[images: photos of the genjimonogatari art/card deck showcasing 1) the cover of the mint tin container; 2) the mint tin open with back of card lying on the lid and Flower of Purple card on the top of the pile; 3) rows of the cards laid out neatly; 4) the cards with Moon Above the Gate card on top; 5) a hand holding the cards from the side to show their edges and the trim of the art]
It’s here!! Yaaaay!!
Years of reading, rereading, drawing and obsessing later, I’m super excited to be able to say that the genjimonogatari card deck is a reality!
It’s a portable mini-art deck featuring all 55 illustrations I created in the Genjimonogatari series from 2018 to 2022 in ink and watercolour and comes in a cute little mint tin. You can enjoy it as a straightforward visual art deck, or use it as a tool to help deepen your understanding of the many fascinating themes and relationships in the Tale of Genji - and as a playable deck for fun minigames!
If you check out the product page, there’s a companion PDF booklet - for free, you don’t need to buy the physical deck to be able to download and read it!
It includes:
A high-level introduction to the Tale of Genji and why it’s so amazing
Ideas and examples for using the deck as a tool and to create/play an assortment of simple Tale of Genji-themed games
An overview of all 55 cards by illustration accompanied by my amateur attempt at compressing the richness of every single character down to one very short paragraph each to help you get to know them
A big thank you to @ancient-trees (who creates a wonderful fantasy adventure webcomic called Tamuran) for helping me to review the booklet. (Any mistakes are my own. If you find any horrible glaring typos/issues in the booklet, let me know and I will do my best to update/correct where possible. I have spent way too long flipping back and forth on footnotes and commentary and references… so grateful for Royall Tyler’s detailed footnotes and appendices!)
You guys all know these dresses right? Both of these are made from thrifted linen skirts, so you can make one! Make sure the skirt can fit your chest, and you're ready to go!
Materials + tools : thrifted flared skirt, misc fabric scraps or lining fabric, embroidery threads or lace, scissors, scalpel/seam ripper, sewing machine, chalk, iron.
Step 1 - Lay out your chosen flared skirt. Material is important, go for something sturdy eg linen or needle cord. Find a scalpel/boxcutter/ seam ripper.
Step 2 - Remove waistband lining, waistband, and zip to use later. Use your seam ripper or scalpel etc to cut the stitches so we dont waste any material.
Step 3 - Lay skirt with zip gap at the back. Chalk/ mark round a sewing pattern or your favourite sundress to map out the neckline and arm holes should be.
Step 4 - Cut arm holes. Take waistband and cut in half for shoulder straps. Get your fabric lining/scraps ready. Mark round the straps and the top of the skirt onto your lining fabric and cut out. These pieces will help make your dress neat and strong! Make sure theres a space for the zip.
Step 5 - Sew your straps ; place fabric and lining right sides together and seam the long edges to make a tube with a gap at each end. Turn the tube inside out et voila. Iron both straps flat.
Step 6 - Sew your neckline ; sew sides of lining together. Place lining right side down on outside of skirt. Take your straps and tuck in between lining and skirt. Sew all around the top edge, including the straps. Flip the lining round to the inside and iron.
Step 7 - Add the zip, by any means necessary. It's hard, please do your best/ check out your preferred YouTube zip sewing tutorials.
Step 8 - try it on! This will help you figure out where to attach your straps to the back of your dress. Getting a friend to help is a good idea. When you have them where you like them, pin and sew your straps. You can also make your dress more fitted by taking in the sides or adding a waist tie.
Step 9 - Decorate! Lace? Embroidery? Collar? Doilies? Pockets??? Go wild!!!
Optional step 10 please show me if you make one 💕🌱💕
Kikyo Gate (Kikyomon), from the series “Twenty Views of Tokyo (Tokyo nijukkei)”, Kawase Hasui, 1929, Art Institute of Chicago: Asian Art
Gift of Oliver Statler Size: 38.9 x 26 cm (15 5/16 x 10 ¼ in.) Medium: Color woodblock print; oban
https://www.artic.edu/artworks/87304/
Wake up babe new fish dropped
good morning cruel world
Oh wow there’s a LOT of sewing & historical costuming content coming up this week! (July 30th-August 2nd, 2020)
Costume College, an annual convention focused on historical clothing, has obviously had to be cancelled, so people are doing a lot of livestream panels and putting up various tutorials and stuff online instead.
once, according to myth
a boy saw himself too clearly
bruised his knees on river rocks
strained his neck to keep seeing
a girl saw him too,
too clearly, too sweetly
hollowed out her heart
carved out her ribs to see his smile
knelt between the rocks until
her limbs and words turned to stone
his thoughts echoed back
from the cavern of her chest’s cavity
so this is the act of loving,
she thought,
and never said a word
— to Narcissus, from Echo
I don’t think a Shakespeare production needs to be innovative to be good.
A lot of the best stage and film adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays are relatively simple and straightforward. They don’t use flashy tricks or strange setting choices. The directors simply let the text shine. You don’t need to put a new spin on Shakespeare to make it good; all you need are good actors who understand the text.
Of course, I have nothing against creative production choices! I love them when they’re done well. But I think we need to bring back our appreciation for well-done, classical stagings, because they’re absolutely delightful.
THANK YOU
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again! Its ok to have tv shows that tell white stories! Like please there is no need for the white lotus to be diverse! The point of it is that its seriously some white people shit and THAT IS OK! As long as we have other shows that also tell black stories and asian stories as well as shows that are diverse in their universe WE ARE GOOD! Not every show needs diversity but the TV landscape itself MUST be diverse!
what if bird,,, was big