gofun chirashi 胡粉散らし

Keywords
Art History
Painting

The technique of scattering drops of shell white *gofun 胡粉 onto a finished woodblock print *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 to suggest falling snow, often seen on later landscape prints by such artists as Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (also known as Andō 安藤 Hiroshige, 1797-1858) and Kuniyoshi 国芳 (1797-1861). Powdered shell white that has been soaked in sizing is applied to a stiff brush which is held above the finished print and struck sharply with a stick causing the white pigment to scatter over the surface of the print, forming white spots. Areas which are to remain free of white spots, such as the faces of figures, can be covered with paper cut-outs. An alternative and more laborious method to suggest falling snow is to hand cut each individual snowflake out of the block which will print the sky.