Sublime Hiroshige...

I turned recently from pastel painting, to a relief printing project. Naturally, great print masters from various times and places are attracting me at this time. And no master exemplified the Japanese art of Ukiyo-e better than Hiroshige.

To me there is no other word for his work than sublime... so delicate and perfectly composed.

Composition, craftsmanship, and color can all be learned from looking at this artists work. He did several prints of winters snow scenes and his greatest strength may actually be his use of negative space and lack of color.

Please take time to Google his work.... who is your master of negative space?

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"I leave my brush in the East

And set forth on my journey.

I shall see the famous places in the Western Land."-Hiroshige

(The Western Land in this context refers to the strip of land by the Tōkaidō between Kyoto and Edo, but it does double duty as a reference to the Paradise of the Buddha)