But I'm comfortable enough with it, and also know what rich possibilities it has that I've come to feel somewhat comfortable with it. There are still numerous technical mistakes and difficulties with my moku hanga prints. At some point your artistic medium has to start seeming like a useful tool, one that helps you do what you want, rather than a constant opponent, one that you wonder if you can ever best. I'd guess that the last two, safety and exciting examples, are what got me started.īut what kept me going, especially after the trials and tribulations of the first couple of prints, was my understanding that I was beginning to get control of the medium. I also found that I much admired some contemporary moku hanga, used as a means of modern expression. But I was bothered by the toxic fumes of the paint/ink solvents. When I switched, to a large extent, from painting to printmaking around 10 years ago I was thrilled by printmaking, all done without a press. Only perhaps the watercolors and/or gouache used by many might have some man-made ingredients.įor me the safety is important. The paper is made from plants, the baren often is made largely from bamboo. safe, and because it is so connected to nature. Others today love it for a variety of other reasons but I suspect one of the top ones is that it is largely non-toxic, i.e. I understand why artists want to continue that noble tradition.
I admire it, both artistically with hardly a thought of the technical difficulties, but also for the incredible technical craftsmanship. Some love moku hanga I'd guess because of the great moku hanga art that was done in Japan during its heyday. There are so many things to consider and so many things that can go wrong: paper that is too wet or too dry, bad paper, paper with too little or too much, paint that is too wet or too dry, too splotchy or too saturated, smudging everywhere, colors that don't print the way I think that they will, wood that is drier than I'd like and breaks as I'm carving a crucial line, etc., etc., etc. Technically speaking I'm not sure why anyone would take up moku hanga. Great Crested Flycatcher against Blue Sky. Below is the newest print, a 4圆 inch print of a Great Crested Flycatcher, motivated as you might expect by seeing some of the first returning birds of spring. So with that said here are my two newest prints.Ībove is a 6x4 inch print of an Avocet and Eurasian Moorhen that we saw at Minsmere RSPB last year on our trip to England for 'The Natural Eye' show of the Society of Wildlife Artists. Nonetheless I hate to let this blog just die, especially as it's sort of become a blog about my progress with moku hanga. Suffice it to say that the lack of comments, overabundance of spam, and other online outlets all took their toll. I don't think that there are any excuses for the huge gaps between my blog postings.
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