Making my own holiday cards is fun. I like taking time to make something for someone I care about.
![Payne’s grey watercolor and black ink in a circle at the left of a rounded-corner postcard. The scene represented is that of grey misty mountain tops and black trees in the foreground. There is a golden outline near the edges of the card which I painted with a thin brush and liquid gold ink. The bottom right has my signature: a red Japanese kanji meaning roughly “comes from near the sea”, my nickname and the date.](https://blog.koalie.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/img_6215.jpg)
![Watercolor mixing yellow and red, golden ink, and blue-green ink brushpen. This represents a flower, stem and leaves. This card is painted in portrait orientation. There is a golden outline near the edges of the card which I painted with a thin brush and liquid gold ink. The bottom right has my signature: a red Japanese kanji meaning roughly “comes from near the sea”, my nickname and the date.](https://blog.koalie.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/img_6216.jpg)
![I used Ink brushpens in geranium red and deep green to paint this orchid. The leaves occupy the top right part of the card and the long curved inflorescence with bearing flowers and buds occupies the rest of the space. There is a golden outline near the edges of the card which I painted with a thin brush and liquid gold ink. The bottom right has my signature: a red Japanese kanji meaning roughly “comes from near the sea”, my nickname and the date.](https://blog.koalie.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/img_6217.jpg)
![Black ink brushpen and a few touches of geranium red ink for this Japanese crane between a tree with a few red blossoms and some tall blades of grass. There is a golden outline near the edges of the card which I painted with a thin brush and liquid gold ink. The bottom right has my signature: a red upside down (by mistake) Japanese kanji meaning roughly “comes from near the sea”, my nickname and the date.](https://blog.koalie.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/img_6230.jpg)
![Gouache paint for this colorful half head of a Buddha-like statue. This is really not my usual style, but I LOVED IT. I usually go for very detailed or very minimalistic, but this is in between with big patches of colors where color values are. Colors used are pink, yellow, orange, brown, light blue and dark blue. The bottom right has my signature: a red Japanese kanji meaning roughly “comes from near the sea”, my nickname and the date.](https://blog.koalie.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/img_6554.jpg)
Making my own holiday cards is fun. I like taking time to make something for someone I care about.
This series focuses on Japanese women in traditional attire.
Lantern. Woman in kimono, holding a paper lantern. I used a grey ink brush pen from Kuretake, indigo ink Cambio brush pen, my black ink Pentel Brushpen, and a touch of red watercolor.
Tea. Two women having tea, kneeling on a platform by the water. Again I used a grey ink brush pen from Kuretake, indigo ink Cambio brush pen, my black ink Pentel Brushpen, and a touch of yellow, green and red watercolor.
Wagasa (Japanese paper umbrella). Delicate young woman, holding an umbrella and wearing a white veil over her head. I used a Seiboku ThinLINE grey brush pen for the outline, a fine black line maker for the face and hands, my grey ink brush pen from Kuretake for the background, black ink Pentel Brushpen for the wagasa and Obi (belt), watercolor for the coat decorations and a white Posca pen for the motifs inside the coat and on the Obi.
Maiko. Very quick drawing using a Seiboku ThinLINE grey brush pen. This maiko (apprentice Geisha) is checking her reflection in a portable round mirror, and adjusting her hair.
Onna Bugeisha (female warrior). I got carried away sketching the detail work of her kimono, so I finished the piece in pencil and snapped a photo. But I wanted it in ink, so I erased much of it. See next.
Onna Bugeisha (female warrior) in grey ink.
I drew something else during the flight back from Japan, using watercolours from my portable set.
For this piece, I painted both the sheet of watercolour paper and the frame, using a textured golden paint. This is for Naomi.