Yakusha nigaoe hayageiko

• Published: 1816
• Japanese: 役者似顔絵早稽古 (Yakusha nigao e haya geiko)

Yakusha nigao-e hayageiko (roughly, "quick practice in actor portraits") is an illustrated book published in 1816 and illustrated by Utagawa Toyokuni. It consists of a number of portraits of kabuki actors as well as diagrams and instructions as to how to design and paint such portraits; these include pages of just numerous different styles of wigs, and pages showing how to outline an actor's body before drawing on his costume, so that the final image will appear realistic (in terms of how the garments fall on the body).

References

• Gallery labels, "Utagawa Toyokuni – A man who surpassed Sharaku," Ôta Memorial Museum of Art, Sept 2019.