Hiroshige's Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi bridge and Atake, Japan

"Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi bridge and Atake" is the name of a famous wood block print by the artist Hiroshige from the 19th century. It was made more famous by Vincent Van Gogh who made a copy of it using oil paints. Woodblock printing is an ancient method of mass producing artwork and stenciled fabrics. In 19th century Japan, woodblock prints were extremely popular among tourists and the growing middle-class. Hiroshige designed around 5000 pictures. His did the drawing and composition for a publisher, who would then send it to a copyist, a woodblock cutter, a printer, and finally distributor. The team could print up to 10,000 copies of each picture!

Lately I have been working a lot on drawing skills using a book called The complete Guide to Figure Drawing for Comics and Graphic Novels by Daniel Cooney, and by copying Hiroshige pictures using pencil. This painting was the first time I tried to copy a Hiroshige print, of course I had to pick the one Van Gogh copied. I measured out the proportions and carefully made a pencil drawing on hot press 140 lbs watercolour paper. I was surprised how much detail there was in such small spaces, and how rich the colours really are in the print. Painting the streaks of rain took some courage, after painstaking work I had to deface the picture with lines of gray paint! I signed my initials, and my impression of Hiroshige's signature in the top right.


This image is 24 x 16 cm, the paper about 2.5cm wider and 2cm longer around the margins.(The original print is listed at 37cm x 25cm)