For the art lover, Japanophile or shameless hipster in your life, consider this ponderous 970 page tome containing the 15 separate sketchbooks, or manga, of Edo-period illustrator Katsushika Hokusai.Best known for his masterpiece The Great Wave of Kanagawa, which is my favorite work of art bar none, Hokusai painted and made woodblock prints in the ukiyo-e style. His great inspiration was Fuji-san, or Mt. Fuji. His collection of prints titled Thirty-Six Views of Fuji-san--of which The Great Wave is a part--is the most famous series of prints in the genre.
The book itself is a collection of his sketches and drawings, which start with a demonstration of his style of geometrical construction, which is basically exactly what it sounds like: building a drawing based on geometric shapes.
The rest of the pages are filled with his playful and seemingly effortless sketches and prints.
This is a real bargain over at Amazon for $43.
via CoolHunting
1 comment:
If you like Hokusai, you should check out some shin hanga artists like Kawase Hasui, Hiroshi Yshida, and Ohara Koson.
This is a later woodblock print movement that takes place in the early to mid 1900s, where they incorporate more modern techniques and they have access to more vivid colors.
There are a couple of Americans that produced prints during this era as well: Charles Bartlett is probably the most notable. They each have their own distinct style. If you are interested in this hit me up, I have over 6gbs of high res woodblock prints spanning from the earlier ukiyo-e stuff of hokusai to the more modern stuff that is being done here in America.
Post a Comment