Japanese Woodblock Prints – 18th and 19th c. (Mike Ramey)

• Edo period, Japan isolated and prosperous, rise of middle class
• woodblock print invented to provide art for the masses, 1 woodblock plate made 200 copies per day, 10,000 in its lifetime, sold for the price of a bowl of rice, scenes of everyday life etc.
• cherry wood is cut into blocks, polished and aged for up to 10 years
• to prepare the key block, a black ink outline is made on thin paper (visible on both sides), and affixed to the block, face down, with rice paste
• carvers sit on a floor cushion before a short table slanted 10-20 degrees toward them
• a carving knife is held at an angle and pulled through outline, destroying it in the process
• a 35 degree bevel strengthens the walls of the incisions for greater durability
• non-printed areas between cut lines are then removed with a gouge (pushed)
• registration marks are cut into lower left corner (L shape) and left side (short vertical bar)
• ink is made from powdered pigment mixed with water (and sometimes alcohol and/or gum arabic) and is applied to the block with a brush
• the paper is made from the inner bark of the mulberry bush, is fibrous and absorbs the ink
• it may be sized with a mixture of animal glue and alum to control absorbency
• paper must be kept damp at all times to prevent uneven shrinkage = uneven registration
• baren is pressed hard (from the shoulder) onto the paper to infuse ink into it (not onto it)
• a pressing of some 20 copies of the outline, in black, is used to create additional blocks, as needed, one for each color
• the print is built up one color at a time, progressing from lighter to darker
• drying: 1) place between two sheets of newsprint or tissue under light weight for one hour, 2) place between 2 sheets of cardboard, under weight, for at least 24 hours to dry slowly

Japanese Woodblock Prints – 20th c. (Scarlett el-Khazen)

• Two parallel printmaking movements began the revival of woodblock printing in the 20^th c. The Shin-hang (new prints) and the Sosaku-hanga (creative prints).
• Artists were seeking  and embracing new ideas from the West with a need to express cultural, political, economic and social changes.
• Contact with the outside world allowed new generations of artists/printmaker’s to adapt linear perspective and photographic expressionism to their work  and include the techniques of lithography and etching.
• Traditional materials were still used, however, the artist/printmakers simplified the division of tasks and were now competent in all the processes while the quality of the medium was maintained.
• Prussian blue was imported from Europe and China and now accessible to the Japanese printmakers. Aniline dyes were introduced from the West replacing the gentler indigenous colors. The artists were influenced by the European idea of the prints as an artistic method rather than a means of reproduction.
• Kyoto style printing was suitable for the reproductions of Japanese-style paintings. The carving and printmaking techniques imitated the brushed effect. The printing style allows for softer colors. Thicken pigments mixed with gofun, (a white pigment) can be printed over gold leaf foil bases.
• Tokyo style printing-colors are much thinner and do not cover gold leaf foil bases. A larger baren forces the colors into the fibers of the papers. This style is personified by the well known left behind ukiyo-e tradition.
• With the  rapid decline of carvers and printers, and the shortages of apprentices the long-term future of woodblock printing lies in workshops of art school trained artists/printmakers.

Washi – Japanese Handmade Paper Making (Scarlett el-Khazen)

Technique

• washi is made from long vegetable fibers contrary to ones made from short wood pulp
• barks of long plant fibers- hemp, wild kozo tree, a member of the mulberry tree family and wild bush gampi were grown by rice farmers November to May as a papermaking side business process, cutting and production of high quality papers
• harvest, branch bundles, steamed in water over night in airproof box/barrel
• remove black and green bark layers (kuro kawa) with knife to expose the white inner bark dried and stored
• white bark boiled in alkaline potash in water for three hours to soften
• washed in a bamboo basket in clear water .
• barks are sun-exposed in snow, bleaches the paper from yellow to white, silk-like appearance, repeated process of removing specks and dust by hand (chiri-tori) pressed into ball shapes of pure bast by middle aged women
• balls are placed on stones, hard wooden mallets beat and separate the fibers
• fiber pulp, water and mucilage glue binder (extracted roots from tororo-aoi plant) are mixed so fibers float evenly, do not sink, and pulp runs smoothly through the mould, (sugeta)
• papermaker dips mould into vat of pulp and binder, animal glues several times sloshing and lifting the mixture vertically and horizontally through screen, fibers intertwine to create strength
• papers are pressed overnight removing excess water, stretched/mounted on wooden boards for drying

History

• The history of handmade paper from plant fibers bamboo, hemp, mulberry, cane barks, and cloth rag migrates from china to japan 610 CE
• Nara period-710-784 washi replaced bamboo strips, and to some extent expensive silks as mediums for writing available to emperors and aristocrats
• Heian period-795-1185 paper mills initiated, followed by emerging private papermaking villages  each having twenty or more vats
• Samurai period-1192-1603 trading improved, large demand for different types of papers for different uses
• Edo period 1603-1868 japan closing off to outside world, daimyos (sovereigns) maintained mills for own consumption, by early 1700’s expanding market of single sheets for calligraphy, brush painting, printing
• Meiji period 1860’s-1912 industrial development led to mass mechanical production
• Types of papers:
  • Hanshi – books, umbrellas, sliding doors
  • Hosogawa – documents, maps, account records
  • Santome and Senka – wrapping clothes
  • Shifu – ceremonial clothes, mosquito nets
  • Yoshino-gami – filtration, daily needs
  • Mino-gami +Kozo – woodblock prints