Dawn over Fuji

Created in 1992, this meisho-e landscape addresses Mount Fuji at the moment of dawn, one of the most frequently depicted scenes in the Japanese woodblock tradition. The composition likely places the volcanic peak against a sky in transition, with graduated bokashi washes moving from dark indigo or violet through warm rose and amber as the light builds. Fuji's snow-capped cone, symmetrical and iconic, anchors the image while the sky performs the principal chromatic work. As an early print in Bull's career — he had been working in Japan only six years at this point — the piece demonstrates his engagement with canonical Japanese landscape subjects as a means of learning and honoring the tradition he had entered. The rendering of sky gradations in mokuhanga requires careful moistening of the washi and consistent baren pressure across each printing pass.