Dogwood Blossoms, Chapter 2: Yamaboushi, p.01-07
Circa approximately 1663 AD.
Minor gore and dismemberment. I think y'all can handle it.
This update took MUCH longer than I wanted, mostly because I couldn't resist the pretty and so colored the entire thing. All kimono patterns where created by me in Illustrator. Mwah.
------------------------------
Stats: Inked by hand and photoshop; balloons, boxes, text, and kimono patterns done in Illustrator; aging textures a mixture of mayang stock, googled images, and lots of tweaking; all other colors and textures done by me in photoshop over too many hours. Many thanks to the beta group for help and suggestions. :)
------------------------------
Acknowledgments and Disclaimer: The fate of no one historical was changed by the making of this comic. Inuyasha-tachi belong to Takahashi Rumiko and everyone she has sold them to. This is a mostly nonprofit fan work that Iām really slowly putting too much work into because I'm a pathetic period-accuracy purist. All historical inaccuracies are the fault of myself--some deliberate, the rest out of ignorance. There is only so much time a girl can put into research for a fan project. Many thanks to the beta group for their help and suggestions.
104 thoughts on “Dogwood Blossoms – Chapter 2: Yamaboushi, p.01-07”
HexerGraf
Interesting style… I’m curious to see where this goes.
purplerebecca
Thanks! I hope you’ll enjoy the story. I’ve had a lot of fun with it. :]
Manda24
Awesomeness =D=D=D I looooove it! Keep up the great work.
P.S. I really like how you’ve drawn Sesshy. Kudos to the subtle changes in the wardrobe that still tie into his character:glomp:
purplerebecca
Thanks! XD
I plan on drastically changing his wardrobe later, so I figured I better keep it subtle now, and hopefully it’ll be less jarring later. :]
LovelyLadyGray
Very beautiful and fluid. Sessho-Maru does have a soft spot for humans in need of help, which means Inu-Yasha has influenced him.
In panel #10 Sessho-Maru means serious business when saving the 2 sisters from the hungry dragon.
The last panel was very cute as Sessho-Maru is silently saying I’ll carry your younger sister. :w00t:=)-(Can’t wait to see the next one!)
purplerebecca
Thanks! Hopefully I can get the next one out in less then a month. -_-;
These aren’t just any random humans. š
LovelyLadyGray
It’s my pleasure! I’ll be very eagerly awaiting the next installment. GOOD LUCK!
I have a feeling that they aren’t random humans. š
kitsuneudon
Oooh, I am definitely liking the style of this. Keep up the good work!
purplerebecca
Thanks!! ^_^
(Hey, what’scha been up to, chickagirl? Going to Animematsuri?)
kitsuneudon
Actually, been gearing up for a move to Austin for the next year. Maybe when things start settling down a bit I might be able to get away for cons again, but church work might keep me from traveling weekends… hm.. I feel like I’ve missed a lot since pulling away from apollocon.. I’ve kind of stopped going to cons at all in the last year, or it at least seems like it.. I have no sense of the passing of time.. A year can feel like a month, and a week can feel like a day these days.
Lately, I’ve taken to building a ball-jointed prototype doll. Planning on making custom dolls to sell, kind of a ‘nations of the world’ sort of theme. Should be cool. My first prototype is approx. 80% finished already, and it’s going suprisingly well. Almost as if I knew what I were doing, or something. š
purplerebecca
Wah, Austin! Well, have fun. š Is it for job, family, or just to move?
This last year was just terrible for me and cons, was only able to do one. This year looks to be no better, I can’t get off Fridays from work. š I like doing cons. poo-ness.
Know the feeling of time smaring together and moving. I think we’ve grown up. Waah.
Dolls! Cool. Is it a Korean ball-jointed doll, or are you casting and building it all yourself from scratch?
I’ve been wanting to do a Houston artist-gals get-together to the zoo or a museum or something, but my every weekend lately has been shot!
kitsuneudon
It’s mostly for family, and a chance to start a new life in a new town, to devote myself more to church duties and learn how a church should be run from the ground up. The plan is to help with a friend’s church for a year – my parents will be co-pastoring, and then they’ll be moving on to Florida after that to start up a sister church there. I’m still kind of learning my role in all of this, and I’ve currently no idea whether I’ll end up staying in Austin or will be moving to Florida as well. When the time comes, I’ll know, but until then I’ve got a lot to think about.
Yes, I think we are growing up, no matter how we try to drag our heels and fight it. :p
But yes, ze doll! He is my pride and joy, built from scratch and looking quite happy for being gray polimer clay. The plan is to make a cast of the finished prototype doll, and make resin dolls for sale in the somewhat distant but not too distant future. Currently, I’m somewhat stumped by the elbow and knee joints, and am trying a few different options to decide which way I want to go before I get too far ahead of myself. ^^; Once I’m there, it’s a simple matter of sculpting the hands and feet, making the arm & leg sculpts a bit more realistic with the muscle tone, and then it’ll be time to make the silicon castings. I’m so excited I could pop – and it’s really hard to step away from this project of mine to get the house cleaned and organized and ready to put on the market. Within the next two to three days I’ll have all the tools I need to start making my casts, so maybe soon I can start posting pictures of my progress… assuming I can find the digital camera.
KyaValentine
*speechless*
This is absolutely gorgeous.
purplerebecca
Aw, thanks! ^^
KyaValentine
š You’re welcome
paynesgrey
Beautiful chapter. I love seeing the color. What a nice flashback. I can’t wait to see more. You can really tell the hard work and effor you put into this. Wonderful job!
purplerebecca
Thank you! ^_^
lucathia_rykatu
Oh wow, the colors are beautiful. Very nice feel. The intricate patterns on the kimono…everything is just so detailed and pretty! ♥
The suspense!!
purplerebecca
Thank you! ^^ Glad you like it.
alterfano
i love the color. beautifully muted. and you’ve got sess dead on in characerization. well done!
purplerebecca
Thank you! ^^ He can be so hard. o.o;
alterfano
no kidding. i’m (trying) to write him as i type. i think it would be easier to get a block of wood to emote. @_@
Cheesegoddess
I totally love his outfit. I like the red ribbon he now has.
purplerebecca
Thanks! I figured in a hundred years he’d at least have a new kimono and obi. :]
Cheesegoddess
LOL, very very true. It makes me wonder what you’re going to do for him in “modern” times.
purplerebecca
It’s driving me nuts! (*kicks at him* You will wear a human disguise, you will wear modern clothes, and you will look like yourself!)
Obviously, I’m having a hard time with him. š
valkyrieblades
Wow. The colours are absolutely gorgeous, and I love Sesshoumaru’s face in the third panel. I was really looking forward to your next update, and you didn’t disappoint. Well done! ^_^
purplerebecca
Thanks! Yay! ^_^
valkyrieblades
I just realized that you simply tweaked Sesshoumaru’s clothes, since the pattern is very similar. Again, well done. Everything is so pretty (the oni, the style, Sesshoumaru’s personality being spot-on…). There is so much that I love about this update, I have to stop now before I start gushing… ^_^’
rumdiculous
OOOOMG. It’s gorgeous! And in full color too. Your Sesshoumaru design is just awesome!
purplerebecca
Thanks! ^^ (He’s hard, dangit. I have to get better at drawing him easily.)
rumdiculous
He IS hard to draw. Lots of details and what not.
wicked_oni
Gasp. Choke. Sputter. Sob. Is speechless. Has fallen off computer chair.
It’s gorgeous! Love the muted color scheme! The detail, patterns, the layout, the expressions! At this moment, you own my soul.
purplerebecca
Aw, thanks! ^___^ I’m so glad you like it. XD
wicked_oni
You’re very welcome!
From one Sess/Rin-shipper to another…thanks for giving me my moment of SQUEE yesterday!
yedijoda
Very nice.
purplerebecca
Thanks! ^^
(Your icon is total love.)
valkyrieblades
Hehe, I love your icon. ^_^
merimask
Just WOW. It was totally worth the wait…just spectacular. The colors are simply awesome and you KNOW how I feel about your depiction of Sesshoumaru. You managed to make him beautiful and masculine at the same time. Bravo!
purplerebecca
XD Thanks! ^^
Now I can finally get working on your pic! I was getting mighty tired of working on those pages. Too much tweaking.
shveta_thakrar
Gorgeous!
purplerebecca
Thanks! ^^
nokomarie
Very good. You know how to listen.
You need to do some modeling pics of Sessh and where his cheek stripes are going to wind up. No, stray bits of blowing hair will not cover this technical flaw.
A strongly jagged diagonal would do better for the attack sequence rather than the jumpy one.
And, this is a weirdie; I do read both jump comics and Japanese. I also, that having been said, read English comics. the reading direction is a little confusing and you have to determine where you are going. Are you using straight English or a version of Japanese? I don’t care but pick a direction and stick with it. That way you can give subtle cues in the placement of your pictures that will tip your readers off and make looking at the whole thing a better experience.
As ever, you do well enough to make me look. Isn’t that the thing after all?
purplerebecca
I try. :]
Where his cheek stripes end up, as in where they end and his ears begin? That’s ALways a problem. Takahashi just puts an unmoving piece of hair there at all times. Sesshy-markings are my most popular design when I do face painting at cons, and then I just have to fudge and end them as a solid line in front of con-goers’ ears. I can try to do a more set way for them, but it’s likely to continue to be a struggle.
I’m trying to flow left-to-right. The problem is I read mostly manga, so the compositions in my head are very right-to-left oriented. I’m trying to fix that. I’d hoped I’d done better on this page set. š I’ll keep working on it. I need to read some more English comics! (or manwa, that’d work š
Thanks for looking, Noko! I appreciate it. š
maria-jaujou
oh, the texturing looks so awesome! GREAT story telling so far š
purplerebecca
Thanks, Miss Ylla! ^_^
maria-jaujou
*blinks* just “ylla” or even “maria” is fine, dearie ^^
purplerebecca
Oh, but it’s fun! (I do that to everyone, no worries)
maria-jaujou
well, if you like doing it, who am i to stop you? lol ^^
Antigone17
Wah, IĀ“m always dying of suspense and onece again, you stop right when it gets interesting!
I like the colouring, but in the end, I prefer the b/w pages.
Still, I love the style and the story!
purplerebecca
Thanks!
Well, that’s good, because most of it will definitely be b&w. ^_^
Antigone17
ThatĀ“s great!
And I was wondering about one thing…
Where is Jaken?
I mean, heĀ“s been with Sess sooo long,did he finally leave?
lg
purplerebecca
He’ll show up next update. :]
fiver
O.O Beautiful is NOT the word.
*applaudes uproariously* Wow, wow, and WOW. This is absolutely fantabulous! I have to say, my favorite part has got to be the style . . . It looks just like a japanese woodcut-print! Inspired! It reads just like an old fable, too! I am soooo taken with this . . .
The coloring was worth the wait to see. Sesshomaru looks awesome! I love him done “Realist”! Little Mari is sooo sweet . . . I cannot praise this enough – and the last frame is point-blank gorgeous.
Will we be following more of this flashback? I’m really intrigued . . .
purplerebecca
Yay, thanks! ^^
Yup, we’ll get the whole story of how Sess got with Rin2. It should take just two more updates. It’s a self-contained little story.
kogarashi
Beautiful job. ^_^
The only suggestion I have here is to double-check on kimono patterns in Japan. If I recall from some ages-old research I did (i.e. reading it by chance online), only young, unmarried girls have a kimono pattern that covers the whole robe, rather than just parts of it. But I can’t recall if that information mentioned if this applies to men’s kimono/etc. or not. And I don’t know if it applies to ancient Japan, either.
Love the coloring!
smillaraaq
Kimonos for little girls or young, unmarried women definitely have the brightest colors and some of the most elaborate patterns, but I’m not entirely sure about them being the only ones with all-over patterns. Modern-day formal kimono for older/married women will have shorter sleeves and less of an allover pattern, and modern formal men’s kimono are usually plain, dark colors and may have little decoration beyond a few family crests — but even nowadays you may see allover patterning on men’s stuff in the way of uncolored designs woven directly into the fabric, and informal summer yukata for men or women often have printed designs over the whole thing. These modern conventions for plain colors/patterns mostly go back to the 19th century, though; styles would be different and quite possibly more elaborate in the Warring States period. http://www.wodefordhall.com/kosode.htm has a lot of links that might be helpful, particularly the Kyoto Costume Museum.
kogarashi
Thanks for the info. Like I said, I couldn’t remember, hence the suggestion to look it up. ^_^
purplerebecca
Ooh, great link, thanks! I’d lost that one. (I love SCA people.)
The Costume Museum is the most fabulous site EVR.
purplerebecca
Yeah, just looking through my ref photos, they definitely have hakama with allover designs, and plenty of kosode with large, steadily repeating designs. I tried to do that, but couldn’t make it look right, so I went with this one. I think it works alright. Thanks! ^^
I’ll be mixing it up later too.
kogarashi
Not a problem, and good on you to have that research done already! ^_^ ::files info away for future reference::
Sadisticsidhe
I love it but I have a question. Is the older sister or the younger sister the reincarnation of Rin? Or we will find out in the next update?
purplerebecca
Thanks! I’m glad. ^^
It should be obvious in the next update. Unless it isn’t, in which case, the 3rd will state it full out. Or I could stop being so mysterious and just tell you. :]
If it’s not obvious by the next update, let me know, and I’ll tell you.
š
j_luc_pitard
Wonderful work!
I’m a recent convert to the Inuyasha fandom (relatively longtime Spirited Away fan) and I’m friending you to see when the next update is. Very nice work.
purplerebecca
Re: Wonderful work!
Thanks! and Welcome. ^^
Ranuel
I really truly love your colors on this page. They manage to give the feel of an ink painting AND the soft feel of the colors of a really well colored comic from 40 years ago before the slick paper and digital coloring made everything so sharp and bright. As happy as I was to read the story thus far I almost wish I hadn’t discovered this yet. I want to find out what happens next and it doesn’t exist yet.
purplerebecca
Thank you! I’m so glad you are liking it.
I understand your feeling, I’d love to have it out and the story told too! I’m working on it, but it does take time. ^^
Charis
I am eternally wandering over to your gallery just to look at the pretties, and I always seem to find something I forgot to favorite earlier.
*sits around twiddling thumbs until the next update*