After seeing Genji scrolls in person for the first time, I'm inspired to write five small chapters specficially dealing with the art commonly found in the images created for this story. For each of these small assignments, you will be asked to explore the images and write about what you see, but the final assignment will be for you to create a picture of your life, in the style of Genji scrolls. To do this, we have to examine the major artistic characteristics of the pictures, and I think we should start with perspective.
Perspective is like point of view -- it is where we view the picture from.
For example, in movies, perspective is where the camera is located as the scene is being recorded. Looking at the image above, where do you think "the camera" would be located?
First, Genji images always take a 'bird's eye' perspective; that is, we look down on the images as if we were a bird. That said, it is interesting that these images also come to us at a angle, so we can see, in perspective, the traditional sliding paper doors, outer walls, and gardens of Genji. In order for us to do this, something has to be missing: the roof.
Here in Japan, I find the roofs to be one of the most distinctive parts of Japanese architecture: their dark, ceramic tiles; the curved slope; the turned-up edges. (See photo above.) For me, this is the best thing about Japanese castles and larger, traditional homes. It is interesting, then, that that is the first thing removed from these prints. Obviously, the 'bird's eye' perspective -- and perhaps, really "getting into the story" -- was very important to these artists!
Now, remember, YOUR TASK is to draw your picture using the same kind of perspective. In other words, you need to remove the roof of whatever room you are drawing.
You should also write a short paragraph explaining how this perspective helps the reader "get into the story."
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