ARTS OF JAPAN

Japanese art includes different art styles and media, including

ancient pottery, sculpture, ink painting, and calligraphy on silk and
paper, ukiyo-e paintings and woodblock prints, kiri-e, kirigami, origami
and more recently manga or the modern Japanese cartooning and
comics.
The Japanese ukiyo-e genre thrived from the 17th through
19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of
female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestles; scenes from
history and folktales; travel scenes and landscapes; and flora and
fauna. Ukiyo-e handmade prints that enabled printers to blend their
favored bright, shapt colors with contours done with sumi ink on the
printing block.
 CHARACTERISTICS of UKIYO-E
• A well-defined, bold, flat line. The earliest prints were monochromic
but this characteristic continued to dominate the prints even after the
use of color.
• The arrangement of forms in flat spaces. The figures are arranged in a
single plane of depth like vertical and horizontal relationships, as well
as details such as lines, shapes, and patterns such as those on clothing.
• Compositions were often asymmetrical and the viewpoint was often
done from unusual angles, such as from above.
• Elements of images were often cropped giving the composition a
spontaneous feel. In colored prints, contours of most areas are sharply
defined, usually by the linework.
• The aesthetic of flat areas of color contrasts with the modulated colors
expected in Western traditions.
 Development of Ukiyo-e

BENIZURI-E
SUMIZURI-E Red ink details or TAN-E
Monochrome highlights added by hand Orange highlights
printing using only after the printing using red pigment
black ink process; green was called tan
sometimes used as well
 Development of Ukiyo-e

MURASAKI
AIZURI-E (Purple pictures) and URUSHI-E
Indigo printed other styles in which a A method that
pictures single-color was used in thickens the ink with
addition to, or instead of, glue, emboldening
black ink
the image.
Development of Ukiyo-e

NISHIKI-E

(brocade pictures) method of using

multiple blocks for separate
portions of the image, using a
number of colors to achieve
complex and detailed images.
PAINTING

Artists painted with pigments made from mineral

or organic substances, such as safflower, ground
shells, lead, and cinnabar, and later synthetic dyes
imported from the West. They painted on silk or
paper hanging scrolls (kakemono), handscrolls
(makimono), or folding screens (byobu).
ORIGAMI

The goal of origami (paper folding) is to transform

a sheet of paper into a finished sculture through
folding and sculpting techniques. Practitioners
discourage cutting, gluing, or marking on the
paper. The principles of origami are also in stents,
packaging and other engineering application.
ORIGAMI

Traditional origami paper (washi) is used because

it is stronger that ordinary paper. Washi is made
from the bark fibers of the gampi tree, the
mitsumata shrub, or the paper mulberry, but it
can also be made using bamboo, hemp, rice, and
wheat.
 KUMADORI
Asian theater includes the most
sophisticated face painting designs
in the world, such as the kumadori
makeup tradition of Japan. The
metamorphosis of a Kabuki actor
begins in his makeup. They call it
“face making” or “face
preparation” and helps transform
them to become living special
effects that help present the story.
 FUNCTIONS OF KUMADORI MAKEUP
• To capture and project
the expressions of the
actor in enhanced from
• To externalize the inner
persona of the role
through a design that
responds to the actor’s
features.
 THEATER MASKS
Noh masks are carved from blocks
of Japanese cypress and painted
with natural pigments on a neutral
base of glue and crunched
seashells. These masks tell the
characters’ gender, age, and social
ranking and by wearing them,
actors can portray old men and
women, youngsters, or nonhuman
characters like divine demon, or
animal.
 MANGA and ANIME
Manga books and comics are generally
printed in black and white and cover a
variety of genres and subject that appeal
to both sexes and all ages. Themes include
action-adventure, business/commerce,
comedy, detective, historical drama,
horror, mystery, romance, science fiction
and fantasy, sexuality, sports and games,
and suspense, among others. Most manga
aimed for children uses simple style and
adorable characters with big eyes to
enable the artists to convey emotions
easily.
 MANGA and ANIME
Anime differs from manga
in the use of color,
movement and sound
especially its theme song.
In Japan, manga refers to
all cartooning, comics, and
animation. Outside Japan,
comics produced from
animation are called ani-
manga.
 MANGA and ANIME
Studio Ghibli, founded in 1985, has
produced numerous original feature
films in animated form. HAYAO
MIYAZAKI, a critically acclaimed
animator has created films which
have touched the hearts of people
from all over the world. His
animation style is very unique
because his characters tend to have
small eyes, rather than the usual
trend for larger eyes and most of his
protagonists are strong independent
girls or women.