Attributed to Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川 国芳

This preparatory drawing of a samurai warrior conveys Kuniyoshi's deft handling of the brush. The lines feel confident and are swiftly executed, emphasizing the power and energy of the figure. This exciting drawing reveals much evidence of the artist's thinking. Kuniyoshi seems to have begun with the sheet oriented differently; note the head between the warrior's knees. Dissatisfied, he turned the sheet upside-down and began again. The conclusive decision for the head was drawn on a small piece of transparent Japanese tissue attached to the final drawing. When folded back, an earlier, rougher design is revealed. The geometric drawing underneath the samurai figure is simply what happened to be on the reused sheet used to make the album.