Changes

*Japanese: 漆絵 ''(urushie)''

*Japanese: 漆絵 ''(urushie)''

''Urushi-e'', literally meaning "[[lacquer]] picture," refers to two types of [[Japanese art]]works: paintings painted with actual lacquer, and particular [[woodblock printing]] styles which use regular ink but are said to resemble the darkness and thickness of black lacquer.

''Urushi-e'', literally meaning "[[lacquer]] picture," refers to two types of [[Japanese art]]works: paintings painted with actual lacquer, and particular [[woodblock printing]] styles which use regular ink but are said to resemble the darkness and thickness of black lacquer.

==Paintings==

==Paintings==

In painting, the term refers to the use of colored lacquers, produced by mixing pigments with clear lacquer. The use of colored lacquer for painting goes back to the prehistoric [[Jomon Period|Jômon period]], and became especially popular in the [[Nara period]] (8th c.), when a great many works were made using red lacquer against a black background. Until the 19th century, however, the use of natural pigments restricted the colors accessible to artists to red, black, yellow, green, and light brown.

In painting, the term refers to the use of colored lacquers, produced by mixing pigments with clear lacquer. The use of colored lacquer for painting goes back to the prehistoric [[Jomon Period|Jômon period]], and became especially popular in the [[Nara Period]] (8th c.), when a great many works were made using red lacquer against a black background. Until the 19th century, however, the use of natural pigments restricted the colors accessible to artists to red, black, yellow, green, and light brown.

Artist [[Shibata Zeshin]] (1807-1891) is particularly famous for his innovations in this regard, and was perhaps the first to use lacquer not just as a decorative element (in painting boxes, furniture, and pottery) but as a medium for painted scrolls. Zeshin experimented extensively with various substances, which he mixed with lacquer to create a variety of effects, including simulating the appearance of various metals (iron, gold, bronze, copper), and imitating the appearance and texture of Western oil painting.

Artist [[Shibata Zeshin]] (1807-1891) is particularly famous for his innovations in this regard, and was perhaps the first to use lacquer not just as a decorative element (in painting boxes, furniture, and pottery) but as a medium for painted scrolls. Zeshin experimented extensively with various substances, which he mixed with lacquer to create a variety of effects, including simulating the appearance of various metals (iron, gold, bronze, copper), and imitating the appearance and texture of Western oil painting.