Transmitting the Spirit, Revealing the Form of Things, Volume 6 of Hokusai Sketchbooks (Denshin kaishu: Hokusai manga, gohen)
This is a Japanese woodblock sketchbook volume from the Hokusai Manga series, made by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) for artists and students of drawing. Its pages show dynamic studies of men in motion, mostly fighting or working with poles, staffs, spears and sticks, drawn in quick ink line with light grey wash. A designer could draw on the energetic poses, cropped figure studies and loose action gestures for compositions about movement, combat or sport.
