HOKUSAI

After finding Katsushika Hokusai's "Mount Fuji in Clear Weather" I became very interested in his work. I had seen "The Great Wave" before, being a well known piece, but had never looked closely at his work. 

I found two very detailed and helpful book: Hokusai, Prints and Drawings* and Hokusai, Pintings, Drawings and Woodcuts*. This second book has certain images printed separately from the the book, on slightly textured paper. The image you see bellow of Mount Fuji in Clear Weather is from this book because I think the texture of the paper gives a slightly better idea of the real work. Of course, a copy in a book can't really come close but it helped me to see the details a little more so than  

Pages from Hokusai, Prints and Drawings. Matthi Forrer.

As this writes, this is one of the few pieces he created that are focused solely on nature and not the human impact on that environment. I like that the mountain has this reddish hue to it, indicating as it states in the text, the time of year: late summer to early autumn. This reminds me of how the mountains used to look when I lived in the French Alps. In Spring, I particularly remember that in the early morning, with the morning mist, the mountains took on various hues of blue, depending on their distance. This would then change at sunset when various tints of pink and purple would light up the peeks.

It is interesting that Hokusai chose not to create a more Japanese style cloud but instead created more of a western inspired style to them. I personally enjoy the contrast between a traditional Japanese style and something that doesn't initially fit if you know what to recognise in traditional Japanese art. It does work here. His use of contrasting colour between the sky and the mountain is also something that drew me to this piece. Contrasting colours are something that I think can create movement to an otherwise static image. 

Looking at his work and the way he uses the environment he was in, showing Mount Fuji simply because it was present in the environment, has made me think of how mountains where present in my own environment. 

Bibliography

Forrer, M. (Ed.). (2010). Hokusai. Prints and Drawings (2^nd ed.). London: Prestel Publishing Ltd.

Hillier, J. (1955). Hokusai. Paintings, Drawings and Woodcuts . London: Phaidon Press.