I mentioned how last month I was furiously working away on the wedding invitations. After making and sending them all I realized I didn’t make an extra for us to keep, or at least to scan… but I do have the digital files of the images. They look OK on the screen, I think, but they were really intended to be printed on Japanese paper, so the effect isn’t quite the same. On the rough, handmade paper with tons of little fibers and pigments in it, the pictures looked really nice, I think. But here it is anyway just to show:

Irises

The irises were printed in the corner of the envelope, which had a dyed gradient across it.

Otaki Shrine

This was the main invitation. It’s very dark because it was printed to go underneath a piece of vellum-like washi which had the text and information on it; it was sort of a backdrop piece. Anyway, this is the big, ancient shrine in the mountains where we will be married.

Pi-chan

It’s Pi-chan, of course! She was printed on the RSVP return postcards.

Anyway, these images don’t really do justice to the whole piece, which turned out to have a very cool handmade wedding feel to it. I’m really happy with how it turned out.

As much I hate to admit it, Golden Week is over. I’m really glad I didn’t get tonsillitis this year, so I could fully enjoy it finally. I rented about 20 DVD’s during the 100 yen DVD sale, and painted almost every day. I also found a new art store in Takefu right near my house (pity that I’m moving in a few months) and spent a lot of time with Hitomi’s (and now my, I guess) family, working on their farm/garden, and relaxing. I painted a lot of my Warhammer army too. All-in-all, it feels like a squeenzed an awesome month into an 8 day spread, so I’m really happy. Returning to work after such a vacation has been like returning to doom, but there’s only a few weeks left of it so I can push through. Anyway, here are my panting fiesta results:

Mt. Hino from Murasaki Shikibu Park

Mt. Hino from the Hino River

Mt. Hino from the Hino River (different style)

Spiderweb in Ajimano Gardens

The first 3 are oils and the final one is gouache and ink. I actually did 1 more piece of Hitomi in her kyuudo outfit riding a giraffe and firing arrows on a red, ringed planet in space… but it’s still wet so I couldn’t scan it. I’m really enjoying painting with gouache — the two pieces I’ve done on Japanese boards so far turned out nice for me. I think I’ll continue using it when I can.