SPRING FLOWERS by SHUNMAN - A surimono

 #spring flowers #surimono #Shumman #shunman

Surimono get less attention than other forms of Japanese prints possibly because they were more likely to be in private collections or printed on paper meant to be folded and stored away 

The use of red on this print is deliciously exquisitely skilled with the painter and printmaker combining their skills in a perfect union of skill and design.

Shinsai Cherries and Rain Print

 #Shinsai #cherryblossom #rain #surimono #japaneseprint

SHINSAI early 19th century 

Its still raining in #sydney !!! sooo ...

The cherry blossoms and rainfall is rendered in a very formal stylized manner but this contrasts with the texture of the tree trunk and the gray middle tones of the rain 

Note the white streak contrasting with the darker gray lines for the rain something easier to do with wood carving and careful block inking than ink on paper with a brush.

HIROSHIGE SURIMONO

 #Hiroshige #surimono #print #yearoftheox

Not a typical subject for Hiroshige  but an image showing he could equal Hokusai and other ukiyo-e artists in drawing a variety of themes and matching his compositions to the layout of various print formats. The details of the yoke harness and plow are also of interest for social history. 

I love the little detail of the farmer's beard shadow. Also the balanced use of gray middle tones to unify the separate elements of the bull the farmers clothings and the mountains in the background.

More than Daikon next year for 2021

#surimono #daikon #mooli  

So why am I posting a Daikon /Mooli 

Readers if you cook help me start the new year suggesting or sharing your favorite daikon pickle recipes! I want to pickle some daikon and carrots ! 

I have more ebooks to share and poetry translations and as its the Year of the Metal Oz I will am searching for some artwork featuring Bulls and Oxen so follow me please.

Also don't forget to check on  my www.patreon.com/JVartndesign for technozi prints and posters or mini book pdfs 

Geishas Partying

#shigenobu #japaneseprint #surimono

GEISHAS PARTYING

This surimono shows 3 geishas rehearsing their music or possibly playing for their own pleasure and not a patrons?

Notice how they look at each other smiling and not outwards at any onlookers and one of them has loosened her hair or hasn't finished arranging it while one is reinserting a loose comb and has her robes loosened too and the woman with the samisen is chatting to the zither player perhaps about the sheet of song lyrics ?

I wish I could read 18th japanese cursive. 

Enjoy !

Shigenobu - Lady and Plum Trees

#Shigenobu #plumtrees #surimono #Japaneseprint

To Farewell Plum Season here's a #Shigenobu Print.

Special features to note

Angles of branches echoing drapes of robes 

This is a Lady / Courtier of the Heian era possibly a famous poet ?

Color balance blacks and reds showing what you can do with a limited palette 

Had Shigenobu been looking at some early Ukiyo-e prints with a limited color range?

Note how the branch creates depth despite the need for white space to add text ?

Surimono in Production

#surimono #printing #japaneseprints

A Surimono print showing the process of carving and printing

The man is carving a page of text.

The woman is rubbing the color onto the paper 

Note how it is applied to the block first and then the paper is pressed and rubbed to absorb the colors.

Surimono were "limited editions" with extra care taken with the production!

A Hokkei Tsurezuregusa Surimono Print

#surimono #print #hokkei #kenko #tsurezuregusa #radish

The juxtaposition of radishes and armor in this print are a reference to one of one of the stories in Kenko's Tsurezuregusa, a tale of a man who eat 2 boiled radishes, the large white japanese variety every day for years. While his residence was attacked two soldiers appeared and defended it and then informed the man they were the radishes or the spirits thereof.

Hokkei and Swallows

For our next bird the #Swallow

Here's a lovely #Surimono by #Hokkei a student of Hokusai.

Hokkei's drawingis perhaps more "delicate" than his masters possibly due to rimpa influence or studying Hiroshige as well as Hokusai. I like the way the color range has been reduced to bring out the details of the wing feathers!

Hokusai Surimono

#surimono #ukiyo-e #hokusai

Surimono is a kind of ... well art print with limited editions often given as new year gifts or created as mementos of special occasions.

Here's a selection of some by Hokusai

The lines of calligraphy are poems.

I have a special fondness for this one due to its depiction of the tools used for painting and calligraphy, an inkstone for grinding inksticks, one of which is shown resting on one edge of the inkstone, a water pot with a flower placed in it not just for painting but perhaps water for the ink too, and the brush pot in the background shows us Asian style brushes. The long slender rod in the foreground is probably for keeping sheets of paper flat and aligned.

A simple yet elegant image of a snake surrounding two gourds or melons showing once again Hokusai's gift for interesting compositions and eye for the details of nature.

This is part of a larger sheet that would have been folded into a pamphlet.

Note how Hokusai takes the horizontal format of a scroll and uses a prolonged S curve layout to show all the objects and lead our eye to the text.

Coming soon. 

The Year of  the Monkey 

so Monkeys and Apes as a theme!

A HOKUSAI MEDLEY

#Hokusai is well known for his landscape prints and his famous #Manga sketchbooks but he was also a painter and designer of surimono prints. 

#surimono #japaneseprints #ukiyo-e #phoenix

I've shared 2 of his lesser known surimono prints and in the middle is part of a screen painting of a phoenix for contrast.

I have used this one a few times before as as well as being a well designed print it shows traditional asian brushes,an inkstone, and a block of ink. 

This is a detail of a 8 fold screen set of paintings probably used in a bedroom.

Japaneses prints had a variety of formats.

Surimono often feature long horizontal formats as they were frequently folded into pamphlets and given as newyear gifts.

More Hokusai soon! 

I'll try to find some unusual images that illustrate all aspects of his work.

Sarasvati Benten 4

A ukiyo-e surimono depiction of Benten this time riding a dragon an uniquely Japanese idea though they have have gotten the idea from Chinese Esoteric Buddhism or Taoism images of dragon riding deities?

If you've found this blog by accident don't forget to view all 4 blogs so you can see the images in sequence.