Mike Lyon

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Sarah Reclining (bijin aizuri-e)

August 13, 2003 By Mike Lyon

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Title: Sarah Reclining (bijin aizuri-e)
Size: 16″ x 22″
Date: August, 2003
Medium: woodblock print (water based pigments) on washi

My primary model for almost a decade, Sarah had fallen asleep while modeling for this print. To me, her relaxed posture and features were so beautiful!

“Bijin” is a Japanese word which means “beautiful woman.” “Aizuri-e” means “blue picture.” Subject, color, and technique are traditional mid-19th Century Japanese, but the realistic image, composition, and the reduction carving of the block are quite Western. This print is a reduction woodcut, carved and printed entirely by hand using traditional Japanese woodblock printing techniques and materials (except, of course, for the reduction part).

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
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Traditionally, each of the eighteen blocks for this print would have been carved by hand from separate pieces of wood. In order to save time and materials (but at increased risk), I carved only a single block laminated from three narrower planks of cherry wood. I like that you can still see the grain of the wood and a joinery seam in the finished print. For the various shades of blue which make up the colors in this print, I’d carve a bit, print each sheet, carve a bit more, print each sheet again a bit darker, etc. – eighteen times! Although I printed forty sheets, the damp paper sagged so much during printing that half wound up with ink blotches. Only twenty sheets could be editioned.

Filed Under: Woodblock Tagged With: 19th Century, Bijin, Cherry Wood, Japanese Woodblock Prints, Moku-Hanga, Pieces Of Wood, Pigments, Printing Techniques, Shades Of Blue, Woodblock Print, Woodcut

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