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What materials did Katsushika Hokusai use?
Hokusai used cherry wood to create the wood blocks with which he made his prints. Cherry is hard and close grained, making it well suited to carving fine detail. Japanese printmakers did not actually carve their plates; they would do the drawings and have carvers create the plates based on the drawings.
How many pieces of art did Hokusai make?
Although his studio and much of his work was destroyed in a fire in 1839, the artist is thought to have produced 30,000 works over the course of his lifetime, his prolific output including paintings, sketches, woodblock prints, erotic illustrations and picture books. Hokusai spent his life anticipating old age.
What type of printmaking did Katsushika Hokusai use?
woodblock printing
Katsushika Hokusai was a Japanese artist who specialized in woodblock printing. Hokusai was best known for a series of woodblock prints he created, Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.
How did Hokusai became an artist?
He began painting at age six and learnt woodblock carving, too, from a young age. As a teenager, Hokusai loaned books for money before beginning work as a woodblock cutter in 1774. At Katsukawa’s studio, Hokusai was tasked with producing prints from kabuki and images of sumo wrestlers.
Why did Hokusai make the great wave?
Hokusai is often described as having a personal fascination with the mountain, which sparked his interest in making this series. However, he was also responding to a boom in domestic travel and the corresponding market for images of Mount Fuji. Japanese woodblock prints were often purchased as souvenirs.
Why did Hokusai became an artist?
Hokusai firmly believed that he would improve as an artist as he grew older and posthumous critics have agreed that this was the case. In 1830, he published Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, pushing Ukiyo-e in the direction of landscape, and in 1831 published One Hundred Ghost Stories.