Prospects and Views, Picture Album of Landscapes (Shōkei chōbō, Sansui gafu 勝景眺望山水画譜)
A Japanese woodblock picture album of landscapes published in Edo in 1826 by Kōkunsai Bairin, active 1812 to 1826, intended for viewers and artists who studied scenic views. The pages show misty mountains, lakes, pine-covered hills, villages and castle towers rendered in spare ink lines with soft grey washes, leaving large areas of blank paper that suggest atmosphere and distance. A designer could take from them the economy of line, the use of empty space and haze to create depth, and the layered composition of distant peaks above water.
