easter break

Im on easter break but hopefully I have use that time to finish new translations or poem cards for us 

Scroll down n enjoy older posts 

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.

Hokusai on Cherry Blossoms

 This is one of Hokusai's final prints #Hokusai has depicted the famous #cherryblossoms of #yoshino as a cloud like mass as thick as mist dominating the landscape and perhaps irony the humans are not spectators or tourists or pilgrims but travellers carrying loads  and the man near the centre not viewing the scenery but checking his packhorse who may have hoof troubles ?

Cherry Blossoms Again

 Its nearly #sakura #cherryblossom time again !

Here's a simple but elegant #japaneseprint by #Shinsai 

Note the technique of representing rain as vertical lines over a gray gradient contrasting with the more traditional "brush stroke" rendering of the tree trunk

Rengetsu and the Dead Warriors

The Meiji Restoration and end of the rule by the Tokugawa Shoguns involved several battles and one of them was just south of Kyoto 

Rengetsu once trained in martial arts being from a samurai family and probably having friends and acquaintances on both sides  wrote a waka about it 

Ada mikata 

Katsu mo makuru mo

Aware nari

Onaji mikuni no

Hito to omoeba

Enemy or friend 

Win or lose 

I bear in mind they were people of this realm

Tiger on a Kimono

 This #japanese #ukiyoe #print shows an actor in character wearing what is probably a handpainted kimono perhaps a special creation just for one play? I suspect hand painting rather than stencilled cloth even that this is a theatrical costume and the way the tiger curves around the robe probably so the audience could see the design on all sides as the actor moved across the stage.

I'm not sure even the most boldest Tokyo male 18th c. fashionistas would have dared to copy this as street wear?

Korean Tiger

 Traditional  Korean art also has Tigers. One wonders if the scholar painter might have seen a tiger from a distance as this is somewhat more accurate than depictions based on seeing a tigerskin rug?