Gongsun Sheng making a magical gesture, Utagawa Kuniyoshi

I love the energy in his expression. It's interesting to me because these old Ukiyo-E prints aren't meant to be realistic, or they didn't hold realism up as a necessary quality, and yet there is enough there that it feels really consistent. In some of them the design is almost abstract and it takes me a while to figure out what is meant to be happening. In this one there is so much billowing fabric that I had no idea what his feet were doing at first, I think I have it now.

Look at that face. He's hunched up and squirming, so powerful are the forces in play 😁

#art #ukiyoe #ukiyo-e #kuniyoshi #print #blockPrint #yellow #magic #taoism #tryHard