Hokusai is best known for The Great Wave off Kanagawa, but the same hand that captured that wall of water also spent years teaching people how to draw. This hardback collects over 60 of his lessons, taken from his original tutorial series Quick Lessons in Simplified Drawing, and lays them out step by step so anyone can pick up a pencil and follow along.
What sets these lessons apart is Hokusai's method. Rather than working from finished drawings, he broke every subject down into a handful of basic lines and shapes, then built up the detail from there. It is the kind of teaching that has held up for two centuries because it still works: once you see a crane or a cherry blossom branch reduced to its underlying structure, the whole thing becomes far less intimidating to draw.
Inside you will find lessons covering cranes, cherry blossom trees, butterflies, birds, flowers and human figures, each broken into clear, sequential steps. The subjects range from a few quick strokes to more involved compositions, so there is room to build confidence gradually rather than being thrown in at the deep end. It works equally well for someone who has never drawn seriously before and for an experienced artist curious about traditional Japanese drawing technique.
Beyond the drawing instruction, this is also a handsome object in its own right. It is a hardback book of 80 pages, measuring 25 x 17.2 x 1.3 cm, and makes a fitting gift for anyone with an interest in Japanese art, printmaking history, or drawing as a practice.
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