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

Baren Digest              Tuesday, 9 December 1997      Volume 01 : Number 010

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From: Graham Scholes <gscholes@islandnet.com>
Date: Mon, 8 Dec 1997 08:21:24 -0800
Subject: [Baren 42] Re: Visit to a Printer ...

My heavens what a wonderful experience and such useful tidbits of
information. Thank you Dave for taking the time to send us the report.

I was particularly interested in the bit about the brushes.  I have used
sandpaper the bring the brush in line and could not see any difference.
I have recently found that I am loosing a lot of hairs out of the brush and
wonder if this is an aging thing...like balding in myself. I find it most
annoying when, with every inking I have to be diligent about picking off
hairs so that I get a smooth layer of ink.  Can anybody throw light on
this.   Yes I do soak the brushes for 1/2 hour before using.

Tah for now....I going Shark fishing.

and Bill......

We can only hope that there will be enough people that will hold tradition
of the art form in a high priority and keep it alive.
We can all work to promoting our sport of woodblock printing to get more
artist involved and this will assure its longevity and maybe even survival.

Am I dreaming in technicolour here or what????

Regards

Graham

> Why does one choose to use "traditional" methods over the modern
> alternatives?  Surely not "just to get the job done".  Everything I've
> seen and heard indicates there's far more to it than that.  To challenge
> and test ourselves;  to simplify;  to preserve;  to dance to a different
> drumbeat;  all of these are equally valid reasons to do something.

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From: David Bull <davebull@asahi-net.email.ne.jp>
Date: Tue, 09 Dec 1997 11:05:07 +0900
Subject: [Baren 43] Re: Visit to a Printer ...

Graham Scholes wrote:
>
> I am losing a lot of hairs out of the brush and
> wonder if this is an aging thing...  Can anybody throw light on
> this.   Yes I do soak the brushes for 1/2 hour before using.

Graham, I wonder if perhaps the soaking might be part of the problem.
Here in the 'traditional' part of the woodblock world, water is
generally considered an 'enemy' of a brush.  Printers working in this
style, where smooth smooth colour impressions are the ideal, normally
never wet their brushes before using them, and when the work is done,
the brush is washed and dried off as soon as possible.

If allowed to stay wet too long, two problems come up: the chunk of wood
that forms the base of the brush tends to warp and split, with the
result that hairs start to fall out, and the hairs themselves start to
rot at the base.  The life of the brush is considerably reduced.

The printer I visited last week had a huge row of shelves filled with
brushes, all neatly arranged lying on their side.  There were maybe 150
different brushes there, mostly old old old.  Some of the really old and
well-used ones had worn down until the hairs were just about a
centimetre long.  I asked him about this, and he said that he used these
for those times when he felt that a bit of extra 'stiffness' in the hair
was useful.  He had never thrown a brush away in his life ...

Dave

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From: David Bull <davebull@asahi-net.email.ne.jp>
Date: Tue, 09 Dec 1997 17:23:08 +0900
Subject: [Baren 44] Two printmakers ...

There have been a couple of notices in my newspaper in recent days that
may be of interest to [Baren] members.  I rather doubt that they made it
into your local papers ...

The first was that woodblock print artist Kiyoshi Saito passed away a
week or so ago, in his late eighties.  I think that most of you may know
of him, as I understand his work was quite popular overseas.  I met him
a few years ago when a magazine editor took me to his studio with the
intention of having me write a profile of him for her publication.
Unfortunately, things didn't quite turn out as she had planned, as when
he found out what kind of work I was doing - making reproductions of
Edo-era prints - he made it fairly obvious that he didn't think much of
that, or of me, and the resulting conversations were not particularly
animated.  In the car on the way back, the editor recommended a change
of plan - _she_ would do the story on Saito, and I was to do one on
myself.  I was happy to do this, but less happy to find that no sooner
was my story printed, than the magazine folded.  No connection, I hope.

The second reported event was more of a shocker.  It was another
obituary, this time of the woodblock printmaker Un-ichi Hiratsuka.  He
passed away last week just shortly after reaching his 102nd birthday.
Those of you with a passing knowledge of 20th century printmaking will
probably say - "He was still alive????"  I was astonished too, to find
that not only had he been alive all this time, but he had been busy
working away on new woodblock prints, right up until his death.

Hiratsuka-san was one of the first men in Japan to try and break away
from the traditional division of labour printmaking system, and do all
the work by himself.  He was one of the founders of the 'Creative Print
Movement' in .... get this, 1924.  You've heard of Munakata Shiko, who
passed away many years ago now ... Hiratsuka-san was his teacher.

I read in the story that he was currently working on a series of 100
prints featuring female nudes and poetry.  To be 102 years old ... still
active at printmaking ... on a series of nudes ...

Maybe we've chosen the right job after all!

Dave Bull

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End of Baren Digest V1 #10
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