Drawn in One Stroke

Before the Great Wave made him famous abroad, Hokusai spent years teaching through books. The Hokusai Manga, begun in 1814, and Pictures Drawn in One Stroke (Ippitsu gafu), published in 1823, fill page after page with people, animals and birds reduced to a few quick movements of the brush.

They were made for students to copy, and they are still some of the freest drawings of the period.