[Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking. Baren Digest Tuesday, 16 December 1997 Volume 01 : Number 016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bill Mixon Date: Mon, 15 Dec 1997 13:00:39 -0500 Subject: [Baren 87] Re.: Ego-less art Hi all, This has been an interesting thread. I don't have anything original to say on this right now, but I've been doing a lot of reading lately, so I'll pass along a couple of anecdotes that I think may be relevant... Early in Munakata Shiko's career, Yanagi Soetsu approached him after a show with an offer to buy one of his prints. Up to that point, Munakata already had been astonishingly productive but not very "successful". Wryly, Munakata later wrote of this event: "At that point I achieved enlightenment --- it was the enlightenment of cash". I just finished reading Josef Albers' "Interaction of Color". This is a fascinating discussion of how our eyes deceive us, how we so often perceive "what is not there". But the author roams, and at one point compares artists to actors, and remarks that acting is a loss of identity; without "becoming someone else" one is not acting. The parallels are obvious? To Graham: Hey, I just visited your website. Like your light. I don't know if you were acting, but you did transport me for a few minutes to a beautiful place (B.C.) I've caught only tantalizing glimpses of, and hope to see again someday! For what it's worth... Regards, Bill ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Mon, 15 Dec 1997 12:35:10 -0800 Subject: [Baren 88] Re: Re.: Ego-less art Bill Mixon wrote: >Hey, I just visited your website. Like your light. I don't know if you >were acting, but you did transport me for a few minutes to a beautiful >place (B.C.) I've caught only tantalizing glimpses of, and hope to see >again someday! > >For what it's worth... That worth is an enlightenment --- an enlightenment of Praise. Thanks I appreciate that. Graham ------------------------------ From: Keith Elwell-Gavins Date: Tue, 16 Dec 1997 09:04:53 -0800 Subject: [Baren 89] Colours A further query for the experienced: what is your system (process?) for selecting the number of colours to use for any individual colour print? Is it simply a matter of trading off the number of colours to keep the number of blocks within reason? or is it more an abstraction process whereby the 'scene' is reduced to its bare elements and what's left = # of blocks? Do people always wish they had carved an extra block for that final touch? What about colour mixing within a block? (and its subsequent variability from print to print). And then there is the contentious issue of hand colouring.... I'd love to know more of the technical aspects of many of the fine prints which are now on member's sites. If anyone from the group can spare the time to list the processes and tech-specs for any of their prints we can access, I would much appreciate it. Cheers, Keith ------------------------------ From: Keith Elwell-Gavins Date: Tue, 16 Dec 1997 08:47:44 -0800 Subject: [Baren 90] Re: Tools Sorry I'm a bit behind with my emails - four days away from home leaves a bit of backlog... Thanks for everyone's suggestions on tools. It look like that three or four professional quality items are the way to go initially. I have emailed Japanese Woodworker (they are sending a catalog), but not much response from any other supplier, at least regarding the true Japanese tools. I'll also write to the Bumpodo Company in Japan. Cheers, Keith. ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Tue, 16 Dec 1997 08:08:11 +0900 Subject: [Baren 91] Re: Colours Re: Keith's posting about: > an abstraction process whereby the 'scene' is reduced to its > bare elements and what's left = # of blocks? I read this and laughed and laughed and laughed. Don't misunderstand me Keith, I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing because the image that immediately popped into my mind was of Matt, over there in the New Hampshire woods. Keith, this question touches on Matt's Holy Grail. He has lots to tell you about this. Lots. Lots. Lots. And here we are, one week before Xmas, and he's got prints to sell, presents to buy, homestead work to be done, and a list of jobs that just can't be postponed that stretches from here to forever ... I can actually feel his frustration as his hands reach for the keyboard ... and then draw back ... (Sorry to laugh, Matt! It's just that I've 'been there', and can guess your feelings ...) So Keith, thanks for the interesting and incredibly deep question, but if you don't get an immediate response, please just wait a bit ... OK? Dave ------------------------------ From: Matthew.W.Brown@VALLEY.NET (Matthew W Brown) Date: 15 Dec 97 22:35:43 EST Subject: [Baren 92] 'hanga' printing John, You wote: "to be unnoticed is the artist's worst nightmare." Do you really feel this? I have been thinking a great deal about Dave's Baren 74, and the issue of audience interest/interaction in visual art. An active interested audience can be a great liability (think of yourself as a kid, happily drawing at your desk until your teacher comes by and begins praising you and calling attention to what you're doing ... it all falls apart). Some examples: Van Gogh, Vermeer, Cezanne, Joseph Cornell, Rembrandt in later life, there are lots of artists who worked virtually unnoticed most of their lives: like Heaphaestus their audiences might have been mostly imagined, and their work deepened and grew, perhaps because of this? Dave, Can you speak a bit of how to handle indigo? What type of alcohol to use, and how? Also, am curious what you do with your old blocks? Graham, What do you do with your old blocks? Over how long a period do you print a complete edition? Keith, you asked: "what is your system (process?) for selecting the number of colours to use for any individual colour print? or is it more an abstraction process whereby the 'scene' is reduced to its bare elements and what's left = # of blocks? What about colour mixing within a block? (and its subsequent variability from print to print). And then there is the contentious issue of hand colouring...." A few thoughts for the moment: it seems (to myself at any rate) that while the CRAFT of color woodblock printing has very clear parameters and structure (as for instance: hand coloring is pretty much out because pigment applied by brush is unable to match the quality of pigment infusing moist paper from saturated block under pressure of baren) there is great freedom and possiblity in the ART of color woodblock printing. By color woodblock printing I am trying to refer to what Elaine Chandler (of McLain's Printmaking Supply) and myself and some others call Japanese "hanga" printing. Dave has explained in this Baren forum this is pretty redundant terminology, since "hanga" means only"printmaking" ("moku hanga" refering to woodblock printmaking). But outside of Japan we still need a term for that type of color woodblock printing that involves using water instead of oil, baren and brushes instead of a press. So perhaps we throw in the Japanese "hanga" word because it is short and kind of gets the idea that we're talking about the type of woodblock printing most commonly thought of as Japanese. (If this Baren group could come up with a better name, that would be great ... and naming is a very fundamental "art" activity.) So it turns out making a print can actually be very open ended. Since the blocks are generated by means of pasting printed proofs from previously carved blocks, it is easy to "add another block". One could actually take a "finished" editioned print, draw or paint directly on it an idea for a new color, re-wet it, paste it to a new block, carve that block, and then, after re-wetting, re-print the entire edition with the new color from the new block. Am I communicating? A print can start with a very clear idea of how many blocks, colors etc. will be involved, or it can start with just a vague notion and get built block by block. Most of the ukiyo-e prints relied on a first block brush drawing to play the leading role and the color blocks all refer to that first block. This tends to be a beautiful and powerful abstraction, allowing the colors to have lots of room to change/move around because the black line is there to keep things together. Probably thinking in terms of this black line 'abstraction' (or drawing) is a good place to start, but its not the only way. Seeing abstractly in terms of large masses of flat color is another type of vision encouraged by this color woodblock printing. The printing itself has a bit of the monotype in it. Being with brushes and by hand there is lots one can do directly on the block: gets some blocks, watercolors and brushes, make up some paste, wet some paper, and start playing around! Matt ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Mon, 15 Dec 1997 21:04:20 -0800 Subject: [Baren 93] Answers to Questions Keith, >A further query for the experienced: what is your system (process?) >for selecting the number of colours to use for any individual colour >print? Lot of food here to chew on. I will be delighted to respond with my point of view. Just now I am sort of up to the armpits getting ready for Son and family to arrive. We have much to do over Xmas. Like build a Sculpture. Visit numerous Galleries. He is a sculpture artist and keenly interested and active. We only see them about once sometimes twice a year and never have enough time to do our thing together. So this is a real special time. Will be back at you soon. Graham ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Tue, 16 Dec 1997 17:14:17 +0900 Subject: [Baren 94] Re: 'hanga' printing > Dave, Can you speak a bit of how to handle indigo? What type of > alcohol to use, and how? For myself, I use 99.9999 stuff I get from the local pharmacy, but I know that a lot of the older guys don't go to that trouble. They just dump a swig of 'sake' in the bowl. I don't know much about the chemistry involved, but that makes me wonder about the sugars and stuff that must be in there - where do _they_ end up? The alcohol itself just evaporates ... Because I make so few prints, I don't keep a stock of prepared pigment, but just grind up a bit of indigo as I need it, soak the resulting powder in alcohol for a few minutes, and then grind it some more with water as needed. (Then glue, etc. ...) But Matsuzaki-san, the first printer I ever visited here, showed me his 'jar' of indigo 'cream'. Because he uses his colours almost every day, and because he wants to make his colour mixing as easy and flexible as possible, he has prepared a large jar (like a 'jumbo' mayonnaise jar) full of indigo ground up and mixed with alcohol (no water or glue). He can thus scoop out the amount he needs to blend with other colours, without going through the grinding and soaking process. It's fast and efficient. He has done this with all his basic colours. I say 'all' but he only uses a few; indigo, the blue known as 'verence' (maybe like your Prussian Blue), the red known as 'hon yoko', the red 'beni', a couple of vermillions, and the yellow called 'shin seki ei' (I believe he no longer uses the 'seki-o'. I've got some, but don't use it either. I'm scared to! It's 50/50 sulphur and arsenic). Add the 'sumi' to this collection, and that's all that us 'trad' types are using. No greens, no purples, no browns, ... Everything comes from that basic collection ... (Actually, I should admit that I 'cheat', and keep some ochre and earth colours in my box. He doesn't need them, but I have a hell of a time making different browns without them ...) *** > Also, am curious what you do with your old blocks ... I store them quite carefully. Remember that none of my prints are ever numbered, and I have no such thing as an 'edition', so these blocks are considered valuable 'stock'. To date, with my poets series, I set the quantity at about 100 each month, and have been shooting for that many subscribers since the series started. (Earlier this year it reached 83 people, but has since slumped a bit ... With all the bad financial news around these days, this coming exhibition is going to be 'interesting'.) 100 copies off a hard cherry block is nothing more than a warm-up, so these blocks are in perfect condition. I certainly don't have any interest in doing the job myself, but if there is enough consumer interest after the last exhibition, I may pass them out to other printers for printing another 'edition'. As for storage, they are simply tied together in a bundle, with newspaper interleaving to protect the faces, and then shoved into the closet - a dry dry closet. The bundles are not wrapped in plastic or anything, as I believe a certain minimum of air circulation is 'healthy' for them. Too much would cause them to be constantly stretching this way and that as the weather changed, but I think the only changes in the back of the closet are the wider 'climate' changes, not the daily 'weather' changes. *** > Japanese "hanga" printing. Dave has explained this is > pretty redundant terminology ... > ... kind of gets the idea that we're talking about the > type of woodblock printing most commonly thought of as > Japanese Matt has a good point here. I hope I didn't seem to be too pedantic when I 'corrected' everybody's usage. I guess that word 'hanga' is simply going to become one of those words that has a different meaning in the two languages. In Japanese, it means 'print'. In English, it means, as Matt said, 'the type of woodblock printing most commonly thought of as Japanese'. The other word I used to illustrate my point has a similar 'image problem'. In English the word 'kimono' means ... well you know what it means. In Japanese however, it simply means 'wearables' (kiru - the verb 'to wear', and mono - the noun 'things'). All manner of clothing can be described with the word, not just the 'spectacular' stuff that foreigners think of as 'kimono' ... Dave Bull *** P.S. It's not about printmaking, but if any of you have an interest in traditional Japanese 'Edo' culture and lifestyles, there is a wonderful new web site under development at: http://www.us-japan.org/edomatsu/ But beware, don't visit unless you've got a couple of free hours on your hands ... P.P.S. I'm off to visit Seki-san tomorrow afternoon - the top-ranked 'shin-hanga' printer. (He's best known for his work on the 'Doi' editions.) This is one guy with a very 'international' outlook, even going off to LA every year to do demonstrations and sales. My visit is actually an 'interview' for my winter newsletter, but I'll tell him about [Baren] ... He will be very interested in what is going on here. Any specific questions I could ask for anybody? ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V1 #16 **************************