The Forest in Autumn

The third print completed in Bull's four-season forest series, this 2008 work depicts deciduous woodland in the transition between summer fullness and winter dormancy. Autumn subjects in the Japanese woodblock tradition foreground the chromatic drama of koyo — the seasonal change of leaf color — moving through yellows, oranges, and deep reds against the remaining greens and the grays of bare branches. Bull's mokuhanga process is particularly suited to this palette, as water-based pigments on [washi](/glossary/washi) produce the warm, slightly muted tones characteristic of autumn foliage without the saturation of oil-based media. The vertical trunks and canopy structure of the forest provide a compositional architecture through which the color plays, and the varying density of leaf cover creates depth across the picture plane.