LITMIR.BIZ

      FIG. 24

      Printing with a baren

      Author’s Collection

      The process of creating ukiyo-e started with the artist. It was his job to produce a drawing or “preparatory picture,” called a shita-e, for the publisher in black sumi ink. Sometimes the artist would develop his drawing to a very high level of detail and completeness. At other times he would provide a more sketchy drawing, perhaps only showing the contours of his figures and suggestions for the background. The details were then filled in by professional block copyists (hikko), or even by advanced students. The hikko would then create a tracing or “base block picture” (hanshita-e) on very thin translucent paper, which was then passed to the block cutter for the next stage—transferring the design to the woodblock.

      Traditional Japanese woodblock prints were made from designs carved into planks or blocks of cherry wood (sakura), a moderately hard, fine-textured, straight-grained wood suited to carving designs in high relief. Cherry wood was also fairly resistant to warping caused by the wet pigments and moist paper used in the printing process. The blocks, about 3.5 cm thick, were the product of years of drying and curing and creating a surface that was suitable to carve before they were cut up into workable sizes. Because the block cutter worked on both sides of the wood, care had to be taken not to damage either the top or the reverse of the block.

      Traditionally, the carver sits on a cushion (zabuton) at a low table. The angle of his work surface is at the level of his bent arm. He first places the hanshita-e block design face down on the block of wood, which is covered with an even coating of glue (nori) made from rice flour and water. The drawing is carefully pressed onto this sticky surface. The back of the drawing is then carefully rubbed with the hand to remove the fibers from the paper so that the black sumi lines are visible for the cutting process to come. Basically, one is exposing the drawing from the rear. I remember from my experience at the craftsman’s studio that rubbing the paper is a difficult task. The paper is so thin that the chances of making a hole in it are great. I had to practice in areas where there were no sumi lines. After the glued paper has dried, the block is brushed with a light coating of oil so that the sumi lines are clearly visible.

      Next comes the cutting process, another delicate task (Figs. 21–23). Keeping in mind that the thin black lines and other surfaces remaining on the block comprise the printed image, the woodblock cutter cuts through the back of the paper into the wood, leaving the lines or areas of the design in high relief while cutting down into and removing the surrounding wood (Figs. 26, 27). The final design that is produced is called the “key block” (dai-ban). Carvers use as many as seven different tools—knives, gauges and chisels—for the cutting process. The most useful is the knife called hangito. The craftsman holds it upright and cuts the block at an angle of about 35 degrees, generally in the direction of the brush that initially inscribed the design. The tools are sharpened on stones ranging from rough to fine with oil. The sharpening of the tools itself is an elaborate procedure, just as taking care of the stones is.

      While the earliest Japanese prints were almost always reproduced in monochrome black ink and required a single key block (Fig. 28), as soon as the growth of the popularity of ukiyo-e brought with it a demand for color, the woodblock cutter had to produce sets of blocks for each design since each color was produced from a different block. Thus, separate blocks had to be cut for each of the colors of the design in addition to the key block that was used to print the black outline. On the color blocks, all areas were cut or chiseled away except for the flat areas meant to take the colors, which were left in relief. If, however, two color areas were sufficiently separated from each other, sometimes these two colors could be printed from the same block. Altogether, block cutting was a time-consuming and demanding process that required the skilled hands of master carvers to replicate the unique and exact features in the artist’s original design, while at the same time demonstrating their own woodcarving talents.

      Because color prints were produced from multiple blocks, with each block in a different color and sequentially impressed onto the paper, the woodblock carvers had to employ a system to insure that the image from the key block and the colors from the different color blocks would correspond perfectly on the same sheet of paper when printing. They developed a system of guide marks (kento), cut with a special chisel at the same two locations into every block used to make a single design. At the lower right-hand corner of the block they carved an L-shaped corner called kagi and in the lower left side a small rectangular straight piece called hikitsuke. The sheet of paper would fit into these two slots and be perfectly positioned every time on the individual blocks. The final print would thus bear the impressions of each of the blocks in perfect registration.

      Now came the job of the printers. The pigments used for printing traditional prints were always water based, made either from mineral or organic (vegetable) sources. The most important is black sumi. It is produced mostly from burnt pine mixed with rapeseed oil to produce soot, which is formed into a stick called nikawa using glue. The same sumi stick or a liquid version called bokujyu is used in traditional Japanese painting. Sometimes the sumi was mixed with nikawa to produce a glossy finish. This was effective on hair or on some kimono patterns. As with their European counterparts, the other colors used were all primary colors— yellow, blue and red. As in Europe also, the

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