My primary model for seven years, Sarah, with her daughter, Lily in her blue jelly flip-flops. Oban Moku-hanga three color (Prussian Blue, Quinacidrone Magenta, Sumi) reduction on three blocks in 19 block states. One basswood block and two shina plywood blocks. On Baren Mall Yamaguchi Hosho paper (very nice!). Fifty sheets printed in all. Twenty-three for Baren Exchange #14(a) Salon de Refuse. Completed Saturday, August 17, 2002 after ten long days of carving and printing.
This is an example of the prints I produced for BarenForum‘s Exchange #14(a). It is a Japanese technique wood block print, oban size (about 15 inches high) on hand made, unsized gampi paper.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
This is a reduction print, printed by hand using Traditional Japanese woodblock printing techniques and materials (except, of course for the reduction part). Traditionally, each of the 19 blocks for this print would have been carved by hand from separate pieces of wood. But in order to save time and material and increase risk, I carved only three blocks — one for the pinks, one for the blues, and one for the grays. So each of the 52 sheets of paper was printed at least 19 times (not all papers received the wood grain).
For the various shades of blue and pink and gray which make up the print, I’d carve each block a bit, print each sheet, carve each block a bit more, print each sheet again a little darker, etc, etc, etc.