The floating clouds painted on the ceiling of the Izumo Shrine are used as the motif on the Platinum Izumo Yakumo Byakudan. Starting with an ebonite cap and barrel, gold leaf is first applied to the entire surface. A sea of clouds is then painted around the pen with silver powder and kinsunago (gold dust) is spread throughout as an accent. Additional floating clouds are then painted in brightly colored urushi: red, green, and orange. To accentuate the design, the outlining has been drawn in silver. Lastly, multi-layers of sukiurushi (transparent lacquer) are applied as the finish. Over time, the sukiurushi becomes increasingly more transparent, allowing the design to appear more vibrant and vivid. Each piece created using maki-e is hand-finished by skilled artisans using an amazing number of processes combined with traditional artistic techniques taking many weeks and months to complete.