Japanese Herons Notecards

Rinpa artists worked in various formats, notably screens, fans and hanging scrolls, woodblock printed books, lacquerware, ceramics, and kimono textiles. Many Rinpa paintings were used on the sliding doors and walls (fusuma) of noble homes.

Subject matter and style were often borrowed from Heian period traditions of yamato-e, with elements from Muromachi ink paintings, Chinese Ming dynasty flower-and-bird paintings, as well as Momoyama-period Kanō school developments. The stereotypical standard painting in the Rinpa style involves simple natural subjects such as birds, plants and flowers, with the background filled in with gold leaf. Emphasis on refined design and technique became more pronounced as the Rinpa style developed.

The Rinpa style flourished in Kyōto, Nara, and Ōsaka, i.e., the political and cultural triangle of ancient Japan. Kyōto and Ōsaka were also two of the most important cities of the Nanga (南画 "Southern painting"), also known as Bunjinga (文人画 "literati painting") school's style; Nanga painting was therefore exposed to the influence of Rinpa painting and vice versa.