Japanese Woodblock

A Japanese woodblock storybook from your photos

Flat planes of colour and bold outlines in the serene ukiyo-e tradition.

Sample spread illustrated in the Japanese Woodblock style

The world of Japanese Woodblock

Flat planes of colour, bold outlines, waves and skies out of Hokusai. The woodblock style gives a story serene, formal beauty; every spread could hang on a wall. It suits contemplative stories and families with a love of Japan.

Best for: Elegant gifts, travel stories, calm and contemplative tales.

Who it suits

Stories with a formal shape to them: a journey, a season passing, a life told in stages. It rewards composition over incident, so it fits a book you want looked at as much as read.

Which photos work best

Profiles and middle-distance shots suit it better than close-ups, because the style states a figure rather than modelling a face. Photos with a horizon, water or a strong architectural line give it the structure it is built around.

How it differs from Art Nouveau

Art nouveau decorates the frame and fills the border with ornament. Woodblock leaves the space empty and lets the flat planes do it. Both are formal; one is lavish and one is spare. See Art Nouveau

Questions about this style

Does it have to be a Japanese setting?

Not at all. The style is a way of drawing, not a place, and it handles a European coastline or a Turkish hillside without argument.

How much facial detail survives?

Less than in the painted styles. Figures are stated in flat planes and bold outline, which is the tradition's own logic. If likeness is the point of the gift, pick a painted style instead.

Your photos, this style

Every Fableself book starts from your photos. Your people are redrawn faithfully, same faces, same hair, same spark, inside this style's world, across every page of an original story written for you. Every page is reviewed before it reaches you. You approve a full digital proof before any payment.