c. 1680–1900 · Japan (Edo and Meiji periods)
Ukiyo-e
Level: Medium painting drawing & ink print & collage
Key traits
- Flat areas of color bounded by confident outlines
- Bold cropping, high viewpoints and asymmetric compositions
- Prussian blue skies and water, softly graded (bokashi)
Techniques to try
- Draw with one confident outline, then fill flat colors
- Crop the main subject dramatically at the edge
Artists to study
Katsushika Hokusai · Utagawa Hiroshige · Kitagawa Utamaro
30-minute exercise
Draw a landscape in Hiroshige’s manner: a high horizon, one large foreground object cut off by the edge, and a graded band of blue across the top of the sky.