The Great Wave

Hokusai's wave rears over three low boats of rowers, its crest breaking into white claws of foam, the trough beneath it deep Prussian blue. Small and snow-capped in the gap between the swells sits Mount Fuji (the actual subject, since this comes from his Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series of the 1830s).

The buff, near-empty sky across the top is the hard part; the foam and the printed linework give plenty to hold onto everywhere else. Finished size 68.6 x 45.7cm.