September 30, 2006
Another month with no regular updates ... Partly that has been because there is nothing particularly 'photogenic' going on, and partly because there have been a lot of other things getting in the way of work on this project. I made a trip to Canada to see my new grandson, I did some printing for the Small Print Collection print, carved another print for Mokuhankan, and I published a bunch of books!
But time is running out, bit by bit, and I've got to get back to work on this scroll. Although a great deal of the preparation has been done, there is still of lot of work left to do - including a number of blocks still to be carved!
But the next job is clearly to get a first proof from these blocks - at least as far as is possible without the set being complete. Using some relatively inexpensive machine-made washi, I have been working on the test printing over the past few days. Getting the blocks properly lined up is indeed turning out to be a major struggle. With such large distances involved, every slight adjustment becomes magnified at the other end of the sheet. I am really going to have to keep right on top of it at every step of the way.
Anyway, here we are ... here is one of the sheets from the second 'run through' I've done so far:
A few things to note:
- because I am working with only a couple of sheets of paper at a time, there hasn't been time to develop a good rich pigment mixture in the block/brush. This is just a rough shot at approximate colours.
- you'll see quite a bit of mis-registration down in the bamboo-leaf patterns on the kimono. This is the first shot - I will now use measurements from this print to adjust the registration for the next run.
- there is still no face tone, nor any 'blushes'.
- we're still missing a lot of blocks: the gold and silver patterns, the 'spider web' pattern, a series of small 'stem' patterns, metallic patterns on the obi, the seal, eye pupils and eyebrows, lips, the 'gold' highlights on the spiral patterns, a block for more texture and depth in the background ...
But anyway, she's starting to come to life!
