Tag: Hiroshige

Art: Fujiwara, 38th station of the Tōkaidō, v2 (step by step)

I did a second version of the my painting last week of Fujiwara, 38th station of the Kyoka edition of 53 stations of the Tōkaidō, by Hiroshige.

I later sent it to Isabelle.

Pencil sketch on a white sheet taped to a black cutting board. The outline is of a person on a horse and trees at the sides on a high spot, and a sprawling village at the foot of the high spot.

Rough pencil sketch.

Grey and white gouache paint applied. The ceramic cup I used to mix the paint is visible on the mat.

Grey and white gouache.

The brown ink brushpen I used to colour the horse and outline of the trees.

Brown ink from a Kuretake ink brushpen.

Small areas on the drawing are now coloured in yellow for the crates on the hors and the straw capes a couple people are wearing, and a couple of blue small patches.

The center of the painting features a few spots of yellow and blue.

All I need to add now are white spots for the falling snow and black outlines.

Finished version with black outlines, date and signature. The painting is framed in white wood.
Finished version of the gouache painting of a person on a horse and trees at the sides on a high spot, and a sprawling village at the foot of the high spot. The painting is dated and signed. I put a white mounting card and framed it in white wood.

Art: Fujiwara, 38th station of the Tōkaidō (Kyoka edition)

Fujiwara, 38th station of the Kyoka edition of 53 stations of the Tōkaidō, by Hiroshige.

Final painting propped up against my black piano. The painting shows a caped person from behind, on a horse loaded with crates at its sides. At the foot of the raised area they are is a village and a few people. There is snow everywhere and people wear large hats and capes.

I messed up my stamp and then couldn’t paint over it with gouache as the red stamp ink I use kept seeping through! I had to cover it with acrylic white paint which is like plastic, but also is shinier than gouache, so it shows.

Here is a photo of my work area just as I was done:

Messy work table where we see the finished painting taped to a large cutting board in front of the propped up book I used as reference. The tools I used are scattered around: paint tubes, white acrylic paint marker, black and grey ink pen, brushes.
Messy work table where we see the finished painting taped to a large cutting board in front of the propped up book I used as reference. The tools I used are scattered around: paint tubes, white acrylic paint marker, black and grey ink pen, brushes.

I did a second version of it the following week.

Art: Ryōgoku Hanabi (Fireworks at Ryogoku), Hiroshige (step by step)

My first painting of the year 2021! It seems appropriate as a new year’s first painting to be one of fireworks.

I set out to paint Ryōgoku Hanabi (Fireworks at Ryogoku) by favourite artist Hiroshige (1858). Here’s a step by step progression.

Masking tape on a watercolour sheet with pencil sketch of a large bridge and many boats on the river. My mechanical pencil and tiny rubber are visible on the table.

Masking tape in place, pencil sketch done.

Top and bottom painted with a gradient of deep prussian blue. The gouache paint tube is visible next to the pad on the table.

Gradient of prussian blue for the night sky and the bottom part of the river.

Bridge, boats, village, tree line and vegetation added, as well a many tiny people on the bridge. I used yellow ochre gouache paint mixed with ivory black to get the brown and darker brown tones. The tubes are visible on the table.

Bridge, boats, village, tree line, people.

Finished version, signed and dated at the bottom right, against a black backdrop.

Fireworks added in white. Tape removed. Signature and date added.

Finished version framed: the painting is glued on some light taupe paper and the frame is taupe wood.
Finished version framed: the painting is glued on some light taupe paper and the frame is taupe wood.

Hiroshige’s ‘Cherry trees at Goten-Yama’

This is Cherry Trees at Goten Hill, from the series Twelve Views of Edo, done around 1835 by Hiroshige:
Reference illustration: Various people in grassy meadows slopping down toward the sea with sailboats. There are a few pink blossom trees.

After sketching in pencil, I used a 0.05 mm and 0.2 mm (for the closest sailboats) Uni-ball pin pen to create the outline:
Rough pencil sketch on watercolour paper
Outline in black ink. My pencil, a tiny rubber and the black pen I used are visible on the table.

Then I used watercolor. Light grey for the sky, green for the grassy hill:
Light grey watercolour applied loosely in the sky, pale green in the meadows.
I added the roofs of wooden shacks right behind the hill, as I decided I wanted them. Then I continued painting, adding burnt sienna to my grey mix for the roofs, and using a wash of Prussian blue for the sea:
Blue gradient, still wet, for the water.
I darkened the sienna and grey mix to add contrast to the roofs, started to paint the figures in grey and light ochre. For the cherry blossom, I used alizarin crimson:
Wet pink watercolour in the trees.
I ended up applying too much dark sienna to the roofs, that I couldn’t fix and darkened the figures as well. More alizarin crimson for contrast in the blossoms, and I was done:
People painted in some shades of grey, more pink added to the trees for contrast.
Finally I cut it and taped it to a metallic blue card, and was ready to write the birthday card for a friend:
Finished piece now neatly cut in the shape and size of a metallic grey blue card and matching envelope.