Hiroshige Was the Real Deal! Representing Trees in the Foreground, Midground, and Background for Sketching

Introduction

Do you think that Japanese painting from the Edo period and before was inferior to Western art in terms of sketching and detailed depiction?

Before I started line sketching, I had the impression that compared to the precise and elaborate expressions of Western painters during the Renaissance, Japanese paintings—such as ink wash paintings and Yamato-e—had a lot of empty space, and I thought that even the representative Ukiyo-e of the Edo period were weaker in their depiction of reality than Western painters.

However, I recently realized that this was a complete misconception.

I have always admired Hiroshige and Hokusai's masterpieces of Ukiyo-e landscape painting, but that was based on the overall impression, and I had not looked at the details from the perspective of the technique of drawing.
However, when I started teaching line sketching, I noticed that many students struggle with drawing trees, especially in the midground and background. I have already written an article about that, which I will introduce below for your reference.

While I was creating text to teach how to draw trees in the foreground, midground, and background, I suddenly became curious about how Edo-period Ukiyo-e artists, especially Hiroshige, drew trees in their landscape paintings.

When I looked at Hiroshige's works again, I found that it was the exact opposite of the impression I had held until then, and that Hiroshige was already practicing the tips for depiction that I had come up with. I was surprised.

Actually, I briefly touched upon the line drawing of trees in Hiroshige's landscape paintings in the article above. I also talk about it in class as one of the reference examples.

In this article, I would like to introduce this more concretely by using individual works as examples.

Tree Representation in the Foreground, Midground, and Background in Hiroshige's Works

Before entering the main topic, I will note the tips for "drawing well" tree leaves that I always tell in class, especially the tips for line drawing in the midground and background. For details, please read the article "First Line Sketching" mentioned above.

The tips can be summarized into the following three points.

1. Observe the overall silhouette, branch structure, how leaves are attached to branches, and the characteristics of the leaf shape.
2. In the midground, do not draw each leaf one by one, but try to draw the characteristics. Do not worry about the front-to-back position of the leaves; it is fine if they overlap.
3. In the background, it is fine to just draw the outline of the tree crown. Make the jaggedness of the outline fine. Also, use the characteristics of the leaves, such as long and thin or round, in the expression of the outline of the leaf mass. Also, represent them by making long or round dots within the leaf mass.

Now, let's look at Hiroshige's works from the above perspective. (All images of the works were obtained from Wikimedia Commons. They are all in the public domain.)

Although the number of Hiroshige's works is enormous, I have selected works of Edo and its suburbs that Hiroshige himself is thought to have visited and observed directly. Specifically, these are from the "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo" and "Eight Views of the Environs of Edo" series.

(1) Foreground trees (flowering trees) and background trees

First, let's look at works that depict large trees (flowering trees) in the foreground and forests in the distance and far distance.

"Mama no Momiji Tekona no Yashiro Tsugihashi" (Left)
"Kameido Tenjin Shrine Grounds" (Center)
"Sumidagawa Suijin no Mori Masaki" (Right)

The autumn leaves, wisteria flowers, and cherry blossoms in the foreground are all drawn with realistic line work, and it can be seen that this is not a method of drawing many leaves or flowers in the same form as if stamped, as seen in the screen paintings of the Azuchi-Momoyama period or modern Japanese paintings.
Furthermore, the trees in the midground are also drawn by consciously distinguishing the characteristics of each type of tree (the appearance of the trunk, the branch structure, and the mass of leaves) without drawing each leaf individually.
The trees in the far distance are drawn with a series of fine, uneven outlines, making them look as if they are actually far away.

As an aside, another characteristic is the frequent use of sunsets and mist (clouds) to make the silhouettes of trees in the distance stand out. For example, in the painting on the left, while it is unclear if it is a sunrise or sunset, the mountain ridges and tree outlines emerging under the glowing sky evoke a sense of atmosphere.
Similarly, in the wisteria flowers in the middle, the sky is darkened, and in the painting on the right, mist is trailing to make the silhouettes of the trees stand out.

(2) Contrast between midground trees (flowering trees) and background trees

"Koume Embankment" (left)
"Mikura Riverbank" (middle)
"Fox Fires on New Year's Eve at the Hackberry Tree, Oji" (right)

"Suwa-no-tai, Nippori" (left)
"Flowers on the Tamagawa Embankment" (middle)
"Jijiga-chaya Teahouse, Meguro" (right)

"Minowa, Kanasugi, Mikawashima" (left)
"View from the North of Asukayama" (middle)
"Oji Inari Shrine Grove"

Looking at the examples of midground trees in the nine paintings introduced above, it seems that the tips I mentioned at the beginning for drawing midground trees are being applied.

In other words, first, by observing the characteristics of the trunk and branching of the tree as a whole, how the leaves (flowers) are attached to each branch, and the characteristics of the leaf clusters, and further noting that differences arise in the outlines of the leaf clusters depending on whether the leaves are pointed or round, it is clear that he distinguishes them properly in his drawing.

Regarding background trees, I have already mentioned in the "Foreground Trees and Background Trees" section of chapter (1) that they are drawn as a series of fine irregularities. In particular, the forests drawn as black silhouettes in "Mikura Riverbank" and "Fox Fires on New Year's Eve at the Hackberry Tree, Oji" make me feel as if I am actually there seeing them with my own eyes.

(3) Silhouettes of background trees

"Komagata-do and Azuma Bridge" (left)
"Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake" (middle)
"Evening Glow at Akasaka Kiribatake" (right)

"Eight Views of the Environs of Edo: Evening Bell at Ikegami" (left)
"Night View of Matsuchiyama and San'ya Canal" (right)

A feature of Hiroshige's landscape prints is the skillful use of forest silhouettes in rain or night scenes. The masterpiece "Shono" from "The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido," which depicts people caught in a rainstorm and a bamboo forest, is one such example. In the landscape paintings of Edo and its environs introduced here, he also uses rain, evening, and night to make the silhouettes of the trees stand out, deepening the impression on the viewer.

Of the five paintings introduced above, four were taken from "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo," and all of them have impressive tree silhouettes. In particular, the silhouettes of the background trees shrouded in rain in "Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake" and "Evening Glow at Akasaka Kiribatake" are just as impressive as those in "Shono."

I also chose "Evening Bell at Ikegami" from the Eight Views of the Environs of Edo. I have visited Ikegami Honmon-ji Temple many times myself, and even though it is hundreds of years after Hiroshige's time, the impression is exactly as it is in this painting. I was awestruck by this expression of trees.

Perhaps because it is a large-format print, all the trunks and branches of the trees are drawn, and the leaves are not drawn in clumps but are depicted in detail with gaps, resulting in an expression closer to reality. The depiction is magnificent.

The Eight Views of the Suburbs of Edo are all spectacular, but as examples of silhouettes in the background, I will cite 'Shibaura Clear Breeze' (top) and 'Autumn Moon at Tamagawa' (bottom) for reference.

Both Shibaura and Shimomaruko (Autumn Moon at Tamagawa) are now filled with buildings and houses instead of forests, so it is impossible to see such distant landscapes of trees.
However, speaking of the Tama River (Tamagawa), if you go back up to Fuchu, the trees on the mountains of Inagi City on the opposite bank are looming, and you can still see a similar landscape today.
When you look at 'Autumn Moon at Tamagawa' again with that in mind, the Edo-period landscape of a village nestled among tall trees on the opposite bank rises before your eyes.

Because they are large-format prints, the Eight Views of the Suburbs of Edo, in which the trees are drawn in fine detail, start to look more like modern landscape paintings than Edo-period pictures.

Conclusion

I have examined ukiyo-e woodblock prints of Edo and its suburbs, which are thought to have been drawn by Utagawa Hiroshige based on his own observations, to see how he distinguished between the foreground, midground, and background of trees.

Contrary to what I had initially assumed, I found that Hiroshige drew the foreground realistically, while in the midground, he distinguished between the characteristics of the trunks and branching of the trees as a whole, and the characteristics of the outlines of the leaf clusters on each branch.

In the future, I intend to investigate other works by Hiroshige and landscape paintings by other Edo-period artists, including Hokusai, in more detail.