At age seven, Chiura Obata (American, b. Japan, 18851975) began studying art. For two years he practiced drawing a circle and two straight lines. For seven years he was allowed to work with only black ink on white paper, expressing tone and texture through the flow of pigment in his brushes. At age fifteen he moved to Tokyo and expanded his studies, and in 1903 he came to the United States. Obata never abandoned the tools and teachings of his native Japan. He worked with ink and watercolor and