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Financial statement : 2008 results ...

February again ... and tax time is here. Income taxes here in Japan must be paid by March 15th, so last week I fired up my bookkeeping software, punched in all of the waiting receipts, finished up the tabulations of last year's sales data, and sent the summaries off to the accountant who does my tax returns.

I do all the bookkeeping myself, but leave the tax calculation to the experts. Living and working in the same building brings a whole host of special twists and turns to the calculation, and there is simply no way that I can invest the time to try and understand it all.

In a newsletter story last spring, I showed the basic Income & Expense statement for the previous year (2007). It was pretty grim. Although I did indeed sell a whole pile of prints - just over $60,000 in all - I barely broke even for the year. There is no 'secret' as to where the problem lies - there are no frivolous expenses anywhere along the chain; it is simply that my prices are too low.

In that story I also described how I would try to pull things up over the coming year if I possibly could, and outlined a few ideas for doing that.

Well, a year has gone by, and it's time to put the new numbers on the table - the Income & Expenses for 2008. To help make the comparison, I've overlaid two charts. It first shows the 2007 figures, but rolling your mouse over the chart will 'flip' it to show the 2008 figures. (For those of you who think in US dollars, imagine these figures are in pennies, and you'll be fairly close (just about 8% too low, actually))

2008 graph

What's different?

Well, the first surprise for me was what was the same ... namely the sales figures, both for my regular prints, and for the Mokuhankan catalogue (listed separately in the chart). The inner details of the sales figures were actually up and down all over the place - I lost a couple of subscribers to the Grim Reaper last year, domestic sales were down quite a bit, foreign sales were up, quite a number of back-issue subscribers came to the end of their series - so the yearly total could actually have gone in any direction, and to find that it was actually stable was quite a relief. I didn't increase sales, but in this current climate, not to have them collapse was quite an achievement!

The expenses show a different story. These I have much more control over, and I was determined through the year to keep them down as much as possible. I didn't really have a lot of room to move with most of them, but cancelling the January 2009 exhibition made a huge difference. (Many of the exhibition expenses are actually booked in the previous year). All in all, I managed to cut expenses by around 800,000 yen, and that cutback amount went straight to the bottom line.

That's the good news ... The bad news is that because I made a profit, I am now back over the minimum level for taxation, and I will have to pay a good chunk of that out in taxes now. If I had known in advance, I would have used the money for business-related expenses - maybe stocked up on some more paper - but it's too late for that!

The next big question is of course - what next? As is completely obvious, we are in the early stages of what is almost certainly going to be a very severe, and very long, depression. No 'recession' about it. It's 'game over' for the good times for at least a decade, I believe. There were simply too many fundamentally unstable factors in the economic situation, a crash of this sort was inevitable at some point, and it is going to take a very long time to find a new stability.

So what's a printmaker to do? Woodblock prints are completely frivolous items, and if too many of my collectors lose their employment, it will of course have an impact on me too. But even if most of them can hang on through 2009, for the final four prints in the 'My Solitudes' project, what will happen next?

I had actually been toying with the idea of producing a number of large-scale versions of some of the Solitudes designs, but - given the current climate - I think that 'large-scale' may not be such a good idea. Whatever I produce next is going to have to be first and foremost ... affordable.

As we are already seeing, some businesses are managing to be successful in this new environment - those that offer good value (defined as a desirable product at a reachable price). I'm sure I can produce the 'desirable product' part of the equation, but I'm not sure about the 'reachable price' part. And indeed, what price is 'reachable' when so many people are going to be out of a job themselves ...

Anyway, cross that bridge when we get there; for now, I have to focus on getting these next four prints designed, cut, printed, and out the door!

Posted by Dave Bull at 12:33 PM | Comments (6)

Interlude ...

Part-timer Ichikawa-san is coming over tomorrow morning to pick up the batch of prints, along with all the accompanying paperwork necessary for shipping. She has a pile of the books already made up, so the prints will be flying away to their new homes bit by bit over the next ten days or so.

It's now time for me to prepare the next batch of printing paper (another 112 sheets) for the second half of the run, but before I do, there's - as usual - a pile of paperwork waiting on my desk. Among the things on my 'to do' list:

"put the quote from the Ivins book on the RoundTable, and see what people think of it ..."

Do you know the book I mean? "How Prints Look", by William Ivins, Jr., published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1943, and since re-issued a couple of times. My copy cost 80¢ a couple of decades ago; I think you can find it in used bookshops anywhere ...

Most of the book is nothing particularly to do with my type of woodblock work, as it's all about the techniques used in making western prints, but in the essays at the back, he speaks in general terms, applicable to any kind of art.

There is one particular quote that I have always found fascinating, as it cuts very close to the bone for me. Rather than talk about it too much to start with, just let me put it on the table for you to read.

I would - of course - be interested in hearing what you might have to say about this, and also - of course - with specific reference to my own type of work.

Excerpt from How Prints Look, William M. Ivins, Jr.

"It may in general be assumed that the greater an artist the simpler his prints are from a strictly technical point of view. [...] The more complex and artificial the technique of a print, especially in the way its lines are laid, the more certain one may be that its maker was a craftsman translator and not a creative artist. The price of virtuosity is abject slavery to a complaisant tool, that of creative artistry is willful dominance over a recalcitrant tool. The world has a curious but encouraging habit of forgetting the virtuosi. The only two techniques that really are of artistic importance are rarely or never mentioned in essays and books upon the graphic techniques. They are those of pictorial imagination and sharp-sighted, sensitive draughtmanship. No one can ever be taught these two great techniques, for they are part of the eternal mystery of personality and its growth, to be recognized but not to be rationalized or reduced to a method. They can no more be imitated than wit."

Posted by Dave Bull at 2:18 PM | Comments (10)

[Seacoast in Winter - 13] : Impressions 16 ~ 17

Continued from [Seacoast in Winter - 12] | Starting point of the thread is [Seacoast in Winter]

OK, final couple of steps ... at last!

Step #16 - The last actual colour impression on the print uses the same block as the first impression - and adds depth to the sky. The darker surrounding also makes the spray area 'pop' much more!

Step #17 - And our last impression is a karazuri (embossing) on the spray itself. I carved a random jumbled pattern in that area to give some texture, as the smooth white paper just looked too unreal by itself. (This is probably difficult to see in the small image - click for the enlargement ...)

Now that all the stages are done, I have put the slideshow online, so you can see the print come to life step by step, without having to click click from page to page ...

So there we have it .. another one done. After a couple of days of postponed deskwork, I'll be making another 100+ sheets of paper wet, for the second printing batch. Anything you think I should change?

Posted by Dave Bull at 2:08 PM | Comments (4)

[Seacoast in Winter - 12] : Impressions 14 ~ 15

Continued from [Seacoast in Winter - 11] | Starting point of the thread is [Seacoast in Winter]

Step #14 - Now we put some shadows onto the rocks, bringing them to life!

That'll be it for the rocks I think. I think I could have laid the black on a bit heavier, as the shadows could certainly be a bit darker under the main large rock, but that would probably make the other parts a bit too dark. By doing the rocks with only 4 blocks, as opposed to the six for the water, we're a bit limited in how much subtlety we can catch ...

Step #15 - And the final touch on the water, bringing out the transparency on the underwater rocks.

Let's have a couple of close-ups, to see how that works:

The 'base' blue_brown tone of the underwater rock doesn't change between the two steps. What does change are the surrounding tones - the darker they become, the lighter the original rock area appears to become, even though it actually doesn't change ...

I'm now off downtown for some other work that will interrupt this, but later this evening, I'll be back at it - there are two impressions left - one for the sky tone, and an embossing for the foam spray area ...

The thread continues in [Seacoast in Winter - 13] ...

Posted by Dave Bull at 12:34 PM | Comments (0)

NHK program on YouTube

Somebody has already put up last night's NHK program on YouTube. Here is a saved version of the video:

(That link is to the usual 'YouTube' quality version. There is also a High Quality version available)

I'm already getting requests for a translation, but you'll just have to hang on a bit; I've got to get this print out the door first, before I can fool around with this other stuff ...

Two of the episodes in my 'A Story A Week' series talk about the making of this program. First one is here, and it links to the second one ...

[Update: OK, here's that English version of the audio track. Don't bother trying to match it to the Japanese exactly line by line, but it's based on the same outline ...]

Posted by Dave Bull at 12:42 PM | Comments (3)

[Seacoast in Winter - 11] : Impressions 12 ~ 13

Continued from [Seacoast in Winter - 10] | Starting point of the thread is [Seacoast in Winter]

Step #12 - Putting still more depth into the water ...

That's not it for the water; there will be one more impression, which will add transparency in the areas of the underwater rocks.

Step #13 - And the darkest small patches of cloud now appear ...

The sky overall is still too light, and we'll be returning to it for another impression later ...

The thread continues in [Seacoast in Winter - 12] ...

Posted by Dave Bull at 12:40 PM | Comments (0)

[Seacoast in Winter - 10] : Impressions 10 ~ 11

Continued from [Seacoast in Winter - 9] | Starting point of the thread is [Seacoast in Winter]

Step #10 - Next tone on the sky ...

Step #11 - And the shape of the rocks finally starts to come out ...

Nearly all the texture you now see on those rocks - especially over at the right side - is carved, and not the result of 'goma' printing ...

The thread continues in [Seacoast in Winter - 11] ...

Posted by Dave Bull at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)

[Seacoast in Winter - 9] : Impressions 8 ~ 9

Continued from [Seacoast in Winter - 8] | Starting point of the thread is [Seacoast in Winter]

Step #8 - Next tone on the water, stepping up the depth quite a bit ...

Step #9 - And another one right on top of it ...

This now leaves two more blocks for the sky, two for the rocks, and two for the water, although I may certainly have to do one or more of them again, once I see where we have got to at the 'end' ...

The image sure looks strange to me now at this point. I have the final proof at my side, so I 'know' where we're going, but for the rest of you - you are in the same situation I was when doing the first proofing, working through the block set for the very first time. Just how dark/light to make each impression? There really just isn't any way to tell - as the tonal value of any given area changes so dramatically when the areas around it change.

So it nearly always happens during proofing that I print things too lightly. They look to be dark enough by themselves, but once the surrounding areas become more saturated, they end up being too light in comparison. Now, knowing this, I try and compensate for it, but it is very difficult to get it right ... at first.

The thread continues in [Seacoast in Winter - 10] ...

Posted by Dave Bull at 11:47 AM | Comments (1)

[Seacoast in Winter - 8] : Impressions 6 ~ 7

Continued from [Seacoast in Winter - 7] | Starting point of the thread is [Seacoast in Winter]

Step #6 - Next tone on the rocks, including some parts that will be underwater (although you wouldn't guess that by looking at it at this stage!) ...

Step #7 - And the next one on the sky ... You can see how this is going to develop - gradually getting darker and darker as we move along ...

The thread continues in [Seacoast in Winter - 9] ...

Posted by Dave Bull at 1:43 PM | Comments (1)

[Seacoast in Winter - 7] : Impressions 4 ~ 5

Continued from [Seacoast in Winter - 6] | Starting point of the thread is [Seacoast in Winter]

Step #4 - Here's the next tone on the sky. This is the way it is going to go ... a gradual build-up over five layers. The blocks are all gouged with a v-cutter to put a ragged edge on each boundary area, in a horizontal pattern.

At this stage, the printed area is large, so the missing places are 'cutouts'. As we progress, the printed area will get smaller, and the positive/negative of each block will be reversed ...

Step #5 - The second tone on the water is the same light blue tint as the first. Bits and pieces are cut out here and there, in a pattern that will gradually expand over the next four water blocks (six in all).

The thread continues in [Seacoast in Winter - 8] ...

Posted by Dave Bull at 6:23 PM | Comments (4)

[Seacoast in Winter - 6] : Impressions 2 ~ 3

Continued from [Seacoast in Winter - 5] | Starting point of the thread is [Seacoast in Winter]

Step #2 - There are three basic 'areas' in this print. We had the sky base first, now it's the turn of the water. The base blue doesn't cover the entire water area, as there are some cutouts for white 'foam' ...

Step #3 - And the base tone on the rocks takes care of the final area.

Anything left in white at this point will still be white in the finished print. From here on, we are going to build up tone/colour/texture/depth on each area in turn ...

The thread continues in [Seacoast in Winter - 7] ...

Posted by Dave Bull at 9:40 PM | Comments (2)

[Seacoast in Winter - 5] : First impression ...

Continued from [Seacoast in Winter - 4] | Starting point of the thread is [Seacoast in Winter]

So, printing is under way ... at last! I think there will be 16 impressions in this one, although that isn't completely certain yet ...

Step #1 - The first block is the base tone for the sky. This block will be used twice, with pretty much exactly the same tone each time. We'll explain that second impression when we get to it later this week ...


The thread continues in [Seacoast in Winter - 6] ...

Posted by Dave Bull at 3:34 PM | Comments (0)

TV broadcast 'heads up' ...

I got a call from NHK the other day - another invitation to appear on one of their programs. Those things don't normally don't take up too much time, but this one is a bit different - there is a short 'Opinion/Viewpoint' program (視点・論点 'Shi-ten, Ron-ten') broadcast every weekday evening, in the ten-minute slot just before the 11:00 evening news begins. They're giving me a shot at it ...

They've chosen a theme for the week - 'wa no keishou' - which is a bit difficult to translate directly. 'Wa' refers to Japan, and keishou is 'succession'. Seems they want to focus on the idea of Japanese traditions being kept up by foreigners; all five of the guests that week are people like myself - foreigners doing something 'traditional'.

Ten minutes - with no interviewer ... just me, talking about whatever I want (obviously must be related to the theme). And one 'rule' - no editing; the whole thing has to go in one take. (They want the impression of 'straight talk' directly to the viewers).

Obama got 15 minutes or so for his presentation a couple of weeks ago ... I 'only' have ten ... too bad! :-)

The taping will be this coming Friday, and broadcast is scheduled for the evening of Tuesday the 10th. I've sort of got a 'script' ready, but the last thing I want to do is put it on the teleprompter and boringly read it. But to keep the thing under control - and to end it well, and at exactly the right time - without a script, will be difficult.

Sadako and I had a kind of 'run through' this afternoon, and it was a disaster. Things I can usually talk about for hours on end, become so difficult in such a self-conscious situation. But I'm booked now, and there's no place to hide!

Posted by Dave Bull at 4:45 PM | Comments (6)