Mike Lyon

Painting Drawing Printmaking Japanese Woodblock Printing Furniture Lighting

  • About
    • CV
    • Biography & Technical Development
    • Artist’s Statement
    • Contact
  • Portfolio
    • Drawing
    • Woodblock
    • Painting
    • Equipment
    • Furniture
    • Lithography
    • Silkscreen
    • Workshops
    • Video
  • Exhibitions
  • Representation
  • Press

Self Portrait

January 15, 2004 By Mike Lyon

Another mostly failed attempt to realize a full-color woodcut. The source was a water-color self portrait I painted a few years ago. The reduction print was carved from three blocks in various reductions. A ‘yellow’ block was carved and printed three times, a ‘blue’ block was carved and printed four times, and a ‘red’ block was carved and printed five times. So a total of twelve blocks were printed on 44 sheets of Yamaguchi hosho paper.

So how many individual colors can be printed (not considering gradations or variations in color on any single block)? Let’s see:

  • 1 blank paper
  • 3 yellows
  • 5 reds
  • 15 red-yellows
  • 4 blues
  • 12 blue-yellows
  • 20 blue-reds
  • 60 blue-reds-yellows
  • ===
  • 120 different colors at most from the 12-reduction printings of 3 blocks
  • (4096 different colors at most from 12 different blocks not reduced)
1 2004_01_15_self_portrait_ed_44_1600.jpg self-portrait, January 15, 2004, 15 x 10 inches, woodblock print - 3 block 12-state reduction, Prussian Blue, Primary Red, Transparent Yellow on Yamaguchi hosho , 44 sheets printed
2 2004_01_15_self_2000_07_source_1600.jpg self-portrait, July, 2000, 11 x 8.5 inches, watercolors on paper
3 self-portrait_exchange_states_02_03_1600.jpg state 3 (pale red, yellow, blue), and state 2 (pale red and yellow)

Filed Under: Painting, Woodblock Tagged With: Color Woodcut, Gradations, Hosho, Reds, Self Portrait, Variations, Water Color, Yamaguchi

Subscribe to receive email notification of new articles
Loading

PDF DOWNLOADS

  • Beach Museum Catalog
  • Grabado y Edicion No 36
  • Kansas City Collection
  • Kemper Museum Catalog
  • Kyoto Catalog
  • Mike Lyon CV
  • Post Digital Printmaking (Chapter 10)
  • Technical Development

Follow me

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Copyright © 1968–2025 Mike Lyon & Lyon Art Ltd, Kansas City, Missouri, USA all rights reserved · Log in