Mokuhanga (木版画), is a relatively recent craft for me, but given it involves two media I have experience with, it seems like a logical step.
Initially I took a one day course to get a flavour of the craft. I carved a lighthouse (above) and enjoyed the combination of carving wood and printing output. As a result, I then set myself up with some basic tools at home from Intaglio Printmaker and have been playing around to see where I go. Here’s a rough list of essentials.
- Carbon paper + transfer paper
- Woodblock (plywood)
- Chisels
- Baren
- Water based ink
- Graphite pencil
- Hosho/Masa paper (or any paper really)
やくも キハ181系
やくも (Yakumo) キハ (Kiha) 181 系 (series)
Japanese trains are the finest in the world. Their style, variety, efficiency… is unrivaled. The Yakumo is a limited express train service operated by JR West, running from Okayama to Matsue and Izumo (Shimane Prefecture). The キハ (Kiha) 181 variant was a diesel locomotive introduced in the late 60’s.
Originally I saw a photo of the 181 taken in Tsuyama Manabi Railway Museum, from which the inspiration for this etching came. One can easily see where Transformers got their style from!
Finding a balance between the positive and negative space in the etching was a little tricky, but taken slowly the train emerged without much force. When printing I embossed some with the baren and others with a spoon to bring out a darker tone. The latter were bolder and conveyed the train almost emerging from a tunnel.
I opted to package the cards as gifts in packs of three and used scrap tissue paper to separate the cards (the water based ink remains somewhat powdery).
Kingfisher Friday
This cutting was about a weeks work, on and off, few hours here and there. It was good to start to feel what the plywood is capable of resolution wise, plus exploring varying textures. I found one had to be really careful with the plywood where there were narrow bands of detail. If you look closely at the close-up of the block (below) you’ll see mistakes in areas with narrow slivers of ply having peeled away during carving; all part of the learning!
I printed this on Masa paper. You can see in the image below right the impact of printing on the smooth side (on top) versus the textured side (underneath). The weight applied using the Baren really had an impact on output clarity. I used a teaspoon on some of the prints to really bring out the intensity of colour.
I’d like to move to using a solid wood block and invest in some better chisels, now that I have a feel for it. That can happen in time. For now I am happy to continue to experiment with the existing equipment, and run off a few more prints. More to follow…