--- Go to the Opening Page of this 'Surimono Albums' web site ---

Printing Process ...

Here is a set of step-by-step images showing the stages of printing for the ninth print in my fourth Surimono Album.

It seems like it might become a 'habit' to use a design by a living artist in each of these Surimono Albums. This year I asked Georgia artist/illustrator John Amoss for permission to use a design he created for a woodblock print a few years ago. He was quite open to the idea, and agreed to let me go ahead with it.

John sent me a 300dpi .tif file of his hand-brushed 'hanshita' - the design for the keyblock. I printed it out onto thin paper, glued it down onto a block, and started carving. Once the keyblock was done, John flew over to Japan to work together with me on the proof printing. The two of us decided on a colour breakdown, I then carved all the colour blocks, and we started proofing. John mixed colours and gave general directions on what sort of effects he wanted, and I tried as best I could to produce the image he had in mind. Working together with the designer like this was a new experience for me, as of course nearly all the prints I make were first created by long-dead artists.

As this was new territory for both of us, we found we had to experiment a lot as we went along. There are around 36 impressions in this print, so it was extremely difficult to get a clear idea of what effect any particular block impression was going to have on the finished work.

We both learned a lot by making this print. We are fairly happy with how it turned out, although we both think that given more experience, we could have made it better. Next time!

We hope you enjoy 'following along' with these pages, as the image comes to life step by step ...

Note: An image of the wooden block is available for each step. These links will open in a new window - resize it to suit your screen, then leave it open ... subsequent block images will automatically appear in the same window, allowing you to compare prints and blocks side by side ...

Questions or comments? Write to us:

John
Dave