Breaking away from the style of splendid and big paintings of the Azuchi-Momoyama period, he brought in Yamato-e painting (a traditional Japanese style painting of the late Heian and Kamakura periods dealing with Japanese themes), and created compositions with natural depth and delicately defined trees and golden clouds.
父永徳が推し進めた安土桃山時代の豪壮な大きな画図の様式から脱却し、中世の大和絵を取り入れながら、自然な奥行きのある構成や繊細な形姿の樹木・金雲などを生み出した。