Japanese Elegance

Afternoon, one of Hiroshi Yoshida's Dai-oban 1926 Sailing Boats Series prints Today I had cause to search online for Japanese woodcuts, an artform I have always admired. I particularly love the texture this ancient form of printing creates, and it’s something I often try to emulate digitally in my own illustrations. Of course the Japanese aesthetic is also very elegant and spare. The lines are eloquent; the colour palette often limited which adds to the quiet austerity of the images. Here is a little collection of prints I admired.

Click images for links.

Seated Cat by Kiyoshi Saito, 1955Woodcut by Koich, (early twentieth century?)Print from One Hundred Flowers series by Kono Bairei, 1880sRapid sketches made in the Asian Art Museum, by Teesta Rongbuk