I dragged my feet on getting to this one, partly because Murasaki is so iconic - not just the character, but as a representation of the author of the Tale of Genji herself. This piece is not quite as glittery as Genji… but still pretty glittery with Amethyste du l’Oural and Night Sky inks.
The lady of the west wing, the lady of spring, and Genji’s main love. The author, Murasaki Shikibu, was given her pseudonym from the character; Shikibu was her father’s court position. Her writing was already immensely popular in her own time, but she appears to have been a fairly introverted person who was at times annoyed by the drunken shenanigans of the court she was part of. The character is heavily associated with purple, and indeed, murasaki means purple - but the plant she is named for is actually white. Its roots are used to make purple dye. This drawing also references a well-known story that Murasaki was inspired to write the Tale of Genji while gazing upon the light of the moon overlooking Lake Biwa, at the Buddhist temple Ishiyamadera.
I don’t typically post an illustration grouping with the solo artwork, but conceptually I think it was pretty key for this piece. You can read the pair as Hikaru Genji and his true love Murasaki no Ue - or as the author Murasaki Shikibu in the process of killing her most famous creation through the blank chapter (Kumogakure/Vanished into the Clouds) that symbolizes Genji’s death.
I’ll post this on my instagram account shortly, with a video of the shimmering ink layers!
EDIT: Fixed a mistake lol