The Seacoast in Spring

The seacoast in spring offers a composition characterized by soft, diffuse light and the suggestion of new growth along coastal margins. In the Japanese landscape tradition, spring seacoast subjects often balance a calm or gently rippled ocean surface against blossoming shoreline vegetation or hazy distant headlands. Bull's rendering of the water would rely on layered overprinting to build depth and translucency, with [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) along the horizon line creating the characteristic luminous glow of early spring light. The damp [washi](/glossary/washi) absorbs each pigment layer and requires careful drying and re-dampening between color applications — a slow, deliberate process central to authentic mokuhanga production. As the 2009 completion of the four-season seacoast set, this print rounds out a paired series alongside the river compositions, demonstrating Bull's sustained engagement with the classic Japanese format of seasonal landscape cycles.