# 絵 — painting; drawing

絵 means “painting; drawing”. It is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 12 strokes. On'yomi: エ (e). It has no common kun'yomi. You'll see it in words such as 絵 (e, “picture; drawing”).

- Meaning: painting; drawing
- On'yomi: エ (e)
- Kun'yomi: —
- Strokes: 12
- Level: JLPT N3 · set Arts & pastimes

## How to remember 絵

Threads (糸) that meet (会) in a picture.

Sounds like 会: both read エ.

Parts: 糸 thread · 会 meet

## Words with 絵

| Word | Reading | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 絵 | え (e) | picture; drawing |
| 絵はがき | えはがき (ehagaki) | picture postcard |

## Don't confuse it with

[総](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/overall/) · [給](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/salary/) · [統](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/unite/) · [素](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/element/)

## More in the “Arts & pastimes” set

[演](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/perform/) · [術](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/technique/) · [技](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/skill/) · [曲](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/bend/) · [絵](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/painting/) · [遊](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/play/)

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From Moji Ninja (https://moji.ninja/), a free app for learning hiragana, katakana and the JLPT kanji from N5 to N1 with spaced repetition. Page: https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/painting/. Last updated 2026-11-01.