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Art – Katsushika Hokusai

This is from various sources I’ve read on the internet and in books. The timeline is mostly from the wiki page found here.

Katsushika Hokusai
born: September 23, 1760; Edo, Japan (now Toykyo)
died: May 10, 1849 (at 89 years old)

Hokusai was best know for his wood block printing, specifically his book Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji and the work called Under the Wave Off Kanagawa he created in the 1820′s. He began printing around the age of six, and he changed his name at least 30 times over the course of his lifetime. Near the end of his life he called himself, “The Old Man Mad About Art.”

He became an apprentice wood carver at the age of 14 years old, and he was 18 when he was accepted into Katsukawa Shunsho’s art studio. There he learned to master Ukiyo-e. (Ukiyo-e means “pictures of the floating world” and are wood block printings that feature landscapes, history, and theater.)

He married twice. His first wife died young. He remarried and his second wife died a short time after that. He had two sons and three daughters between his two wives. His youngest daughter later became an artist.

His artistic style was influences by French and Dutch copper engravings. He was expelled from Shunsho’s school after Shunsho’s death, and he then changed his main subjects from Kabuki actors to landscapes and daily life from a variety of social classes. He then began producing surimono (privately commissioned block prints made for special occasions) and was associated with the Tawaraya School. He later gave up his ties to a school and set out as an independent artist.

Hokusai taught about fifty students over his lifetime. He became more famous through his artwork and his ability to advertise or promote himself. He produced illustrations for books and made art manuals. The manuals helped to bring in income and attract students for him to teach. He also produced twelve volumes of “manga” (drawings that have influenced modern comics now called manga).

He produced over 300,000 works of art, and he was at the height of his career at sixty. His famous book (mentioned above) was produced around this time. His studio was destroyed by a fire and much of his artwork was lost to it in 1839.

He seemed a humble man and didn’t consider himself to be a real painter. He died at the age of 89 years old.

Quotes

• “From around the age of six, I had the habit of sketching from life. I became an artist, and from fifty on began producing works that won some reputation, but nothing I did before the age of seventy was worthy of attention. At seventy-three, I began to grasp the structures of birds and beasts, insects and fish, and of the way plants grow. If I go on trying, I will surely understand them still better by the time I am eighty-six, so that by ninety I will have penetrated to their essential nature. At one hundred, I may well have a positively divine understanding of them, while at one hundred and thirty, forty, or more I will have reached the stage where every dot and every stroke I paint will be alive. May Heaven, that grants long life, give me the chance to prove that this is no lie.”
• “If only Heaven will give me just another ten years…Just another five more years, then I could become a real painter.”

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As I searched for videos for my art class, I found these that may spark an interest in learning more. They are also safe to watch with no “recommended videos” to worry about. :D

A video of some of Hokusai’s artwork set to music:

Watch a Japanese Wood Block Printers at work:

Watch a more modern form of wood block printing:

Make an easier version of relief printing with tools you may have in your own home:

Interested in making your own stamps? Here’s a couple videos to help:

Make a traditional rubber-like stamp:

Make simple stamps out of craft foam:

Comments welcome.