Hokusai was the greatest of all the Japanese painters of Ukiyo-e. He was a voracious student of a huge range of artistic techniques and his work covered a spectrum of art forms: polychrome or ink paintings; surimono (de luxe, small-edition woodblock prints) and polychrome prints; woodblocks for all kind of illustrated books; erotic pictures. Hokusai is thought to have made in all at least 30,000 drawings and the illustrations for 500 books. He led a life of singular variety, sustained by his inexhaustible energy.