Explore the Bokashi of this artwork.
Given the lack of colour contrast in the monochromatic aizuri-e, late Edo artists began to experiment with techniques to increase image complexity. This led to the development of bokashi, a printing technique which allowed for the reproduction and mixing of differing colour tones within a single image. This is achieved through carefully graded applications of water and pigment mixtures to the woodblock with a hake brush. The result is a single-coloured print characterised by shading and tonality. It was practiced most effectively in the rendering of skies and water. While aizuri-e themselves were inexpensive to print, bokashi was costly. It is therefore generally seen in formal prints, and not regularly seen in cheaper media such as uchiwa-e. Kunisada has, however, used the technique on this fan print, most notably in the cloud and ground regions, where the value of the blue pigment deepens from very pale blue to near-black opacity.
Kunisada aizuri-e uchiwa-e