Could it be Numabe was left to assume what you meant in your instructions? Is he the only printer you have available? If you sit down with him and go over your print vs. his print, detailing the qualities you want, writing them down for him to take along, and have him run aother proof, is it possible you can upgrade his work? Would it work to have him print at your place so you can directly supervise?

If it's compromising the quality of the prints or not doing them at all, I would _then_ say scrap the venture.

Gary

Dave,

I'm hearing 2 separate questions here:

1. Do I really want to make the transition from technician to manager?

2. As a manager, how can I control my resources?

Discussion of #1: In my own career as a computer software consultant/technician, I've been approached 5 or 6 times by clients asking if they could somehow hire clones of me. Delighted with my work, they urged me to create an organization of software experts under my control, so they could have "more of that good stuff". The first and second times I faced this question, I gave it some long and deep thought. Both times the answer was "No", as it has been since.

As a technician, your resources are things. As a manager, your resources are people. Things are very predictable, while people are much less so. Like you, my professional temperament is that I take my work very seriously, set very high standards for myself, and take pride in the production of excellent results. Working with predictable resources, I can do this consistently because I've mastered my craft.

Unfortunately, I miss one thing. Earlier in my career, I would take on jobs which would lead me to the internal question: "I wonder if I can pull this one off?". In retrospect, putting myself in that position, and successfully working through it, led to my most rewarding experiences. For the past 10-15 years, I've been missing that existential edge in my professional computer work. When I take on a new project, there's no doubt in my mind that I can see it through to completion.

Besides the opportunity to earn more money, that's what made me seriously consider the transition from technician to manager. The challenge was there. My personal inventory led me to the conclusion that I NEED predictable resources.

Therefore, I opted to continue in my well-paid comfortable rut. My challenges came from other sources: raising kids, studying and documenting shin-hanga, and now studying the Japanese languages. There is no shortage in my life to wondering if I can pull this or that off.

Except for the woman who does your packing and shipping, you've been working with an organization of one person for a long time. You need to take a personal inventory. Is your desire to make this transition strong enough that you can accept the unpredictability of having outside craftsmen working for you?

Discussion of #2: Of course, this discussion is irrelevant if you haven't answered "yes" to question #1.

The best hanmoto are the ones who had tight control over their craftsmen. Think of Takejiro Hasegawa, Watanabe Shozaburo, Takemura Hideo. Because of their high quality productions, these guys should be your role models. How would they have handled Numabe-san's failure to follow through on the proofing, and subsequent failure to meet your standards?

If you decide to continue, your reaction to Numabe-san's failure is ALL-IMPORTANT in setting the tone of your relationship to him and your future carvers and printers.

My impulse would be to confront the situation directly. I'm certainly not clear enough on the subtleties of Japanese culture and personal interactions to know how to best do that. But there should be NO MISTAKE that you are the hanmoto, and he is the craftsman. If you think the relationship with him is salvageable, I'd give him a sheet of paper or 2 and ask him to make 1 proof print, and bring it back for a discussion.

First of all, Dave, thanks for letting me join in at your virtual kitchen table! And hello of course to anyone on the list in your email taking a seat at your table as well.

Being a perfectionist myself (albeit in a completely different field), I sympathesize with your dismay at Numabe-san's first printing output, especially if you are now forced to pay him for the printing of sixty inferior prints that you do not intend to sell anyway. I would at least try to point out to him that his output was below standards, hoping that he will understand and redo the printing at no additional costs (giving him a second chance).

And I definitely agree with your basic idea of going for good quality prints, at an affordable price. Also, I think that the new opportunity of obtaining separate prints might well attract potential buyers on a small budget who previously felt daunted by having to subscribe to a whole years production. I hasten to add, however, that I am a complete nitwit as far as business issues are concerned, as you must have understood after my recent acquisition of large amounts of stock shares in Woodblock.com :-) .

Whatever happened to your plans of involving (really young!) printer Ueda-san in your project, who previously worked as a printer for Gary? Wouldn't that be a second option in getting your Mokuhankan project up and going?

The bottom line is that I certainly see potential in the Mokuhankan project (I myself already had plans to buy some of the prints you put up on the website), but that the extra people involved must somehow be made to match up with the standards that you set yourself for the project to become a success. Easier said than done I am sure...

Wishing you wisdom and good luck in how to proceed from here.

Thanks for the beer, and cheers!

Jacques

Hi, Dave...

Good of you to get together with Numabe-san for that long discussion, but your particular concerns didn't 'take' -- the idea that the prints were to be 'deluxe' went unheard and although he was to return a proof for discussion he instead returned a small edition of 'commercial-quality' (not deluxe) prints which do not reflect your spirit of 'looking to the past' (keiko?) impeccable quality... I'm sure he doesn't realize that the sort of prints he's supplied are what initially drove you to do Mokuhankan! I imagine you wouldn't be quite so dismayed if it had only been _one_ such print, but you feel it may be more difficult to approach him after he's quickly produced so many -- seems to me he's 'production minded' by rote and necessity and not (yet) attuned to the spirit of Mokuhankan...

Question 1): Whether or how to approach Numabe-san -- he likely thought he'd impress you by 'over-functioning' with his quick turn-around and consistent quality and large numbers -- that's a reflection of his basic 'business orientation', I bet -- it's the sort of thing I might do myself -- I'm pretty sure he didn't intend to make discussion of "quality" much more difficult by doing so many of common quality (but maybe i'm wrong and he just wants your money?)... So I guess I'd be tempted to ask you to meet with him (at his studio this time) and maybe print a few 'together' so you can compare notes and he can be made to understand what you dislike about both color (his lack some of your trademark sumi-ness) and impression (his embossing and registration are less than required)...

2) what to do with the edition he's sent you... This may be more difficult. This may be the delicate part -- he's now invested in 60 sheets of paper and some time, so he may feel you 'owe' him something... You can't simply return the prints, as they are 'your' image and you'd hate to see them in the marketplace, but you don't want to pay for them either... Can you simply explain your dilemma and ask for his suggestion? If he is willing and able to produce prints which are satisfactory to you, then it won't be a problem... But if he thinks you are 'crazy', it's gonna be bad all around...

I'm writing from a hotel in Harrisburg, PA after driving ALL day for two days, so maybe i'm too tired to think clearly... I'll try to return to this page in a day, or we can skype each other tomorrow, maybe?

Difficult situation at the moment -- depends on how able you two can openly communicate...

As to your fundamental question: whether to abandon the project after this first problem... You already know how I feel -- that if it was worth doing before this 'first little problem', then it's STILL worth doing -- "Though the enemy number 1,000 -- if the cause is just, I go." Well, that may be overstating it in this case, but you get the drift... :-)

-- Mike

Dave,

all very interesting and I agree with what others have said about establishing the proper relationship between publisher and craftsman right off the start. I suspect because so much of the work done at the Yoshida shop is repetition those working there must know the blocks in their sleep...when tackling new work as in the crow print it must clearly be pointed out to the printer the areas of concern to the outmost detail, even if you need to make pencil notations on the proof itself...

I stand with Mike here and say that the project is

worth doing even if the first steps are a bit rough...your main goal should be getting these guys to bite into the Mokuhankan philosophy and to

make them want to put out work of the very best quality.