Elephant Fable, by Hanabusa Itcho

This one too is a pretty straightforward job - at least in the printing; there are no gradations or other special techniques.

The carving though, offered a bit more of a challenge. With faces this small, getting the details correct demands an extremely delicate touch with the knife. Even the tiniest fraction of a millimetre variation in a line or curve on a face can dramatically alter the person's expression.

Not that that matters on this print!

Blocks: 8 cherrywood
Printing impressions: 8

• Key block
• Skin tone
• Yellow clothing
• Light blue clothing
• Grey clothing
• Brown clothing
• Red mouth
• Background