The 7th Week

From July 19th to the 25th

Home

Back

Next

Making plans for ten color blocks

When I cut outlines on a color block with the toh, I cut at the center point of each outline (and sometimes even a bit toward the outside edge of the outline). In other words, I do not remove all of the thickness of the line that will print on the key block from the color block.

As a result, the color zone actually extends partly into where the line will print.This prevents any slight misregistration problems.

In printing, the edges of adjacent color areas should meet or overlap at the middle of the line.

The 8th Week

From July 26th to August 1st

The end of a day

Monologue: Let's call it a day . I did enough today. Let's go home.

Ita-bokashi cut

Ordinary cut

Ita-bokashi (block gradation) is the name given to the carving technique of creaing a soft edge instead of a clean-cut edge. The design is cut away little by little with a kento-nomi so that its edge may form a gentle slope, as illustrated in figure (D). In this case, the cutting with the toh must be made farther out than the actual outline; otherwise the result will be smaller than it is intended to be. When printed, the color appears to fade out at the edge. The gradation is varied according to the angle of the slope.

A

Drier (A)

B

C

Bond 50 g (B) Water 400 g (C).

Recording my progress, hour by hour.

D

1 hour

2 hours

3 hours

4 hours

5 hours

6 hours

7 hours

8 hours

Ten color blocks on July 31st.

Applying oil-based ink on the block to make the actual figures clear.

From August 2nd to 21st

(Bond is a kind of wood adhesive)