I said last time that there would be more images by non-Japanese designers in this series, and here we are already! And who do you think this one is by?

Although my printmaking schedule this year is extremely tight, I did manage to 'escape' from my workbenches for a week in July; I flew over to Vancouver, Canada for a short family get-together, partly instigated by my parents' 55th anniversary. Not everybody could get there (oldest daughter Himi is working on a cruise ship in the Caribbean), and nothing much happened, but we did have a most relaxing week, taking walks, doing crossword puzzles together, and admiring the new shoji window screens my father has built in his apartment.

Everywhere I went during the week, I kept my digital camera always with me; I knew that the moment I returned home I would have to start carving the next print, so during all our walks I kept a lookout for a scene that might make an interesting print. As it turned out, I returned to Japan empty-handed; I just hadn't come across anything that I felt would be suitable.

Waiting in my email inbox at home though, was a message from my sister letting me know about a web camera which showed the view from an apartment block very close to her home in Vancouver. Using my computer, I was able to see the live image from the camera, and as I watched it change minute by minute, realized that a very nice evening scene was rapidly approaching.

That scene reminded me of many beautiful evenings I had spent in Vancouver, so I reached into my memory, put a few ideas down on paper, and the next morning I started work on this woodblock print. I don't know how realistic it is, but I hope you enjoy it!

David
Monday, August 15, 2005

(Here's the print in context in the Treasure Chest series.)

Posted by Dave Bull at 11:03 PM | Comments (3)

So how well are you doing at the little game of predicting what is coming up next in this Treasure Chest series? Are you confused by what may seem to be a 'random' group of prints, or are you enjoying the 'eclectic' selection?

For the first (but not last) time in this set, we have a design by a non-Japanese artist. Dating from about 1910, this is the work of Jules Chadel, a member of 'Les Amis de l'Art Japonais', a group of French artists active around the turn of the previous century, a time when Japanese art was having an enormous influence on European design.

That influence is well-known and documented, but for the most part, the effects were on the content of the art produced. There were though, a few artists influenced also by the Japanese techniques, and Chadel was one of these. The colours on this print of his were water-based pigments applied to the wood with a brush, in contrast to the oil-based inks used for most western wood-block work. I have no idea how he learned the methods of doing this; perhaps he had some contact with the group of English printmakers who were learning from the Japanese expatriate Yoshijiro Urushibara at about this time, or perhaps he was a private experimenter, studying and learning from the Japanese prints that were flooding Europe just then.

It is a fact of quite some sadness for me that these experiments by European artists did not result in the water-based printmaking technology becoming firmly established in the west. The English did more with it than others, but they too gave it up in favour of the oil-based methods.

I myself believe that one of the main reasons for this is that until one has accumulated a lot of experience, it can be difficult to produce consistent results - large batches of identical prints - with the Japanese technique, something fairly straightforward when using oil-based inks and a press.

Looking at the bright side though, I guess this is one of the main reasons why I don't have much 'competition'!

David
Monday, August 1, 2005

(Here's the print in context in the Treasure Chest series.)

Posted by Dave Bull at 9:43 PM | Comments (4)