Posted on March 22, 2012 [Permalink]

Continued from [Arts of Japan #1 - 6] : embossment blocks | Starting point of the thread was [Arts of Japan #1 - 1] : making the first print ...

So the two blocks that will be used for the borders and embossment decorations on all the (horizontal) prints in this series are now done:

... and ...

As you can see on the outline block, I inlaid a bit of boxwood at the place where the title was to be carved.

Given that there are going to be 18 prints in the series - 9 of them printed from this block - at an 'edition' size of about 200, that's a bit more wear and tear than I would like to submit the cherry to. Boxwood will do fine. (Not to mention that it is much more pleasure to carve!)

The thread continues in [Arts of Japan #1 - 8] : colour block carving ...

Added by: Gayle on March 22, 2012

Are the raised areas to prevent the paper from sinking into the middle?

Added by: Dave on March 23, 2012

sinking ...

Pretty much, yes. Although the area for the karazuri embossing plays a double role - it is also a support for my fingers to hold the paper in place, as seen in this set of photos.