[Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking.

Baren Digest                Monday, 27 July 1998        Volume 04 : Number 226

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From: Gayle Wohlken <blueman@pantek.com>
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1998 09:40:23 -0400
Subject: [Baren 1247] Re: Baren Digest V4 #225 

Baren,
I would like to ask Dave ( and some of the rest of you who do
hanga style woodblocks) how you get the more delicate coloration
when printing the keyblock.  I was looking at the new entry to the
Encyclopedia (Dave's photos of the block by  Mr. Nakagawa), and 
particularly the print itself.  I see the darkness of the hair and eyes
and such, buy how did the nose (which seemed clearly  on the 
keyblock) come out such a delicate shade of gray.  Is it a result of 
the colors being printed first, then the black comes out a shade of 
gray over them?  

http://www.woodblock.com/encyclopedia/entries/002_05/002_05_frame.html

Gayle Wohlken

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From: David Bull <davebull@woodblock.com>
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1998 23:51:15 +0900
Subject: [Baren 1248] It's multiple blocks ... 

Gayle asked:
>I would like to ask Dave ( and some of the rest of you who do
>hanga style woodblocks) how you get the more delicate coloration
>when printing the keyblock.   ...  etc.

When you look at the image of the finished print and see that jet black
hair and the dark eyes and eyelashes, what you are looking at is the
result of multiple printings from multiple blocks. 

I don't have a copy of that print, but I _do_ have another very similar
print by Goyo.  I've just scanned in a blowup of a small section of the
face, and have uploaded it to:

http://www.woodblock.com/forum/archives/vol04/extras/goyo_face.jpg
(That's 'volume four' - vee oh ell zero four)

It's just about 70Kb ... sorry about that, but I needed to show the
detail.

You can see that the hair is in two 'tones' - the faint grey hair from
the key block being overlaid by darker black hair from a separate
block.  The same goes for the eyes - faint grey from the key block, and
darker pupils added later.  (Maybe now you see why I talk so much about
delicate registration adjustments ...)

Notice also that nearly all the delicate hair carving on the key block
is obscured by the darker printings that come later ...    All that
work, just to be buried ...

This print, by the way, is a less expensive reproduction, and the carving
isn't really near the standard of 'the block'.  

Dave

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From: Graham Scholes <gscholes@islandnet.com>
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1998 09:32:25 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Baren 1249] Re: Woodblock dreams 

>I went back to the block to check this Graham, and also took another
>photo, in a bit of a different light angle.  There is no difference in
>the heights of those hairs. A couple of the hairs _do_ fall a bit short
>of meeting the crossing line, and that's where a bit of the shadow
>effect comes from.
>
>http://www.woodblock.com/encyclopedia/entries/002_05/images/eye3.jpg
>will perhaps show it a bit better ...

That shows it very well.  Quite a camera indeed.  I have had a digital
camera on my wish list for some time now.
I am hoping to hold out until Nikon comes out with a adaption for the back
of the their cameras that will enable me to use the lenses I got with the
camera.
I have heard this is going to happen but no timing yet.

Graham

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From:  <hudson@panther.middlebury.edu>
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1998 12:49:12 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Baren 1250] New member intro 

Hello from a new subscriber.   I've been reading the entries and starting
to dive into the resources on Baren and find it all extraordinary.   Many
thanks, David, and all.
I have been making woodblock prints since about 1974 when Nathan Jackson
(now a very well known Tlingit carver--totem poles, bent wood boxes,
etc--came to Unalaska, Alaska, to give a short class sponsored by the
Alaska State Arts Council.   I loved working with wood and seeing what
crept out between the grains.   A few years later Dale DeArmond visited
and gave another class.   In 1991 I was able to spend six weeks in
Hangzhou, People's Republic of China, for classes with Lu Fang.  His
technique was a variation of the "water printing--shui-yin" method.   It
involves printing with water colors on very thin unsized paper.   The
paper is placed on the uninked board, covered with a protective sheet or
two and then weighted in place.   It is folded back, water colors are
applied to a section of the block with a brusht, the paper is lowered
and the baren goes to work.   The paper is lifted, still weighted in place, and more 
color is added to the wood.   I started using a heavy paper (Kochi) and dampened it
between damp cloth and weights over night.   Generally, I now use a thin
Chinese paper and then--if I'm brave enough--mount the finished print on a
piece of heavy watercolor paper.
After living in the Aleutian Islands for 28 years my wife and I now live
in Vermont.
Best wishes to all and many thanks for your various advice.

Ray Hudson

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From: woodcuts@concentric.net (D. Joseph/R. Sexauer)
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1998 22:27:05 -0800
Subject: [Baren 1251] Re: Block Longevity 

Dave wrote
>Who knows?  If it is kept away from too much moisture, it shouldn't
>suffer much at all.  How long do pieces of wood last?  Certainly some
>hundreds of years, I should think ...

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a remarkably preserved block of Durer's
(imagine an umlaut) in its collection. Unfortunately, my textbooks are all
at school, so I can't give you an exact date, but the subject matter is the
beheading of Saint Catherine.

I would imagine it is at least 500 years old, give or take a few years. I
last saw it about ten years ago, when I took a print history class to have
a look. At that time, the museum was wonderfully trusting about letting one
have a close-up, lengthy love affair with this sanctified relic. I doubt
that Durer even carved it, but I recall being surprised at how radically
and deeply the block was gouged. I also remember it being braced on either
end with iron bands, which I imagine were to prevent warping, since it was
not a joined block. These crude braces looked to have been on the block
since its carving.

Roxanne Sexauer

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From: Gary Luedtke <GLuedtke@compuserve.com>
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1998 18:42:15 -0400
Subject: [Baren 1252] New member intro 

A warm welcome to Baren, Ray, look forward to seeing and hearing more of
your work.

Gary Luedtke
Kansas City

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From: Graham Scholes <gscholes@islandnet.com>
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1998 22:04:10 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Baren 1253] Re: New member intro 

Hi Ray who wrote....
>After living in the Aleutian Islands for 28 years my wife and I now live
>in Vermont.

That must have been a shock in reverse.  I guess winters will seem like
summer now.
May I ask why not Washinton or Oregon.

Welcome ablock.

Graham

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From: <hudson@panther.middlebury.edu>
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1998 04:49:37 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Baren 1254] Reply to welcomes/Aleutian Islands 

Thanks for the welcomes.   Graham wrote that winter in Vermont must be
like summer in Alaska.   Actually, the Vermont winters have been colder
than those in the Aleutians where the Japanese current brushes the islands
and keeps things warmer in the winter.   Of course, the Bering Sea keeps
things cooler in the summer.  Although I was raised in Washington, my wife
is from this part of the country and we moved here in part to be closer to
her parents.   If you want to know what the Aleutians look like, just add
some splendid sea to such Yoshida Hiroshi prints as these in his Japanese
Alps series:  "Sunrise on Eboshidake", "From the Summit of Shiroumadake",
"From Daitenjodake", and ""Goshikigahara."
One challenge I've had as a printmaker now is to figure out what to do
with trees--the Aleutians were blessedly free of them and you could see
the shapes of the mountains.

Ray

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From: David Bull <davebull@woodblock.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1998 21:45:42 +0900
Subject: [Baren 1255] Welcome ... 

Welcome to Ray ... it sounds as though you are going to have plenty to
share with us; your description of the Chinese process sounds quite
intriguing ...

I look forward to seeing some of the prints themselves.


> ... my wife and I now live in Vermont.

What's this now ... three [Baren] members in New England?  Four?  Maybe
that's where the first [Baren] convention will have to be ... 

Dave

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End of Baren Digest V4 #226
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