Pictures after Nature (Hokusai shashin gafu)
Pictures after Nature is a woodblock sketchbook of plants and insects printed in Edo in 1814 by Tsuruya Kiemon under Katsushika Hokusai, made as a drawing model for artists. The pages show chrysanthemum, plum, peony and other flowering sprays in ink-grey and pale colour on tan paper. A designer can take from them the economy of a single branch placed off-centre, with open negative space and a horizontal rule framing each motif.
