japanese painters  

Find
the father-and-son woodblock printmakers, Hiroshi and Toshi Yoshida. Not "modern," but exquisite (gradient) colors -- landscapes, in a classic "outlined" mode. Subtle lighting effects -- some are multiple uses of the same blocks, with different daylighting/color variants. Increasingly costly now, unfortunately. . .

another I have found is...
another I have found is Utamaro. i like his work as well.

We all know...
the famous Great wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai (1760-1849) but the works I like most of him are the series "large flowers". He became almost too good in my view and his later work like the series "One hundred poems by one hundred poets as told by the nurse" is very skillful but not as beautiful. Apart from Utamaro (1753-1806) the best "actor portraits" are cut by Sharaku. Unfortunately he was only active a few years in the late 17 hundreds (not unusual for traditional Jananese crafts people who usually worked for a long period anonimously under a "master". Without knowing all that much about japanese prints I consider the 18th century, especially the later part as the very best. 19th century prints reflect the uncertainty of that period with rather violent scenes, a lot of action and/or explicit sex. All skillful but obviously made to please the public and the political rulers of the times. I was lucky enough to find a "reliable" Utamaro during a visit to Kyoto in the early eighties.It has been a joy ever since.

....and
I forgot to mention that your description of the beach scene fits very well the kind of prints Hokusai did. The Arts Institute of Chicago has a nice one called "Surimono: gathering Clams"