moku hanga (Japanese woodblock printing)

People often ask me about the process of making a Japanese woodblock print. Other kinds of printmaking techniques like etching are more well known than woodblock printing in Australia. I think a lot of people are quite fascinated by the carving of the actual wood blocks which are an artwork in themselves. There are so many cute things about the Japanese method of woodblock printing: the lovely little bamboo leaf covered baren used for rubbing the paper during printmaking, the small, funky horse hair brushes used to place the ink of the wood, bowls of watercolour inks, the small carving tools, and the use of beautiful Japanese papers. And what I really love is the portability of art form itself. If you're printing a small block, it's possible to set up and print in just about any space, even the floor! I've travelled with my tools (including carving tools) on international flights (post 9/11) with no trouble at all (not in my carry-on luggage of course!). I've just found this interesting article (with pictures) by Eva Pietzcker and Miriam Zegrer on Japanese woodblock, known as moku hanga in Japanese. It covers Japanese woodblock history, technique, materials and printing. They've even included pictures of cute brushes and baren discs.

The print seen here is a Japanese woodblock, Adabana, by Kyoto-based artist Richard Steiner.

still life

Work in progress.........

These are the blocks (and quick sketch) for a small print I carved today. I'm intrigued by the smooth shapes often found in pottery. This still life is going to have some very soft, almost old fashioned colours in it. As I carved it I felt like it had a very gentle energy. I might even print it tomorrow if I have time.

blue when it moves

Have you ever noticed the way dragonflies, when they move really fast, seem to have this blue-like blurry colour hovering around their wings and bodies?

Or is that just my imagination running a bit wild?

The Japanese word for dragonfly is "tombo". The Japanese often refer to this lovely creature affectionately as "tombo-chan" - "chan" being a cute tag attached to a friend's or child's name. This print first started coming together about a year ago when I was studying gardening books and books about insects. I love all those lines that insects have. The prints itself is now its 3rd incarnation in the blue form. The others have been smaller and brown or grey in colour. I'm experimenting a bit with the layering of colour at the moment and made a print of this on a bigger sheet of paper with a larger brown tombo over the top. It looks better on thinner paper in the bigger version for some reason but this little one above turned out quite well on this lovely hand-made thick paper (above picture on left) from Japan (and, alas, not in stock any more according to my friend Miki in Japan this morning!).