Well, it was clearly visible on the Webcam that I was sitting there with the blocks for the Summer Senshafuda set on my bench, doing a proof copy. Given that Tetsui-san has had these blocks for weeks, had already prepared some proofs, and had been given his 'final' instructions for going ahead with the edition, seeing the blocks back on my own bench was clearly an indication that something had gone off the rails somewhere along the line.

When we last saw these prints on these Conversations, I showed and talked about his latest proof, and mentioned that I had given him a list of 'change orders' to cover as he began the edition itself. I asked him to run around 50 sheets first, so that we could get them out to collectors without delay, then do the other 150 later.

His package of 50 or so prints arrived the other day. None of my changes had been implemented - the 50 were pretty much the same as the previous proof. And worse, many of them had poor printing in places (goma-zuri and baren-suji).

When I called him to 'chat', he was equivocal about things, saying that he had done them quickly 'at my request', that he had had trouble with some of the blocks, and that he had also taken another job that would fill out this week, before starting the balance of the order. I told him to send the blocks back to me ...

So that's what I was up to yesterday morning, pulling some proofs myself - obviously the only way to get this nailed down properly.

Some of the points were straight ahead. I had rejected his original green colour (the one on the left here, which I felt didn't look natural and 'summery' at all), so now printed up a sample of exactly what I want (on the right).

I had asked him to make the woman behind the screen much lighter in tone than his first proofs (reduce the transparency of the screen), but he failed to make the change. This is what I want ...

In his earlier proof of the image from the aquarium, he had basically got the balance of tones correct on the two children, but in this batch of 50, had put so much saturation into the water gradation that the human figures became difficult to see:

In addition to these things which are clearly his 'doing', there were two problems with the blocks themselves. The block for one of the blue tones had such bad grain that it was impossible to print smooth colour. So I cut another one to replace it:

The other problem was with the carving of the two figures, and this is one that I should have caught myself when inspecting the first proofs. Sato-san had not used much 'finesse' when cutting the two figures, and when designer Seki-san had seen the sample on the previous post, she had called me up in quite some distress, complaining that they were totally distorted, with fat fingers, fat legs, and fat bodies ... At the time, I was buried in other work, and didn't really pay too much attention to her, just kind of assuming that she was being a bit 'artistic' and that we were actually OK.

But now I pulled out her original sketch for comparison, and saw that she really did have a point. The figures were a great deal fattened up from what she had drawn, she had been correct to complain, and I should have taken care of this before giving Tetsui-san the go-ahead.

Well, nothing for it now but to cut another block myself. Here's a composite showing the version cut by Sato-san, and my new one on the right:

There were a number of other issues too - the tone of the sky in the hanabi print, the water reflections, etc. and etc. Anyway, I made my decisions on everything, and this afternoon took the blocks and my proofs back over to Tetsui-san's place. The two of us went over everything point by point, and - with my actual sample there for reference - I think he will turn in matching prints when he is done (in a few weeks, it seems).

As for these first 50 sheets, there is nothing for it but to pulp them. Am I upset about this? Not really. Seki-san's lateness put us under time pressure from the start, Sato-san's inexperience at selecting wood, and his still developing carving skills have led to problems, Tetsui-san has demonstrated an inability/disinclination to properly follow verbal directions ... all these things really come back to one place - the manager!

For our first print - the Spring set - I kept them all under a very tight rein, we met together many times, and every step was carefully controlled. For this set, I 'let go' quite a bit, trusting that it would all move forward smoothly without tight supervision, now that everybody knew what was expected of them.

I was wrong, and am now paying the price.

So for those of you who are waiting for these prints (anybody?), I apologize, and can only say that we will get them done, and done properly.

In the meantime, I have received Seki-san's first rough sketches for the Autumn set. I'm not going to show them because - honestly speaking - there isn't a chance of any of them getting to the production stage. She has tried to create complex canvases inside the tiny dimension, losing sight of what a senshafuda should be - a simple and clean image, focussed on a single item or idea.

For her, it's back to the drawing board. For me, the challenge will be to try and find a balance between exerting too much control over the crew and letting them have their (necessary) creative freedom ...

Difficult!