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Going cross-eyed ...
Posted by Dave Bull on April 5, 2006 [Permalink]
Coffee break time ... not Mokuhankan work this morning, but the last stage of the tracing for the Kaigetsudo scroll. Last night I got the last of the fabrics done, and today it's the face ... I can't postpone it any longer!
I'm using the Wacom tablet, and have to admit that this makes the job so much easier (if that's the right word ...). There are a few real advantages to this tool, over the previous system I was using (thin paper on the light table), and the main one is the instant erase. That makes it possible for me to work much more 'carelessly', and when trying to trace these lines, that's really important. If I'm forced to go 'carefully' along each line, there is just no flavour left in the drawing, but if I can use the brush in a more carefree fashion, then I can just try and re-try until I hit it right.
The other advantage - and this is cheating no doubt about it - is that I can keep using the 'Rotate Image' function of the software to 'turn the paper' around to match the way my arm/hand wants to move. I'm left-handed, so drawing a line from top left down to bottom right is 'easy', but from top right down to bottom left is difficult. So I just keep spinning the image around and around to suit. (That's what I did with the previous tracing system too, of course).
The real challenge comes with the hair. When I did the hair on the 'Autumn' print in the four seasons set, it used the same sort of multiple block arrangement that this one will, but it had a particular point that made it easier than this one. The grey under-block for that print had a clearly defined edge (where her hair came down in loops along her forehead). This one has no defined edge, as her hair is done in the classical 'pulled-back' style, so the edge of the grey under-block is going to have to be ita-bokashi (block gradation), and those are very difficult to print cleanly ...
The other difficulty here comes from the fact that the original isn't a print, but a painting. He used a fine brush and just kept overlaying dozens and dozens of little strokes for hairs, some very faint, some stronger, some still stronger. I have to 'break it down' into clearly defined layers for printing, and it's difficult to get the same natural appearance. First test printout of my tracing a few minutes ago got the 'delete' treatment right away, so after the coffee break it's - literally - back to the drawing board!
Added by: Gary on April 6, 2006, 1:28 am
I think it's interesting that here you are translating a _painting_ to a print, as opposed to reproducing a print. This is going to call for a certain amount of interpretation on your part, and here's an opportunity for you to explore the same problems that the carvers and printers of the past had to contend with when they were delivered a painting to make a print of. Given the limitations of your media, how can you best represent faithfully the original? That is the question.
Added by: Dave on April 6, 2006, 9:59 am
Given the limitations of your media, how can you best represent faithfully the original? That is the question.
Well, basically there are no limitations of this media (depending on how you define it). Of course a woodblock print reproduction can never be so faithful to fool an expert with a magnifying glass, but if - for example - you want a level of reproduction that would fool somebody strolling along in a gallery/museum, that's well within the technology.
The determining factor is one thing - money. If somebody is willing to invest in the requisite number of blocks/impressions, any painting can be reproduced to that level.
Have you ever heard about the old magazine, Kokka? Here's a page with basic info on it.
Anyway, long story short, that magazine - starting in the Meiji era - used to have woodblock prints bound into it, acting as illustrations of paintings. When you look at the back side of one of these sheets, you can see that they are woodblock prints, but inspected from the front, it is almost impossible to tell.
I've Googled around to try and find some examples on-line, but can't see much. There are some on this page.
Now in my case, I'm going to go nowhere near that far; the object that I produce by the end of the year will be without question a woodblock print. It would be nice to do it as a complete visual reproduction of the painting, but that is out of the question, purely for time/money reasons.
Added by: Gary on April 6, 2006, 12:56 pm
Of course, it's always a question of where you draw the line.
:)
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