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Those previous three images were mostly about
carving, but I still have a long way to go on the
printing side of things too.
This is a Taisho-era reproduction of a Harunobu
type print. Rich colours with wonderful depth. And
the jet blackness of the hair, which needs vigorous
baren pressure - yet so close to the delicate face
lines!
(click image for a closer
version in a 'popup' window)
Dare I tell you that this print cost me 2,000
yen in bookshop here - just one third of the price
of my current Surimono Album prints! Sometimes I
think that there's just no justice in the world ...
Here's another Meiji-era kuchi-e treasure. I've
tried counting the number of impressions but just
can't do it; there are tiny gradations everywhere -
even three separate ones in the tree above
the standing woman's head. Why go to all that
expense and trouble ... who would ever notice?
Whether or not the purchasers of that magazine
ever gave more than a passing glance at the print
before discarding it I have no idea. One would like
to think that such incredible work was appreciated
at the time ... but that is far from certain.
Meiji-era Japan was fascinated with the new western
world that was flooding in, and printmaking at this
level soon disappeared.
The work of those craftsmen was not totally for
nothing though, because some of their work does
survive. And as for all those delicate gradations
here and there on the print, well, I noticed them
... and now so have you.
I think that will be enough for now. Some of my
friends have advised me that this portion of my
website is a 'mistake', that I shouldn't be
emphasizing the negative parts of my work and how
'weak' I am compared with those men of old, but I
think that they are misguided. It has been my
experience that people appreciate such openness;
each year at my exhibition for example, I always
have some prints like this on hand, and eagerly
bring them out for visitors when trying to show how
beautiful woodblock prints can be. 'Hiding' these
incredible objects does justice to nobody. I am
confident that people understand how my work
differs from those masterpieces of the past, and
why.
Just how closely I will be able to approach
those prints is something that I cannot tell.
Perhaps my current level is about as good as I will
ever get; with the way that I spread myself so
thinly it could be that I've reached the limit of
progress. Perhaps indeed, that era is gone for
good, and such prints can never be created again.
But I'm certainly not ready to accept that yet.
Carvers of the old days were noted for their
ability to work right up into old age; unlike
printers, who must scale down their physically
demanding work as they get older, they are not
dependent so much on raw physical power. Age and
experience count for a great deal when one is a
traditional woodblock carver.
As I write this (in the summer of 2000) I am 48.
We'll see what 58 brings ... and 68 ...
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