Something a little bit different this evening ...

No, it's not my latest reproduction project; this is simply a page from a late Edo novel, illustrated by the famous Kunisada. I was scanning the book this evening, putting a number of the pages into the Mokuhankan catalogue (part of a 'Partner Shop' venture with Ueda Shingo), and thought that RoundTable readers might like a bit of a break from the usual things appearing on this blog.

The page is completely typical of novels from that era - crammed wall to wall with illustration and text, all jumbled together. The puzzle for you: can you trace the 'thread' of just where the reader should go, as he works his way across the page?

The 'box' at the very top right is the entry point ('continued from previous page'), and the one at the lower left is the exit ('continued on next page'). Remembering that Japanese is written top to bottom and right to left - where do you go in between?

Now this is a particularly easy example, and wouldn't have posed much of a problem for the original readers, but the publisher wanted to make it easy for them, so left little 'signs' scattered in the text at critical points. Can you find them? (click the image for an enlargement)

Here's another one for you to try:

(And if you want to try more - some of them somewhat more complex than these examples - visit the Catalogue page for this book, and work your way through the images ...

Posted by Dave Bull at 3:48 AM | Comments (2)

It's been kind of a crazy week, what with all the attention being paid to the new Webcam, and it's time to get caught up with reporting the progress of the current print - #14 in the 'Mystique of the Japanese Print' series.

All the way along during the printing of this one, there has been plenty of feedback and suggestions offered by those watching and listening, and when I got to the final couple of stages the other day, and announced that I would be applying a mica coat to the background pattern block, there was some disappointment from the viewers that I would be doing that impression during the afternoon (Tokyo time), so it would thus be happening while most of my audience was asleep (too late for the US people, too early for the Europeans).

I am recording many (not all) of the Webcam sessions, but it's certainly more fun for the viewers when they know it's happening live as they watch. (Not to mention that we can talk while I work ...) It couldn't be helped though; I had to get on with the work, and couldn't simply postpone the job until the next day. So I quickly got the materials and tools ready, and applied a quick coat of mica to a couple of sample sheets, so that people could at least see how it was going to be done.

I then signed off for lunch, and the viewers disappeared, expecting to drop back again the next day to see the finished batch of prints, all 'dressed up' in a coat of mica powder.

Well, it didn't happen that way ...

Here's a snapshot of one of the test sheets that I did quickly while they watched. It has mica applied on the pattern in the background behind the main image elements. It's not so visible when seen straight on, like this:

... but if I tilt the paper at an angle ...

During lunch that day, I sat and looked that this, and wondered if I would really be doing the 'right thing' by printing it this way. Looking at the print as a whole, it seemed just too much ... too 'noisy'. It took all the attention away from the 'main' image:

When it came time later that afternoon to move forward, I thus put away the mica powder, and decided to do it differently. I first printed a flat base tone, and once that was in place, I used the swirly pattern block in a second impression of the same tone. It came out like this:

Far less dramatic, to be sure. When you see it close up, it has nowhere near the 'impact' that the mica version had:

But seen as a 'whole', and especially under a nice soft raking light, she looks just fine. More than fine, she looks beautiful! (click for an enlargement)

Who needs jewelry, anyway?

Posted by Dave Bull at 2:26 AM | Comments (4)

Now that printing on Mystique #14 is about to begin, I guess it's time to talk about the design for this one. Let's see where it came from ...

Exhibit #1 - a pocketbook on 'Chiyogami' (Japanese traditional printed papers):

Although most of the book is indeed about chiyogami, there are a number of pages inside that show leaves from a Meiji-era pattern book. One - a quite modern design, with the patterns framed in 'tsuba' (sword guard) shaped outlines - caught my eye:

This seemed like an interesting concept for the print, but the particular patterns in this example weren't so attractive to me (at that moment). A few pages on, this came up:

Yes!

Next step was the decision to use two patterns on this image, rather than the three that were on the original page. Using three would simply make them too small to enjoy. Back to my bookshelf, for Exhibit #2, another pattern book, this one from early Showa:

Readers of my David's Choice eBook might recognize this, as I featured one of the leaves in that production. This spread caught my eye this time:

This miniature bamboo forest would do just perfectly for the second pattern in our print. And as an added bonus, that swirly background pattern also looks useful ...

So there are the 'parts'. It's now Thursday morning, and in a few minutes I'll be heading down to the workshop for the first test printing. I don't anticipate any particular problems to arise, and I certainly hope none do, as this will be a live-on air session of the new, improved Woodblock Webcam, complete with 'drop in' guests I think ...

Posted by Dave Bull at 9:08 AM | Comments (2)

OK, I really don't know about this one, but ... let's press ahead ...

If you've followed this RoundTable recently, you will have read about the major improvements in the Woodblock Webcam - namely, the upgrade to full motion video (provided by the Ustream service). This has transformed the experience for the viewers from a kind of 'curiosity' - a simple snapshot of the workbench - to a very useful and practical tool. I'm already getting feedback from people overseas making prints who have 'learned by watching', so there is no question that this upgrade has been worthwhile.

The Webcam is of course inherently a one-way view. I broadcast. People watch (and listen). This morning though, a couple of overseas viewers and I made an experiment to see if we could take this thing to 'another level'.

The Ustream software does not allow for two-way communication, but we got around that by using the Skype internet telephony software. I created a special Skype account for my computer in the workshop, and passed this to my co-conspirators. One of them began by calling me (on a Skype audio call - not Skype video) while I was broadcasting as usual. I rigged it at my end so that the Skype audio came out through my wall-mounted room speakers, and thus became audible to webcam viewers, who could of course also hear my own voice as usual (the webcam audio is coming from an open microphone in front of me).

And suddenly there we were - the real-time conversation between myself and the viewer could be heard by all other viewers, as though he and I were present in the room together.

And it got better; part way along, another person was invited to the Skype conversation (Skype 'Conference'), and the three of us were able to talk together while I worked. I could answer their questions about the tools and the work right there in real time, and anybody else who may have been watching the webcam was able to listen along.

Tokyo, Tennessee and Boston ... in three-way conversation, watching and discussing while my chisels pushed their way through the wood ... and with anybody else on the planet able to watch/listen along.

This is so insane that I don't even know what to think about it really. The applications for 'education' are of course immediate and obvious. I'm already doing a 'Story A Week'; should I perhaps think about doing a 'One-Point Lesson a Week'? It could be at a pre-determined time, with an announced topic. I would make a basic presentation of the thing, followed by open conversation/discussion about it among the 'students'.

I think honestly though, that I had better hold off on such things, at least for a while. It's not like I don't have anything else keeping me busy just now!

But in any case, the facility is now there and operative, and very much needs experimentation and exploration. If you want to try participating in this, here's what to do:

• Get Skype, and get it up and running on your computer. (The standard version is completely free, and there are versions for all modern machines.)
• Access the Woodblock Webcam.
• If there is a live stream in progress (look at the top right of the video stream for notification about this), you can try calling me.
• First, turn the volume in your Ustream player down to the lowest level (off, if you can).
• Call me on Skype. The workroom Skype ID is 'seseragi_studio'. (Note that this is different from my 'normal' Skype ID of woodblock100)
• If everything works properly, our conversation will be 'live on air'. You will hear my voice (and the birds, and my hammer and chisel sounds) through Skype, while you watch the video on Ustream.
• Other viewers will experience our conversation, the background sounds, and the video, all through Ustream; they need no Skype.

Please understand that this is all very much experimental and provisional. This morning, the three of us - to my astonishment - ended up chatting for nearly two hours while I worked. Look at how much time they wasted! I, on the other hand, was being productive!

There is also something else to mention; please understand that your call will - of course - not be private at all. At one point in our experimental conversation, one of the participants stepped away for a minute or two, and a moment later, a faint flushing sound from the background told us exactly why he had decided to take a break! And as I frequently record the Webcam sessions for later playback on the Ustream site, your conversation may of course be 'captured' that way ... You have been warned!

But I now realize that I am telling you about this at an inopportune time. I finished up the block set for Mystique #14 during this morning's session, and the Webcam will now be off for a couple of days while I do some deskwork and get the paper ready for printing.

But let's pin this down and make a date. I will schedule the test printing for Mystique #14 to begin at 9:00 AM Thursday (Tokyo time). That's 5:00 PM wednesday evening for US west coasters, and a bit later for people in the other part of the country (you can work it out.) Not convenient at all for Europeans, I'm afraid, but of course I am online in the evening (here) too most days, and for you, that is mid-day. We will all have plenty of opportunities for trying this ...

So let's play with this for a bit, and see if it will really be possible/practical, or will turn out to be just too much for me to handle while I work. There's only one way to find out!

Posted by Dave Bull at 2:37 AM | Comments (7)

Mixed weather here these days ... a bit of rain, a bit of sun ...

None of that makes much difference down in the workshop, because it's 'carving season'; work is continuing on the colour blocks for Mystique #14. I began - as usual - with the one that would take the most time, and it was finished up yesterday evening:

Of course there is a closer view ... with a clickable enlargement:

The other component of the print will be a bamboo scene, printed with four 'levels' of sumi. Lots of little leaves ...

Posted by Dave Bull at 2:02 AM | Comments (0)

And not just 'begins' ... not too far from being 'done'! :-)

Things have been kind of busy here this week, what with the initial shipments of the Senshafuda prints going out the door, and I've been delinquent. Not with the work, but with keeping you up-to-date on it!

Anyway, that's easily rectified, with some snapshots from my bench this afternoon/evening.

When I cut/printed the previous print - Mystique #13 - I left space on the blocks for this one, so on the key block you can see #13 on the left (covered in sumi), and freshly carved #14 on the right:

#14 is a simple image (again!) made up of some ideas from Meiji-era pattern books that I have 'cobbled together', and inserted into a framework of a decorative tsuba (sword fitting) shape:

The block was nice and crispy, and was a pleasure to carve. Here's a closeup of the finished keyblock, before washing. Don't miss the enlargement!

Unlike the keyblock, which was paired with #13, the colour blocks for this set are mostly pasted up together, in 'heads 'n tails' fashion. Here's the whole set - keyblock again, after proofing and pulling colour separations:

Patterns ... not much to see here yet:

More patterns ...

A couple of zones were very small, so I doubled them up on one face (also containing part of #13):

The background for this one is going to be fun. No quite sure how vividly (or how delicately) I'll be printing it ...

Here's the last one, already under way:

And we have a nice closeup on this one too!

Not quite sure when I'll be done. It's not much more than a couple of days work, but I have to head off downtown sometime this weekend, for a meeting with Numabe-san the printer, to talk about some Yoshida prints, and get some photographs ...

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