this point. I was confident I would be able to correct it though.

Hair and some more detail in the kimono. The face has now been corrected.

Finally this is where I am at the moment. The face and hair are now completely finished. The kimono will need a lot more work before it’s finished and I need to add some more butterflies to the obi. I also need to lighten the skin on her hands and add some detail to the basket she is holding so lots more to do!