Ishikawa Toyonobu

Ishikawa Toyonobu spent his life in Edo, now Tokyo, where he carved and printed the everyday scenes of city life. He was one of the first to put color on woodblock prints, not just black ink, which made the pictures pop off the page. Some think he might also be Nishimura Shigenobu, another artist from the same time, but nobody’s sure.

What sets him apart is his love of color. Before Toyonobu, ukiyo-e prints were mostly ink on paper, with just a hand-tinted blush here and there. He started using multiple carved blocks to layer bright pigments, reds, greens, yellows, so each print felt alive. He also loved actors and courtesans, filling his prints with bold patterns and expressive faces.

Look for prints where the colors don’t just sit on top of the lines, they dance with them. His figures often wear vivid kimonos with swirling designs, and his backgrounds glow in ways that feel almost modern. If a ukiyo-e print feels like it’s glowing from inside, chances are it came from Toyonobu’s studio.