Hokusai

[John]

Hokusai is pretty much the godfather of the modern comic and manga style. He is the one artist to turn to for beautiful composition, for great linework and gesture. He died in 1849, and left behind a gigantic body of work. Much of it can be found on the internet, although the reproductions are generally of a pretty poor quality.
A link to many good reproductions, i don't know how they'd feel about hotlinking though















When i see this one it triggers NES music in my head.

[munkcee branes]

I have been looking for a good uke-o site (hope I'm spelling it right) for a while. This stuff is great. I have allways tried to adapt it into my style, specificly fire and water. I use it alot for greazy afros and wool. It has allways served me well.

[Ian Mack]

I don't know but I've never been a fan of his...maybe it's because his sense of perspective seems so whacked out. I do love his water though. I'll have to take another look through his work for composition though!

[Seedling]

I have been looking for a good uke-o site (hope I'm spelling it right)

It's "ukio-e", pronounced you-key-oh-aay, and it means "floating world".

[Flake]

Hokusai rocks ridiculously hard.

[biascurtu]

I admire a lot japanesse art till 19th century and I'm always looking for their works. I think they are the best in learning composition. Here is a link with some large reproductions, but this are not all in very good condition http://metro.tokyo.opac.jp/tml/tpic/...1_001_001.html

[Elwell]

"From the age of six I had a mania for drawing the shapes of things. When I was fifty I had published a universe of designs. but all I have done before the the age of seventy is not worth bothering with. At seventy five I'll have learned something of the pattern of nature, of animals, of plants, of trees, birds, fish and insects. When I am eighty you will see real progress. At ninety I shall have cut my way deeply into the mystery of life itself. At a hundred I shall be a marvelous artist. At a hundred and ten everything I create; a dot, a line, will jump to life as never before. To all of you who are going to live as long as I do, I promise to keep my word. I am writing this in my old age. I used to call myself Hokosai, but today I sign my self 'The Old Man Mad About Drawing." -- Hokusai

[JL.Alfaro]

That pretty deep Elwell, how old was he when he passed?

[John]

He died at 88. Check out this super high res version of the wave: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...th_century.jpg

[armando]

I don't know but I've never been a fan of his...maybe it's because his sense of perspective seems so whacked out. I do love his water though. I'll have to take another look through his work for composition though!

Yeah, and his rendering is off, those flat colors and lines around objects, that's not how it is in real life. As everyone knows true art is trying to get your pictures to look as real as possible. Seriously though, you've been here since 2002, it's time to learn about art history. His compositions work because of his whacked use of perspective.

[drd]

That quote that Elwell posted was in one of my 8th grade books from a year ago...I remember reading a story about Hokusai in there. They say he painted around 30000 things in his lifetime...I did the math and that's approximately 3 pieces A DAY.

[Cookiedough]

That dude was so awesome. A while ago i saw a documentary about him. He never stopped trying to improve himself, even when his sight was getting all bad and he couldn't see shit. Pretty sad how he ended, at 80+ still working cos his family fucked up or something.That wave one is hypnotizing. Once you really start looking at it, it kinda sucks you in. Great art this is still.

[cotron]

Hokusai's one of my favorite artists, and I'm willing to brag that I have a couple prints made from his actual woodblocks in my apartment...I'm a dick, I know, but I rarely get to talk about em.

Some other Ukiyo-e guys that I like are Hiroshige & Yoshitoshi; great design, draftsmanship, and narrative... lots to learn from them.

[Seedling]

Hokusai's one of my favorite artists, and I'm willing to brag that I have a couple prints made from his actual woodblocks in my apartment...I'm a dick, I know, but I rarely get to talk about em.

It's not all that hard to acquire prints by all of the above. In Western printmaking, the artist sets a number of prints to make, numbers each one, and then destroys the blocks in order to keep supply low and price high. Not so in Eastern printmaking. They printed until the blocks wore out. Then they carved more blocks. They kept right on printing and printing for as long as the prints sold, including (if I’m not mistaken) after the death of the artist. Those prints were the pop-art of the day, made cheaply and in great quantities for the masses. For a few hundred dollars, you can get an off-color or unpopular original that was never touched by the artist. The prices get a lot higher for more popular scenes that were printed by or had the colors mixed by the artist.

My lead artist has a house full of them. *Drool* I want!