A Thicket of Pictures Without Shapes (Fukei gasō)
A Thicket of Pictures Without Shapes (Fukei gasō) is a Japanese woodblock picture book by Chō Gesshō, printed in Nagoya in 1817 by the publishers Keiundō Tōbei and Eirakuya Tōshirō for a general reading and sketching audience. Its double-page spreads show birds on plum branches, a flowering peony, a bald robed sage beside pine trees, and figures gathered around a game board in soft ink and muted colour. A designer might take its economical brush-like line, its spare use of pale wash, and its habit of placing a single motif against open paper.
