[Chapter 4 Head-Band: The pattern (moyo) known as bamboo and the swelling sparrow (take nifukura susume). The parts of the bird are amusingly conventionalized—in the Korin manner. The word fukura written in Chinese contains the lucky character fuku (happiness).]
CHAPTER FOUR. LAWS GOVERNING THE CONCEPTION AND EXECUTION OF A PAINTING
When a Japanese artist is preparing to paint a picture he considers first the space the picture is to occupy and its shape, whether square, oblong, round or otherwise; next, the distribution of light and shade, and then the placing of the objects in the composition so as to secure harmony and effective contrasts. In settling these questions he relies largely on the laws of proportion and design.
The principles of proportion (ICHI) and design (ISHO) are closely allied. They aim to supply and express with sobriety what is essential to the composition, proportion determining the just arrangement and distribution of the component parts, and design the manner in which the same shall be handled. In a landscape, proportion may require the balancing effect of buildings and trees, while design will determine how the same may be picturesquely presented; for instance, by making the trees partially hide the buildings, thus provoking a desire to see more than is shown. Such suggestion or stimulation of the imagination is called YUKASHI. The Japanese painter is early taught the value of suppression in design—_l’art d’ennuyer est de tout dire_.
A well-known rule of proportion, quaintly expressed in the original Chinese and which is more or less adhered to in practice, requires in a landscape painting that if the mountain be, for example, ten feet high the trees should be one foot, a horse one inch and a man the size of a bean. JO SAN SEKI JU, SUN BA TO JIN _(Plate XVII)_.
Design, called in art ISHO ZUAN or _takumi,_ is largely the personal equation of the artist. It is his power of presenting and expressing what he treats in an original manner. The subject may not be new, but its treatment must be fresh and attractive. Much will depend upon the learning and the technical ability of the artist. In the matter of design the artists of Tokyo have always differed from those of Kyoto, the former aiming at lively and even startling effects, while the latter seek to produce a quieter or more subdued _(otonashi)_ result.