Black Peonies

Shunning the use of outlines, creating flower petals out of blurred shades of ink and leaves out of byakuroku light green and thin ink tones, Gyoshû has fully conveyed a sense of the softness of these voluptuous blossoms. The subtly blurred flower petals were achieved without the use of dôsa (paper sizing liquid) to stop pigment running, and rather through the adroit use of natural pigment spreading. According to Gyoshû's fellow painter, Tomitori Fûdô, Gyoshû's secret was, "He would brush on sizing, and the only those areas where he wanted paints to run, he would use hot water wash without sizing." The softened gold paint lines and intricately exact placement of the pale green on the leaves make this richly redolent work a clear statement of Gyoshû's talents and his understanding of the subtleties of Nihonga pigments.