Japanese paintings

Ukiyoe

Ukiyoe

Ukiyoe (pictures of the floating world) is a kind of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings which was originated in the Edo period (1600-1868 AD). It features motifs of landscapes, beautiful women, sumo wrestlers, theaters and pleasure quarters. Ukiyoe used to be affordable to ordinary people becayse they were mas-produced to meet the demand of the merchant class, who were not generally rich enough to buy original paintings.
Ukiyoe introduced the Japanese image (such as Mt. Fuji or Geisha girls) to the rest of world. It is well known that French Impressionists like Van Gogh got influence of the painting style of Ukiyoe.

Suibokuga

Suibokuga

Suibokuga (Ink painting) is a style of Indian-ink painting which was introduced to Japan from China in the 14th century. The Zen priest, Sesshu, perfected the Suibokuga in the 16th.
Controlling your brush strokes and shading the ink are the most important techniques of Suibokuga.