Ukiyo-e
浮世絵 / 17th–19th century / Style / Japanese Woodblock Prints
Fixes a passing moment of daily life or landscape into strong composition with contour, flat color and daring crops.
Clear outlines / Flat color / Bold cropping / Overlapping space
Dictionary entry
- Best used for
- Giving daily scenes a symbolic composition · Showing depth by overlap instead of realism
- Type
- Brush letters or a disciplined mincho fitting the subject; no meaningless Japanese
- Composition
- Cut the foreground boldly; set a jump in scale against the distance
- Material
- Keylines and few color blocks; use the paper as one of the colors
- Caution
- Not a kit of 'Japanese-style' signs. Research the artist, carver, printer, period and subject.
- Further study
- Katsushika Hokusai / Utagawa Hiroshige / Edo-period printmaking