Saturday 31 March 2018

Hokusai Cherry Blossom Print



A HUGE thank you and shout out to everyone sharing photos on social media from Japan of this years cherry blossom !!! #hanami #sakurami #cherryblossom #sakura #hokusai

Sunday 25 March 2018

Sakura Time

#sakura #ying #cherry #hanzi #kanji #unihan

Cherry blossom time !


Saturday 10 March 2018

Benten Riding a Dragon

 I just really like this #japanese #print of #Benten riding a #dragon



Its uses a restrained palette of minimal colors, black, green and red and hues and  tints thereof  and a composition of overlapping loops and curves.
#ukioyo-e style and technique at its best.

Wednesday 7 March 2018

IDW and East Asian goddesses

For #idw 2018 I'm sharing a medley of East Asian deities


A classic #dehua statuette of #guanyin


Kuanyin as protectoress of children ... with dogs? Why I have no idea but I like the image!

The Japanese depicted Lakhshimi as a tang princess 



I have a special fondness for Benten 
This is a #surimono #ukiyo-e #print 


Back to China for the final image 
The Mother of Lightning

Saturday 3 March 2018

Dog Watching a Bird

#yearofthedog #japanesebookcover

We tend to forget #ukiyo-e is a design style applied not just to prints of actors or landscapes or pinup geisha girls but also other paper objects like this book cover showing a dog watching a bird flying overhead.



The artist is not Hokusai or Hiroshige and the line work is rough but it has depicted the personality of the dog and a look of keen intelligence.