絵 - A PICTURE in Thread

Readings & Meanings:

エ

カイ

picture

Common Usage:

絵

絵本

絵画

Examples:

彼女の特技は絵を描くことだ。

子供に絵本を読んでやる。

私の趣味は絵画鑑賞です。

Translations:

Her special skill is drawing pictures.

I'm going to read the children a picture book.

My hobby is art appreciation.

Radical:

How nice! Two common kanji meet in one! 糸 (thread) and 会 (meeting).

Threads meet = picture?

Well, some pictures are made by threads. Think of tapestries. Also think of the threads of the canvas meeting the paint.

But by now you should be thinking, "Oh, wait, 会 ALSO has the pronunciation かい... Maybe it's in this kanji to provide a clue to the pronunciation!" And you'd be very correct.

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/e.htm