Two Crabs and Reeds

What you see

Two crabs occupy the center and right, among a clump of reeds or water plants that fans out behind them. Their legs and claws spread in every direction, as if in motion. On the left, four columns of calligraphy balance the scene, with red seals above and below, and the rest of the paper is left open.

Everything is done in ink: thick and black for the shells, each almost a single blot, and thin and grey for the plants, which seem to sit behind. The legs are short, angular strokes. Don’t miss the vertical folds in the paper and the thin claws reaching out at upper right.