The Wood-Block Path

Today I finished what was one of my avowed projects for the summer. Here is a photo-essay :

 

Original design

 

Plan for colour blocks

 

 

Transfer

 

 

Key Block

 

Kento registration marks

(Kento reg is used in traditional Japanese woodblock printing and is transferred from the keyblock to all the succeeding colour blocks)

 

 

 

 

How paper fits kento

 

 

Initial carving

 

Key block carved

 

 

Sheets for colour locks

 

Colour blocks marked and carved with Kento reg

 

 

Paper washed off and blocks drying

 

 

 

1st colour block

 

 

Kento reg.

 

Four colours

 

 

 

 

 

More colour blocks

 

 

 

 

 

three colours on one block

 all the colours

 

 

Prints after key block added

 

 

 

 

Key block

 

 

Four prints trimmed and remounted

 

OK what are the conclusions from this project?

As you can see the resulting prints are rather variable and these are the best ones. While I would be reasonably pleased with the registration over five blocks, the colour is patchy  and I feel it is partly due to the ink which is water-based; if things work out I may try the process again with oil-based ink. The other thing I was not happy about was the way the paper size was set up before the process: that would have to be improved.

 It was also difficult also to keep the colour blocks clean and I am not entirely sure how this can be achieved. In general, it seems better to use small rollers for inking.

Does it work as a piece of art? Well, I had an image in my mind and it proceeds from my past life and the harlequin effect would reflect how I would have tried to think about my life while involved deeply in a particular task.

 

I think there is more in this but I have to work his out of my system ... perhaps, as I already said, by using the decay process as an allegory for 'western' life.