Colouring for Everybody Japanese Ukiyo-e

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Augustine Barker
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1 Colouring for Everybody Japanese Ukiyo-e Selected images from the Surimono Albums of woodblock printmaker David Bull Mokuhankan Publishing

2 Introduction Hello... I am woodblock printmaker David Bull, a Canadian who has been living in Tokyo for just over 20 years. I earn my living making hand-made reproductions of Japanese woodblock prints, using the same techniques common in the old days. I cut the designs on planks of cherry wood, then print them on handmade paper one colour at a time until each image comes to life. Unlike modern process printing, traditional Japanese woodblock printing requires a separate block to be created for each colour in the final print. Actually that is a slight simplification, as colour overlapping is also done, but the main point is that for each print I carve a key block which contains the outlines of the design, and a group of colour blocks for adding the tones. Nothing special about that... this has been going on for hundreds of years. But recently here in Japan, we are in the middle of a huge boom in Otona no Nuri-e, which translates literally as Colouring Pictures for Adults. (Adult in this context doesn t mean x-rated, it simply distinguishes this material from the common children s colouring books.) So... put the two ideas together... and it seems like an interesting idea - pull some prints from my key blocks, and offer them for colouring! And that s what this little ebook is about... a selection of five designs from my Surimono Albums print series, scanned from my key block images for you to print out and colour. Each of the five images is included here on a letter size page, scanned at 150dpi. Print them onto a fairly heavy paper, and get your colour pencils out! We ve also tried printing them on an ink-jet printer onto heavy watercolour stock, and this works well too. I hope you enjoy making use of this little pamphlet. If you wish more information about my prints, please follow some of the links on the back page... Thank you! Dave Bull, Tokyo Japan September, 2006 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License, which clearly spells out what you can/ can t do with the images.

3 Contents Standing Courtesan Here is a famous design from the Kaigetsudo school of ukiyo-e painters. This one was done by Kaigetsudo Dohan, and the best guess for a date for it is early 1710s. The signature reads Nihon-giga Kaigetsu Matsuyo Dohan zu. Yoshiwara Couple This is the first page from a shunga album designed by Nishikawa Sukenobu, another of the earliest ukiyo-e artists. As is typical with such albums the first page is rated general.. the subsequent pages are more explicit... Fabrics in real life never flow and fall as beautifully as they do in ukiyo-e prints, especially in these early designs. A print like this is a joy to carve, and the sharp knife slides smoothly through the wood as it follows the lines traced by the designer s brush. Kabuki Actor This is Ichikawa Danjuro, one of the most famous kabuki actors of all time, in an image (apparently) from the brush of Kiyonobu. The original of this print was produced in the era pre-dating the introduction of colour printing, and it was common for people to purchase it, take it home, and colour it... Away you go! A Taoist Immortal The print is a page from a book published in 1689, with illustrations by the famous Hishikawa Moronobu. It is a collection about the lives of Taoist Immortals, and apparently depicts the woman known as Wa-sen, who when younger put off marriage and studied to follow the path of Tao. Mandarin Ducks The poem on the print - which is by Isoda Koryusai - can be paraphrased as something like Our warm love will be all the blanket that we need... Mandarin ducks are an old Japanese symbol for a happy marriage, as they were thought to mate for life.

colour, to give you some idea of how they might look, should you wish to try and make

9 Sample colour schemes... Here are a few sample images of three of the prints as I actually completed them in full colour, to give you some idea of how they might look, should you wish to try and make authentic-looking images, but of course, you are free to colour them in any style you wish! I issued the other two in their black&white form, so for those, you are on your own!

apparent - the paper texture, the soft colour tones, the incised lines.

For those people, I have prepared a Steal These Prints page on my website, where the entire collection of my 50 surimono prints is available for free download at 150dpi resolution. http://woodblock.

10 For more information... Free stuff... People who know woodblock prints know that a mechanical reproduction just isn t the same; the basic image may be visible, but none of the other things that make original prints so beautiful are apparent - the paper texture, the soft colour tones, the incised lines... There is a world of difference between the real thing and an imitation, but I recognize that many people love the images yet are not able to purchase my prints. For those people, I have prepared a Steal These Prints page on my website, where the entire collection of my 50 surimono prints is available for free download at 150dpi resolution. Reasonable stuff... Moving up a step... if you would like to get one of my prints, but can t stretch as far as subscribing to one of my albums, my new Mokuhankan may be of interest. This is where I sell woodblock prints (and related items) one-by-one, rather than in album sets as I do for my usual work Please visit the site and browse the collection! It is also worth mentioning that one of the items there is a larger colouring book of more of my prints; if you have enjoyed this pamphlet, that may be of interest! The real McCoy... After nearly twenty years of woodblock print production, I now have quite a wonderful collection of albums available. The prints I make were designed in the Edo and Meiji eras by various artists. I work in collaboration with these men, carving and printing their designs, just as the craftsmen of the Edo period worked together with the artists of their day. Please visit my woodblock.com website, where you will find an astonishing array of print images, background information on Japanese prints, and enough ancillary material to keep you away from productive work for days on end. You have been warned!

ARTH305 Guided Observation 3: Japanese Woodblock Prints

ARTH305 Guided Observation 3: Japanese Woodblock Prints This assignment will introduce you to Edo (1615-1868) and Meiji (1868-1912) Period Japanese woodblock prints by asking you to examine how four major