Traces of Kenzan's Brush (Kenzan iboku 乾山遺墨)
Traces of Kenzan's Brush is a Japanese woodblock picture album by Sakai Hōitsu, published in Edo in 1823, reproducing the painted and ceramic designs of the potter-painter Ogata Kenzan for artists and collectors. The pages show flowers, plants, birds and small scenes in pale, flat colour with handwritten poems set beside them. A designer could take its loose, spare arrangement of motifs, with blank paper left open around each single subject, as a model for layout and negative space.
