Harunobu - Young Woman in the Rain

 #harunobu Woman in the rain #Japanese #print #ukiyo-e

How splendidly Harunobu depicts rain and wind while having also those details of the effects of weather on humans: the geta that has slipped off her foot, the washing and her own kimono blowing in the wind, and also we have the rain slanting down from the clouds above, and the colors of the obi emphasing and complementing the slant of the rain! 

Kiyonaga Storm

 #kiyonaga #storm #japaneseprint 

Stormy weather is the forecast for Sydney this week hence my choice of a Kiyonaga work.

This shrine in Tokyo's suburbs was surrounded by open fields in Kiyonagas time and a popular place for short summer excursions from Edo 

Hokusai's Storm

#hokusai #storm #japaneseprint 

Good Impressions of this late print by Hokusai are hard to find. The hand coloring for that dark cloud effect seems to have so overwhelmed some of the inkers that they neglected the foreground and i've seen some impressions in which vice versa the clouds are light and the foreground is darker.

This print demonstrates #ukiyo-e print production was a team effort. You needed a good artist a good cutter and carver for the blocks and both an inker and a colorist with a firm but sensitive touch to finish the print.