Printing the Woodblocks...

A long day printing a run of 40 prints, using 3 Cherry blocks, 2 of which were carved on both sides to give a total of 5 passes; light blue, yellow, red, blue and black, printed in that order.

I printed the light blue first because in a test I'd done the secondary colours created by the over-printing looked better with the red and yellow passes printed on top of the light blue rather than the other way around. I was after a blueish yellow and a blueish red rather than a yellowish and reddish blue.

I worked from light to dark with the colours following the same order when producing a watercolour painting, finishing with the black.

I know the black is usually printed first to assess any changes in registration, but I didn't want the colours to over-print onto the black and weaken it and mean I'd have to print the black again, so I risked it. I suppose I could have printed the linework in a very pale blue first, and then printed it finally in black, but I didn't have the time.

Printing is scary! There are so many considerations; keeping the paper consistantly moist, (probably too strong a word. I would use "water cooled") constantly assessing the amount of pigment and paste to use and regulating it throughout the print run, clearing bits of the block away when it started to catch the paper (my fault - I should have done many more proof prints before my print run to correct things like that. Again, so short on time.), and many other things.

Anyway 13 hours later with only 30 mins for lunch I had my 40 prints. I layered them between dry cartridge paper with my heaviest books on them and closed the door on them for the night wondering if any of them were good enough.

A couple of days and a couple of changes of cartridge paper later the prints were dry and ready to sort out. I've managed to select the best 31, and I hope they meet with the approval of the Exchange participants. Some have come out well, others have blotches and marks that I wish they didn't have. On the whole though, I'm pleased with how my second woodblock print has turned out.

Had I known how difficult it would be to produce such an odd shaped print in a minimum of 3 colours I may well have not signed up, but I did, and I'm glad I did.

I've learnt so much producing these prints; much more than is possible to read in books. The subtle amounts of pigment and paste, so much a case of less is more, and how easy it is to use too much. The use of the baren and how much pressure to use, again slight variations make a world of difference to the finished result. I was only just starting to get the hang of it by the end of my 5th block. A book can't show you how much pressure to use. One man's heavy pressure is another man's light touch; you can only discover that by doing it.

So I hope all the participants of Baren Exchange #33 will be kind to me. You can only improve by doing something and the pressure of a deadline is perfect motivation.

Right, what should I do next? I'm going to concentrate on linework next. I want to improve my carving skills for detailed lines...

Print Progress

Work and life have been rather busy recently, so on the day that I post my prints to the USA I can quickly grab a few minutes to update my progress on the print exchange. The images in this post cover completion of the carving of the key block in Cherry and a print taken from it, which was then used to reproduce the areas for the individual colour blocks; the carving of the Cherry colour blocks and a test printing of the colours.

Key Block and print, including Kento marks.

After printing the linework I removed the border and other lines that weren't needed for the finished black print. They were printed to be used on the colour blocks. The Kento marks were also printed in order to transfer the same registration from the key block to the colour blocks. I used this print to draw up all the colour blocks.

2 Carved colour blocks

Close up of red block

Once the carving was completed I did a test print of each block in the colours I'd selected. I'm using Winsor and Newton Artist's Watercolours for this print.

Colour tests

The 3 colours I'm using are: Alizarin Crimson, Yellow Ochre and Phthalo Blue. I'm using the blue in 2 strengths, one as a kind of "grey block" to create simple shading and secondary colours and a stronger mix for the sky, domes and doors.

Getting the Design onto the Woodblock.

Inked Hanshita and Cherry Block

Above is the final inked design. It's been drawn on Hanshita paper available from Baren Mall.

The paper is made up of 2 sheets lightly adhered. One is a very light fibrous paper on which the design is drawn, and the other is a heavier support.

I traced the design onto the hanshita using my animator's lightbox and a Faber-Castell permanent ink brush pen from their Pitt Artist Pen range.

I'm going to try carving in American Cherry. A local timber merchant had a piece large enough for 3 blocks of the required size. I'll carve the colour blocks on both sides, giving me the 5 impressions I need. The timber merchant machine planed the blocks for me, but I've had to smooth them down initially with a small plane, sandpaper and repeated wetting and scraping with a cabinet scraper.

I've have found no national suppliers of All-Shina plywood in the UK, which I would have used, just because it's easier to cut, but the Cherry will be good practice, and is closer to the Japanese Cherry used by Ukiyo-e artists.

The next step was to paste the hanshita onto the block, but not before making a photocopy of it. The photocopy won't be used at all, it's just for my archive. The original inking will be destroyed by the carving so I want to keep a record of it. A whole new topic on "cartoons" could start here, but I'll save that for another time.

Firstly I blobbed rice paste (pre-mixed in handy tubes from Intaglio Printmakers in the UK) onto the block and rubbed it in well. I didn't put too much on, just enough to spread very thinly across the whole block. I then dabbed the paste with my fingers to break up the smooth surface and gently rested the hanshita (with the design down, facing the block) over the paste and quickly pressed it down, trying to avoid creating any air bubbles or pulling the paper out of shape. When the paper was firmly stuck down, I peeled the support layer of paper off, leaving behind the thin paper, with the now reversed image partially visible through it. I again checked for and carefully removed any air bubbles and left the paste to dry.

Hanshita pasted on Block. Rice Paste and Support Paper to left.

Here's a lovely little tip: Camellia Oil.

Although the design is visible through the paper fibres, and you can rub away some of those fibre layers to increase the clarity of the image, Camellia oil (available from Baren Mall, other art suppliers and from eBay Japanese shops) is almost magical in the way it reveals the inked line. Literally a drop or two on the block, and quickly rub it in. It makes the paper fibres almost invisible and the inked line looks like it was drawn directly onto the block (as in wood engraving).

Camellia Oil and Block

Close-up linework after Camellia Oil is applied

Print Design. Mk II.

I've tidied up my design for the print exchange, and got it in the correct format.

I've had to play around with the layout of the buildings because of the narrower width, but it's looking ok. The cat is a little more visible now aswell as he works his way down the picture. I realise some people may see 5 individual cats rather than 1 cat captured 5 times like a multple exposure image. I don't mind. Which ever way you view it, the feeling of travel and movement as your eye wanders down the image is still there.

This weekend I'm hoping to ink up the design, transfer it to the key block, and start carving.

Rough Print Design

Here's a very rough sketch of the design I've decided to produce for the print exchange I've signed up for. The theme for the exchange is "3 Colours" and the format is Chu-tanzaku (13 x 39 cms).

This was my second design idea. I scrapped the first one except for the idea of a downward narrative that unfolds as you read the image top to bottom. In this case the journey of a cat through the Greek town to meet the old woman or Priest (I haven't decided which yet).

The format is a little wide at the moment so I'll have to adjust some of the detail when I redraw it. I'm going to keep the colours simple, and add a mosaic style border around the image in just the 3 colours.

There'll be 5 blocks to carve: the black key block, blue, a light red-brown, a rich yellow and a grey block.

Although the subject matter is vaguely Greek (based on memories of harbour towns on Greek Islands we've visited) I wanted to incorporate Ukiyo-e design ideas too. The tight cropping of the image, and the non-western flat perspective where things at the top of an image are considered to be further away from things at the bottom of the image, even though they appear to be the same size.

A long way to go before I've got finished prints in my hands. In many ways the design is the easy bit.

My First Print Exchange...

I've signed up for my first print exchange with the Barenforum, the Internet home of international woodblock print artists. They run 4 print exchanges a year, in addition to a very popular New Year Animal print exchange based on the Japanese tradition of sending New Year cards. 30 people are signed on, with a number on the waiting list in case anyone should have to drop out.
I've made it onto the waiting list for Exchange #33 so I've decided to produce my print whether I get promoted onto the official sign-up list or not.

I thought it might be interesting to post progress reports on the design and production of the print, including any mistakes.

I'm really very new to woodblock printing, and my animation work takes up most of my time, but I'm fascinated by the technique and it's history, and the multitude of connections I'm finding between the subject matter and style of Japanese woodblock prints and books, and the traditional 2D Animation I so enjoy producing.

My first woodblock print.

"Catching Snowflakes"

I thought I'd start my blog with the first woodblock print I've ever produced. It's small, only about 60mm high and a very simple image consisting of 3 Shina Ply blocks and 4 printings on Japanese paper.

It was made in early December 2006 as a Christmas card for family and close friends.

The blocks used were: black, blue (with a second printing of darker blue in the sky), and red (the pink tongue was printed with the red on the same block, and the jacket colour was produced by overprinting the red and blue.)

My hope is to produce more animal prints using traditional Japanese printing techniques in the spare time around my "proper" job.