Continued from [Seacoast in Spring - 8] | Starting point of the thread is [Seacoast in Spring - 1]

I've started this with the lightest pebble colours; now we'll put the more vivid ones in place. Some of them were quite a strong orangy colour:

And another group was brown:

That's it for the 'base' colours on the pebbles ... although we're not done with them yet ... Now to start to fill in the fish. First a base tone over the whole thing:

And follow this up with another printing of the same colour, but on a block that omits the fins:

So that has been four passes over the blocks today, with 112 sheets in the stack ... It's been a long long printing day!

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

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

Continued from [Seacoast in Spring - 7] | Starting point of the thread is [Seacoast in Spring - 1]

Although we have a number of different shades of pebble here, more of them are a 'sandy' colour than any other. We get some variation from the different grey blocks that overlay, and some of the subsequent colour blocks will also overlap some of them:

A kind of vermillion/salmon tint is also represented in the mix ...

Keeping on track fairly well, after the interruption for the Tokyo trip yesterday. I certainly won't be able to finish it by the 'end of February' as I had targeted, but it might be done by Monday, we'll see ...

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

Posted by Dave Bull at 12:11 PM | Comments (4)

Continued from [Seacoast in Spring - 6] | Starting point of the thread is [Seacoast in Spring - 1]

One more of the 'grey' blocks, before we start with the colours ...

And then, as promised, the first colour ...

There were five grey blocks, and - by coincidence - there will be five colour blocks (on the seabed). I don't have much knowledge of the geology of the area, but there are very visible layers of different colour in the cliffs behind 'my' beach, so I guess this is where the varied colouring of the pebbles in the gravel comes from. Even while camping there, I have seen very large boulders tumble from the cliffs and shatter into small pieces ... So I guess we are seeing these pebbles part way through the process of being turned into sand ...

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

Posted by Dave Bull at 12:43 PM | Comments (1)

The Subscription page for the new Mystique series has been open for five days, and we reached a small milestone this afternoon - with 51 names on the list, the series is now 1/4 subscribed.

The reason I say milestone is because that's somewhere around the 'raw' break-even point: I will be making 200 sets of this series, and the revenue from 50 collectors covers the costs of getting the 200 from 'zero' to the point where the post office truck pulls into the driveway to take them all away: the wood, washi, mat boards, mounting, the shipping cartons, printing of the story sheets, part-timer for packing/wrapping, etc. and etc.

The next 'milestone' comes at around the 100 mark, where we cover, not the 'series' costs, but the 'David' costs. That's a bit more vague, because this next level of expenses is not so clearly defined, as some of them vary over time: mortgage, health insurance, taxes, etc. etc., but it's somewhere around the 100 region ...

Will I get to that 100 mark? I think so; I haven't even started to build the Japanese side of the website yet, and the 'mass' mailing that I will be doing to all previous collectors here in Japan won't be going out until early next week (I'll be stuffing envelopes, etc. all weekend). I'm pretty sure a number of those people will like to get this set too; I'll find out a week from now, whether that's true or not ...

So it's looking good so far - thanks very much to those of you who have decided to join this one!

**

In other series news, today I received the first 'dummy' case from the small workshop that is going to be making this one for me. I don't want to show a photo of it just yet, because you would perhaps be disappointed at the appearance - this is just a mock-up to confirm that the design actually 'works', and it is roughly put together from 'any old wood' that they had lying around the shop, and is unvarnished to boot. But I can confirm that it 'feels' great, and definitely 'works' as intended. I'm very happy with my design for this one, and even happier that I've found a place here in Japan to make it for me. After receiving it, I spent nearly an hour on the phone with the guy this afternoon, discussing various design points and construction and materials options, and they seem very responsive and eager for the work.

But when we talked about the cost and the payment schedule, it reminded me that I had better get my bookkeeping system prepared for this new series, so that I can get the invoices sent out for the first print and case, because until I get that part moving, these guys can't get started!

Posted by Dave Bull at 12:08 PM | Comments (5)

Continued from [Seacoast in Spring - 5] | Starting point of the thread is [Seacoast in Spring - 1]

There's nothing much to say about these next two impressions - just building up grey shape and tone. #3:

And #4; I guess you can see where we are going with this one!

I'm supposed to be doing two impressions a day this week, but there may be none tomorrow; I have to head down to the Hiraki Museum for a 'study' meeting put together by a bunch of the people in the craftsmen's association, to inspect some of the prints in the 'back room'. The museum has some prints that are apparently quite well preserved, along with the blocks, and the idea is to try and study what pigments might have been used.

('Interesting' that I only found out about this because I overheard a couple of the guys talking about the upcoming visit while at an association dinner a couple of weeks ago. As to why nobody had mentioned it to me, I got the (typical) 'we didn't think you would be interested ...') So once I had wangled an invite, even though this is one of the worst possible times for me, I 'have' to go ... :~)

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

Posted by Dave Bull at 6:53 PM | Comments (1)

Continued from [Seacoast in Spring - 4] | Starting point of the thread is [Seacoast in Spring - 1]

So, after more than a week taken up with proofing and other 'irrelevant' work, printing is finally underway!

We're going to 'build' this one in a bit of an off-beat way. The print has a number of nezumi-ban (grey tone blocks to add shadow, depth, and variation to the colours), and it is usual to print those after the other colour blocks are done. But I found during my proofing that because there are so many grey blocks on this print (5), it made more sense for me to lay those down first, and then figure out the colour saturation later. At least that was how I did it for the more successful proof prints (which I'll show you later, after we're done with the printing run).

Anyway, let's get started; here's impression #1 - First of the five grey base tones:

And here goes #2 on top of it:

There is still a boatload of other work screaming at me for attention, so I don't think I'll be able to get more than two impressions done per day for the next little while. There are going to be 13~15 in all, so if I'm lucky, we'll be done around a week from now (there are 112 sheets in this first batch).

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

Posted by Dave Bull at 1:22 PM | Comments (2)

The pamphlet for the 'Mystique' series has now gone to the printer. At least the Japanese version has; I'll be needing hundreds of those for the mailing going out later this week.

For English viewers, I won't be doing a physical mailing - the pamphlet will be on-line: (Click this one for a larger image).

And there are of course more images, and full details of the series, over on the website.

Posted by Dave Bull at 2:41 PM | Comments (0)

Well, the 'teasing' went on a bit longer than I intended ... as getting the website ready took a bit of doing, but I am now finally ready to make the announcement on what I will be doing for the next couple of years after the 'My Solitudes' print series wraps up next month.

As may have perhaps been obvious when I talked about 'on your desktop' the other day - I am doing another in the 'Hanga Treasure Chest' series. Perhaps you didn't realize that this was going to be a 'series', and perhaps I didn't either! But it seems like a very good choice for a project for the next year or so ... given that it seems to be important to be 'price conscious' these days.

Here's what's it's going to be about:

- a set of 18 prints, issued one per month from April 1st 2010
- the set will include a beautiful wooden storage box (being made for me by craftsmen here in Japan)
- the prints will not be the small hagaki (postcard) size prints of the previous Treasure Chest, but rather the larger ko-ban size (13.5 x 20 cm - about 5 x 7 1/2 inches)
- the series will have a theme, and that will be:

What do I mean by that? Please visit the website to find out!

A couple more things to note:
- the pricing for this set is very aggressive. The prints will be $35 each, an astonishing price for what they are. This quality of print, and this level of production ... to go out at that price ... is a very special chance for collectors.
- on top of that - there is an 'early bird' special bonus gift available for all people who send in their order before March 15th. (I have to pay the casemakers up front, and you are going to help me do that!)

I am very excited about this series - I know, I say that every time! - but I fully expect this one to sell out over the next six weeks, before we even get under way! Please visit the site and learn more about the plans for this project.

Posted by Dave Bull at 1:49 PM | Comments (1)

Posted by Dave Bull at 11:50 PM | Comments (2)

Continued from [Seacoast in Spring - 3] | Starting point of the thread is [Seacoast in Spring - 1]

Right on schedule! The block set for the Seacoast in Spring is now done. The last group of blocks took a full two weeks, exactly as predicted:

These are the same five pieces of wood, in the same order, as seen in the previous photo taken a few weeks back (repeated here), but flipped over to show the reverse sides:

In addition to these ten faces, there is a key block (seen a couple of weeks ago), and then this final easy little block:

As you can see ... for the first time in this series, we have a clear view of the 'wildlife' ... And no, it's not going to be two fish dancing - this block has multiple registration marks, and will be used more than once ...

Proofing won't begin right away though. I've got a huge pile of housework waiting for me, laundry, kitchen, etc. etc., as well as a bunch of office work. Once that's out of the way, I have to 'finish' work on the website for the new series, confirm a few details about the case and other packaging components, and then - once everything is pretty much nailed down - make the announcement and open the site.

I had previously said that this announcement would be on the 15th, but this may slip a little bit. (Blame this on Internet Explorer! :-)

The thread continues in [Seacoast in Spring - 5] ...

Posted by Dave Bull at 11:48 AM | Comments (0)

Posted by Dave Bull at 9:11 AM | Comments (4)