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| Woodcut Printmaking Techniques |
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| The creation of traditional woodcut prints is based on a delicate devision of labor between three craftsmen - an artists, a wood carver and a print maker . If one of these craftsmen outshines or underperforms the others then a hight quality print will not be crated. These are artisans who master their own area in an unobtrusive yet dignified manner. It is when their supreme skills are harmonized that a woodcut print, far superior to that which could be produced by any one individual, is created. |
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| The
creation of a woodcut print begins with the artist making
a hanshita-e (a kind of template drawing to act as a guide
for the subsequent printmaking and composed only of black
ink lines). The artists puts his heart and soul into every
brush stroke and the hanshita-e, which has been
created taking the avoidance of waterfulness to its extremity,
is the entrusted to the wood carver. The carver pastes the hanshita-e onto a wooden block and carves out the wood
according to the black ink lines. The artist creates a new hanshita-e for each color and the wood carver then
carves this out on a new block. The artist and wood carver
have to liaise closely during this process. |
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| The completed blocks for each color
are then delivered to the printmaker and the creation of
the woodcut print nears its climax. The artist trasnmits
his image using various methods. The print maker creates
complicated combinations with his pigments and manipulates
them at will to produced assorted hues. Each artisan respects
the other but a succession of breathtaking offences and
defenses by each of these stubborn individuals occurs until
both are satisfied. |
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| A woodcut print is completed in this way. Essentialy,
this is an extremely rare artistic technique in which several
people work together to complete a vivid picture of individualistic
hues. It is surely fair to say that this is a fine art that
Japan can take justifiable pride in. |
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