Colours for Sengoku era Peasants

[fred]

Hi all

I’m hoping for some suggestions from the collective wisdom of LAF!

I have a lot (low 100s probably) of 10mm Japanese Sengoku era peasants to paint up. And I’m after some suggestions around colours, and even suggestions of frequency of colours vs plain materials.

I’m after something historically plausible rather than it having to be super accurate - as a bit of visual interest is always good. And a sea of off-white, grey and pale brown feels a bit dull.

I will definitely be painting these on painting sticks in batches, so being able to do every sixth shirt (for example) in a colour speeds things along.

[FierceKitty]

Bulk dying of indigo cloth is a Japanese folk craft. Might be a pleasant contrast to the usual washed out vegetable dye effects?

[joekano]

You can try the Costume Museum in Kyoto for ideas:
https://www.iz2.or.jp/english/

[fred]

Thanks both. The indigo is a great bit of info, and reinforced by the customer museum link - which has a few peasant examples, most of which are  various pale shades of brown…