Abbreviated Drawing Styles for Birds and Animals (Chōjū ryakuga shiki 鳥獣略画式)
Chōjū ryakuga shiki, a Japanese picture manual of abbreviated drawing styles for birds and animals, made by the artist Kitao Masayoshi and published in Japan in 1797 as a teaching guide for students of painting. Its double-page spreads show birds, insects, crabs and frogs reduced to a few quick brush lines and light washes of colour, with flocks of swallow-like birds, a bullfinch, a rooster, a crane, and dragonflies set against plain paper. A designer could take from them a economical shorthand for depicting birds and small creatures, built from a single contour and a touch of pale colour.
