Posted by Dave Bull at 7:08 AM, January 3, 2011 [Permalink]
It's about time for another 'step-by-step' printing progress report!
The blocks for #10 in the Mystique series were carved at the same time as those for #9, but at that time I didn't take any time for proofing them, and just got busy with printing #9 (and the Gift Prints, of course). This one seems pretty straight-forward though, so let's just dig in and get going!
First impression is of course the border outlines common to all prints in this series:
And next up is the main key block:
I've listed this as a single impression, but it was done with two brushes: the distant areas of the image get a lighter shade of black than the main object at the front.
So you can now see what sort of image we have; it's actually a 'clip' from a much larger print. (I wonder if anybody will be able to identify it - or the designer?)
And there is a specific 'technique' theme for this one, but as that happens at the end of the process, we'll discuss it then. (There is a hint to what it might be though, in the Japanese title of this image ...)
I'll take a stab at it. Hokusai, from his series "Views of Both Banks Along the Sumida River"?
Sumida River
Gary, that's actually an excellent guess - as the location and overall appearance are very similar - so you will perhaps be surprised as well as disappointed when I tell you that you are exactly a hundred years off ... :-)
What's a hundred years more or less? Wasn't Hokusai that old?
And is it a hundred years more or a hundred years less? :)
more .. or less?
Hokusai's book was issued in 1806. So you have a choice between 1706 and 1906.
Actually, if you think about it a bit - going by the carving style - there is only one way it could be ...
I would of course have to opt for the 1706 date, but that is beyond the horizon of my familiarity, so you have me there. I will shortly be learning something new I sense. :)
Nope. 1906, definitely. This is an early shin-hanga era print, sometimes called "transitional", when they were trying to make "new" Ukiyo-e.
At first, because I'm just a fixated weak link, I was thinking Shotei. But, I went over my entire catalog of Shotei print images, and I don't think so. Besides, 1906 precedes by one year the onset of Watanabe and Shotei's collaboration.
I'm thinking that this is from a Hasegawa book plate, probably designed by Yoshimune Arai. That's my best guess.
1906, definitely
Yes, this is it. The way the people on the boat are drawn, and the overall cutting style - there is no way this could be 1700s ...
It isn't a Hasagawa production though, and was not part of a book. We're looking at a single sheet image here ... although I have definitely muddied the water by using just a clipped portion of the original.
And ... Houston, we have a problem!
I was just looking up some background on this designer, to confirm that I was getting my information correct, and I see that I have made a major mis-calculation here.
The image was - as I mentioned - published in 1906 ... Meiji 39. So when I was planning this series I included it without giving the slightest consideration to copyright issues. Because of Japan's 'Death + 50' rule on copyrights, all that old Edo and Meiji stuff is in the clear these days ...
Except that this guy didn't die until 1965! The copyright has nearly five more years to run! Seems he did all his good work when he was young, and then hung on until he was 96!
It's a bit too late for me to back out now though, after coming this far ... At the moment all I can think of is to perhaps label this one as being 'Adapted from an image by a Meiji-era designer' (to keep Google off the track) and then try and keep quiet about it for the next few years ...
Grrr ...
You see, I gave you a chance to go with 1706 which would have put you in the clear, but noooooo..... you have to go with a guy who lived almost as long as Hokusai but into the more modern era! :)
Ah so... I see it now. A winter scene by he-who-must-not-be-named (to keep away the Google-y eyes).
Good work Sherlock!
This is interesting to see - this copy has the background scene printed in even fainter tones than the one I have here (I have an actual copy). When I was planning this, I considered making the print in 'reduced' colour like this, but decided against that, as without a bright foreground image nearby, it wouldn't really make sense, and people would presumably be thinking 'What's wrong - why is this one so faint?'.
I also now see other things in there that are not in my copy! There is at least one more 'grey block' that I don't have ... Marc, I wish I had seen this before I started work! (Have you got a larger version you can send me?)
I think your version Dave is more appealing to me, having left the ladies, their garments and parasols out, as well as the darker coloring of them. The lighter treatment of the middle and background is more appealing muted as it it. It is nicely suggestive of a winter scene.
Sorry Dave. That's the only copy I found and it is the largest resolution that was available.
