Rainfall
- Medium:
- Mokuhanga on washi
- Image courtesy of
- La Lanta Fine Art
Rainfall addresses precipitation in a tropical landscape — a defining atmospheric condition of the Southeast Asian environment Kiggell inhabits. Rain in mokuhanga can be rendered through repeated fine lines carved into the woodblock, a technique with antecedents in Hiroshige's famous rain prints, though Kiggell's approach draws on direct observation rather than convention. The layered water-based washes of the printing process carry an intrinsic affinity with the subject: pigment carried in water onto an absorbent washi surface mirrors the physical process being depicted. Graduated bokashi passages model the density of rainfall across the composition, distinguishing heavy curtains from lighter mist in the middle and far distances.
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Rainfall was created by Ralph Kiggell.
Rainfall uses Washi, on mokuhanga on washi.
Rainfall depicts landscapes.
