Today's postings

  1. [Baren 30702] So Much to Look At! (Annie Bissett)
  2. [Baren 30703] Re: new member ("carol wagner")
  3. [Baren 30704] Re: new member (Dan Dew)
  4. [Baren 30705] Re: new member (Sharri LaPierre)
  5. [Baren 30706] Chinese Woodcuts (Gayle Wohlken)
  6. [Baren 30707] Re: new member (edmund # michaelfraley.com)
  7. [Baren 30708] Re: Chinese Woodcuts (Darrell Madis)
  8. [Baren 30709] Baren Member blogs: Update Notification (Blog Manager)
  9. [Baren 30710] Re: Chinese Woodcuts (Relief_Printmaking)
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Message 1
From: Annie Bissett
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 09:53:30 -0400
Subject: [Baren 30702] So Much to Look At!
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Baren Forum is keeping me very busy looking at images lately! Many thanks to
Mike for putting up scans from the last three exchanges. What a visual
feast, one that I'm savoring.

Dale, your Cancer Imaging prints are fantastic - a great use of the "magic"
of making prints. I particularly love your two "Advisor" pieces.
Peter, welcome. Very strong work.
And welcome to Hanneke, too. I have an old friend who moved to Leiden a
number of years ago - I owe Leiden a visit. For your questions about
watercolor woodblock printing, the Baren Forum Encyclopedia on the web site
tells you everything you could ever need to know.

Best, Annie B
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Message 2
From: "carol wagner"
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 07:56:25 -0700
Subject: [Baren 30703] Re: new member
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Welcome to you, Hanneke,

Some of us do use linoleum sometimes, and I don't believe there is a restriction on its' use, save for those times when an exchange is deemed all Hanga, or woodcut only. When I was an undergrad linoleum was referred to as "the poor mans' woodcut", and given the price , not to say scarcity, of good cherry plank these days it's no wonder some use it in place of wood.

Carol in Sacramento
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Message 3
From: Dan Dew
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 12:14:12 -0400
Subject: [Baren 30704] Re: new member
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It's funny, but it has never been "price" when I think of either wood
or lino, but usually what I want the print to look like when done or
the degree of difficulty. For really super intense detail, I am the
opposite and use lino and for easy designs I use wood. Maybe its the
wood I choose, but every time I want detail and I have chosen wood, I
run into grains or cross grains and it messes me up, so I stick with
lino.
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Message 4
From: Sharri LaPierre
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 09:33:13 -0700
Subject: [Baren 30705] Re: new member
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Welcome, Hanneke, keep in mind the Baren Summit this summer in
Vancouver, WA. It would be a great opportunity for you to be
introduced to the watercolor method of printing (hanga). All of your
questions will be answered! If you have any questions about the summit
please let me know. Meanwhile, I will let those who know a whole lot
more than I about the hanga method answer your questions here. Lino is
fine for all exchanges except the few that are designated "hanga
only"....

Cheers!
Sharri
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Message 5
From: Gayle Wohlken
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 16:54:46 -0400
Subject: [Baren 30706] Chinese Woodcuts
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Anybody know the word for Chinese woodcuts? I'm going to be talking
about woodcuts tomorrow at an artists' meeting. We all know Moku
Hanga for Japanese woodcuts, but do we just say Chinese Woodcuts for
those made in the "Chinese" way.

~Gayle
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Message 6
From: edmund # michaelfraley.com
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 17:06:07 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Baren 30707] Re: new member
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Dear Hanneke,

Welcome to the forum!

If you're interested in moku hanga, one of the best resources available is
Graham Schole's video on the subject, which you can purchase at
http://www.woodblock.info.

I'm not sure how much work you've done in wood, but as an artist still new
to the medium, I enjoy the fact that I'm dealing with a real piece of
natural material. Even if you find yourself using shina plywood, it still
"feels" more natural (at least to me) than linoleum. No offense to
linoleum users either. The smell of the wood is wonderful too. Cutting
wood requires (or develops) more strength from the hands than linoleum,
and you find yourself having to work with the natural grain of the wood,
which offers both joys and some limitations. Linoleum, of course, has no
grain. I like linoleum as a way of "sketching" with my blades. I had to
smile when I read Carol's comment about the old adage about linoleum being
"the poor man's woodcut." Perhaps that's true for types of wood like
cherry, but the planks of basswood I sometimes use are still less
expensive for me than linoleum.



> Dear fellow forum members,
>
> I've been on the forum for roughly a week now, and I thought it was time
to introduce myself.
>
> I first came upon the forum because I was looking for printmaking
exchanges. I had taken part in one in Belgium in 2005
> (http://www.estampe.be/exchange/ the images for 2005 don't seem to be up
yet, at least not all of them) with a linoprint. I was very impressed
by
> what I saw in the Baren exchange galleries.
>
> I draw, paint and make etchings, but my linoprints are the reason I
joined
> the Baren forum. I'm relatively new to linoprinting, though I'm
wondering
> if eventually I might like to trade linoleum in for wood. I love the
subtlety of woodblock printing done with watercolours and would like to
know how this is done (does one use diluted watercolours or watercolours
straight from the tube? And how do you keep them wet long enough for
printing?)
>
> Unfortunately, I presently don't have a relevant gallery to show you.
>
> I hope to be able to take part in an exchange at some point. It's not
clear to me if linoleum is permitted in all exchanges or only some.
>
> Oh, yes, it might be relevant to know that I'm writing you from Leiden,
in
> the Netherlands, and I'm a woman, for those of you who can't tell by my
name!
>
> Best regards,
>
> Hanneke Spruijt-Teunissen
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Message 7
From: Darrell Madis
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 14:12:59 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Baren 30708] Re: Chinese Woodcuts
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According to this site the Chinese word for woodcut is muban:
http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/chineseprints/intro.html
Probably just say "Chinese Woodcuts."

Darrell
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Message 8
From: Blog Manager
Date: 18 Apr 2006 03:55:07 -0000
Subject: [Baren 30709] Baren Member blogs: Update Notification
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This is an automatic update message being sent to [Baren] by the forum blog software.

The following new entries were found on the listed printmaker's websites during the past 24 hours. (17 sites checked, just before midnight Eastern time)

*****************

Site Name: Wood Engraver

Author: Andy English
Item: Easter Monday
http://studiodiary.blogspot.com/2006/04/easter-monday.html

*****************

Site Name: Printmakingblog

Author: Printblog
Item: SGC Part II
http://printmakersmaterials.blogspot.com/2006/04/sgc-part-ii.html

*****************

Site Name: m.Lee Prints

Author: m.Lee
Item: Poppies v10 $30
http://mleeprints.blogspot.com/2006/04/poppies-v10-30.html

*****************

[Baren] members: if you have a printmaking blog (or a website with a published ATOM feed), and wish it to be included in this daily checklist, please write to the Baren Blog Manager at:
http://barenforum.org/contact_baren.php
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Message 9
From: Relief_Printmaking
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 22:14:38 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Baren 30710] Re: Chinese Woodcuts
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Dear Gayle,
I think this material and links could be useful to
you.
New Chinese Woodblock Printing
Traditional Chinese woodblock printing was first
engraved or overlaid on wood and then printed on
paper. The first wood engraving was made in 868 in the
Chinese Tang Dynasty and it was named The Lonely Tree.
According to researchers, most of the early Chinese
woodblock prints were used as illustrations in books;
the art reached a development peak in the Ming
Dynasty. Since then woodblock printing has been used
to make New Year painting. With the adoption of metal
printing and some new printing technology, woodblock
printing gradually declined.@

In the 1930s, some young Chinese revolutionists
started woodblock creation again under the influence
and with the support of Lu Xun, a leading Chinese
revolutionary writer of the time. The new woodblock
printing was influenced by both traditional Chinese
wood engraving skills and Western woodblock printing
styles, and used more realistic methods to show actual
life. Representative woodblock prints of the time
include Li Hua's Please Shout, China, Hu Yichuan's
Going to the Frontline, and Zhang Wang's Injured Head.
Though the techniques of these works had not reached a
mature stage, the painters were fully involved in
their artistic creation, and their works were full of
vitality and truly reflected the spirit and life of
the people. During the War of Resistance against Japan
and the Liberation War, Chinese woodblock print makers
used their woodblocks as weapons to fight against the
enemy to save their country. The woodblock print is
easily made and is quickly accepted. In the harsh
environment of the Chinese Revolution, it became a
main art form for expressing people's ideas.
Representative works are Conquering the Castle and He
Is Not Dead by Huang Xinbo, Tax Reducing Meeting and
People Bridge by Gu Yuan, Adequate Food and Clothes by
Li Qun and Trial by Yan Han. These works establish the
cruelty of the enemy and show the hard struggle of the
people. Different woodblock print makers had different
artistic styles; some styles were filled with a vivid
life atmosphere, some were vigorous and fresh in order
to encourage people to continue with the struggle,
still others were meticulous and sad like an epic
poem.

Woodblock print making gained a good opportunity for
development after the founding of the People's
Republic of China. With the beginning of a new life,
the artists had new sentiments and looked at their
lives from a new perspective; their themes and
me-thods of expression through woodblock prints took
on more variety. The new paintings showed working
scenes in the factory plants and farming fields,
conveying people's confidence in their new life and
their optimistic spirit.

Chinese wood-block prints from different areas have
different styles. The Sichuan woodblock prints are
mostly black and white; they include Niu Wen's Dong
Fang Hong (Oriental Red), Feng Zhong-tie's The Sea
Run-ning to the East, Li Huanmin's On the Way to the
Golden Road, Wu Fan's Dandelion (Fig.2-58) and The
Host by Xu Kuang and A Ge. In Northeast China,
woodblock printing was first used to describe the life
of exploration to document in the wastelands, and then
to document social organization and daily life.
Representative works are September in the North
(Fig.2-59)and Cloudy Scene by Chao Mei, Return From
Herding by Zhang Zhenqi, Missing The Hometown by Hao
Boyi and Plateau In Summer Night by Li Yiping. Most of
the woodblock prints of the Northeast are colored
woodcuts. The water woodcut was initiated in Jiangsu
Province in the 1960s, and it incorporated traditional
Chinese printing skills to form a special effect in
order to reveal the delicate and beautiful views of
the cities along the southern bank of the Yangtze
River. Representative works from that region include
Mount Mao by Wu Junfa, Spring Water and Wind on The
Southern Bank of the Yangtze River by Huang Pimo, and
The Green Southern Bank by Zhang Xinyu and Zhu Qinbao.
There are also woodblock print artists in the Chinese
provinces of Guizhou, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and
Guang-dong.

After the 1980s, the artistic concept of woodblock
printing changed dramatically. It began to take on
more patterns and styles, learning from other Chinese
painting forms to enrich its content and methods of
expression. At the same time, the other Chinese
painting forms absorbed skills from the woodblock
prints.
-------------
online links
http://www.chineseartnet.com/LuPing/home.htm
http://www.chinaprints.com/artist_yuchengyou.asp
http://home.seechina.com.cn/html/arts/2xxbh-e.html
http://www.chinaprints.com/

best regards