So, I felt I had the best of both worlds, the cutting-edge creativity of the art students, and the more restrained techniques of the set-up at the Yoshida studio. Although my Japanese language was pretty poor at the time, as soon asI saw the Yoshida family printer demonstrate, it all started to make sense - this visual language of the artist. Through this chance meeting, I enrolled in classes at the Yoshida Hanga (printing) Academy every Saturday. I met his son Toshi, then in his late 60s, and his son Tsukasa and wife Kiyoko. Just by chance, I went to see a retrospective exhibition by the late Hiroshi Yoshida, which was very inspiring. The students in my department were using woodblock in a looser manner, whereas I was interested in starting off with the traditional techniques. My introduction to Japan was at Language University in Osaka, where I spent 6 months trying to get to grips with the language.Then, I moved to Tokyo where I did my Masters Degree over 2 years at Tama Art University. You studied this technique whilst living in Japan, can you tell us a bit about that experience? Following on from the latter tradition, artists in Japan and around the world today use woodblock in a range of creative ways, from pure woodblock to one element in a finished multi-media print, or a touch of woodblock in a painting. It had somewhat of a resurgence in 1910, when two new woodblock groups were formed: Shin hanga (new prints), inspired by traditional ukiyo-e wooodblock prints and the continuation of the collaborative relationship of artist, publisher, carver and printer and Sosaku hanga (creative prints), where artists looked more to the world beyond for inspiration, and went through the full process of designing, carving and printing the block. The art of woodblock printing almost died a death with the introduction of new techniques like lithography and photography in the years after Japan opened up to the West from the end of the Edo period in 1868. However, the full-colour technique used in this era was often to make exact copies of paintings, not unique images in their own right. The introduction of the kento, the registration marks, allowed the carver to create multiple blocks which the printer would use in sequence to create exquisite, excellently registered prints for the publisher to offer for sale. The publisher would often commission the artist, whose brush-drawn drawings were pasted face-down onto the block. In the 1700s and 1800s, there was a sophisticated collaboration between publisher, artist, carver and printer. It would be many hundreds of years before full-coloured printing would be developed. Buddhist temples were where most of the early black and white prints were made - mostly religious images and texts, but also texts on farming and medicine. The basic techniques for Japanese woodblock printing originated in China, and spread from there through Korea and eventually into Japan around the 8th century. These classes help stimulate and inspire our UCSC undergraduate art major students to prepare their artistic careers and expand their possibilities for study opportunities internationally.As part of our ongoing series the A-Z of Print Studio, we're delighted to bring you J for Japanese Woodblock Printing! We caught up with tutor Campbell Sandilands about this ancient artform, his time learning the art and what you should expect from our Japanese Woodblock course.įirst up, could you give us a quick overview of Japanese Woodblock Printing? Through various class activities, excursions, and cultural visits students were exposed to diverse and multi-regional art practices that broadened their perspectives and increased their understanding not only in the field of print media but in the larger contemporary visual culture. Classes included field trips to local museums and galleries, hands-on workshops at a traditional paper mill (washi) in Tokyo, and interactions with local visiting artists, master printmakers and other Japanese students. This method deeply influenced some late 19th-century Post-Impressionist artists, such as Van Gogh, Toulouse Lautrec, Edgar Degas and Edouard Manet.Īt Tokyo National University of the Arts, students studied the treasured historical skills and tools of Moku Hanga with greater understanding and appreciation. While in the Western tradition, oil-based ink is applied with a roller and printed onto the papers surface, often with the help of a press, in the Japanese tradition water-based ink is applied with a brush and, while being printed by hand, is pressed deeply into the absorbent Japanese paper. In Summer 2018 Professor Jimin Lee took a group of UCSC Art students to Japan to learn Japanese woodblock printmaking “Moku Hanga” known as the “Ukiyo-e technique” widely studied by artists today.
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