Doi Hanga collaboration : Part 3

This is the third in our series describing the collaboration between our Mokuhankan printmaking venture and the old Doi Hanga publishing house.
In this episode, I show the process of replacing the old battered registration marks with a new fresh clean set.
In the video, I mention that we will soon be making this print available in our web shop, and the catalogue page will be here:
mokuhankan.com/...

[@ellaroo456]

your channel is so therapeutic, it is a joy to watch.

[@qaantar]

It is so exciting to witness the process of restoring these old print blocks to working order. And the progress on the upstairs printing area is really wonderful!

[@mattmcdonnellart]

Very much enjoyed this episode. Great to see how with confidence you were able to restore the block keys into working order. Good luck on the new floor in the shop and enjoying the roof top in the warmer months. These walk-about segments are quite charming! All the best, Matthew

[@FPVSpace]

The roof top was wonderful. Such a feeling of space and open air up there.

[@PatChatGC]

That top floor view is amazing!!

[@corntorteeya86]

I love seeing this kind of salvage work. As a former construction worker, I can appreciate ingenuity and problem solving. I also find it interesting that Ms. Ayumi moved down from Hokkaido to learn the art. Man, I wish I could go back and visit your shop since my family is going back in a few months, but I'll be busy. I haven't been back to Japan since 2013. I miss it.

[@RaKlavinGNS]

I'm really beginning to look forward to seeing more of this collaboration. I appreciate the time and effort you all place into making these prints and it makes me look to the day that I can enjoy a craft with the same kind of dedication.

[@MusicScala]

Great to see that there is so much progress at Mokuhankan! I still remember the day when i passed by to see how things were going. It has already been nearly a year since then, but i still remember it like it was yesterday.

[@markanon5581]

I could comment on any one of the videos I've seen so far... your channel is exactly what i was looking for to try to get some idea about both the practical aspects of Japanese woodblock printing as well as about its history & variety. Thank you for the trouble you take and I hope at some point to be able to visit your shop the next time I am cycling in Japan, which I love to do and deeply miss. Domo arigatou gozaimasu!

[@UloPe]

It would be interesting to hear a bit more about those printing stations. With western eyes and our fixation on “ergonomic” workplaces they seem to be pretty stiff and uncomfortable. Also it’s interesting that the surfaces are angled away from the printer. From intuition it would seem they should be the other way around.

[@lpsowns]

Oh man, that table saw David! Glad to see you're using push sticks though, I don't think I'd want to get my fingers anywhere near that blade.

[@seseragistudio]

+lpsowns I envy my US friends, with their easy access to (relatively) high quality power tools. Here in Japan - where there is basically no DIY culture (at least not the type of DIY that involves this kind of tool) - we have no such access. Of course there are professional tools, stunningly expensive, but for the casual user like myself there is nothing available but toy Chinese imports. I got one of those a couple of years back, thinking that I should retire this old beast, but it just sits in the corner, unusable; the slots in the table don't line up with the blade path, and neither is adjustable ...

[@vividlabskp]

This was really interesting to watch! I love the snip-out-some-regions method for establishing new registration marks on the color blocks. Also it was fascinating to see the print room in its freshly-instantiated, not-yet-inhabited form. Also the shachihoko! I am missing Asakusa right about now (sniff!)

[@burlong01]

Hey David, recently I found your videos and have been really enjoying your work especially the Great Wave series. I find the quiet carving sections of your videos incredibly relaxing to watch and listen to, especially with such delicate technique. Is there any chance of you making longer carving videos in the future? I would personally love to watch something like that.

[@Vestu]

Hi! I like your work endlessly. It is astonishing. As I'm a hobbyist artist (music) who struggles with procrastination and unproductivity, I just wanted to ask how do you muster the tremendous amounts of patience, cosistency and effort needed in your work? Your craft seems to be from the more strenuous end of the spectrum when it comes to the effort needed in creating a finished piece of one's art. Thank you!

[@seseragistudio]

+Vestu Hah! I think I'm about the biggest procrastinator in town! I'm the _last_ person you should be asking for advice on that topic! The other things you mention - patience ... effort ... - I can do those; it's just a question of having a clear (and attractive!) goal in view. That will provide the required motivation to just keep plugging away at the work ...

[@Vestu]

+David Bull I can see how setting clear and attractive goals will work as a motivation when actively brought back to mind when "Resistance" (The War of Art by Steven Pressfield) kicks in. Thanks for the tip! Remembered to subscribe this time, heh.

[@kikeheebchinkjigaboo6631]

Where are all the Air Conditioners????

[@SimonDouville1]

Is it common to redo the registrations marks that way? Did you had to ask the Doi Hanga's permission to do so? I'm asking out of mere curiosity I'm interested in the cultural aspect of printmaking.

[@seseragistudio]

+Simon Douville It's understood by any publisher that the printer will do 'whatever is necessary' to get the registration marks aligned. The day-to-day method involves putting those little shims in place, but after enough time has gone by, and the wood is chipped beyond its ability to hold shims, the printer will gouge out a larger chunk, and (typically) glue something in place. I've simply taken this a little bit further, making a new clean 'platform' on which another generation of adjustments can be made. The Doi people would never even notice this, but if they did, they would be pleased that we are extending the life of these blocks ...

[@SimonDouville1]

I see in a sense it's legitimate to do that since it expends the lifetime of those block allowing to be printed by many generations to come. It's has very beautiful meaning, then.

[@katjann2449]

More videos pleaaaaaase

[@fictionmyth]

Out of curiosity, as a 3rd generation autobody repair man, I looked at your problem and thought, "Bondo will fix it!" Which might be a case of "If you've only got a hammer, every problem turns into a nail." So, there may be more to it than I am considering but would there be a reason not to use a filler type material to sum out the old registration marks to zero and start again?

[@seseragistudio]

Well, that's basically what we did, except that we used real wood as the 'filler' material. The marks had been moved forward and backward so many times that the wood at those points had just become too chewed up to even hold shims. Stuffing some kind of filler in there might have allowed a single new shim to be put in place, but would it allow the constant re-shimming and trimming that will be necessary as we move forward printing and re-printing? Starting with a fresh slate is a stable and confident way to do that ...

[@fictionmyth]

David Bull I'm sorry. I prematurely commented and forgot I'd done so by the end of the video. Yeah, since obviously, as you have forgotten more about this art form than I will ever know, your way worked a million times better than what I was thinking the bondo would. As you mentioned, you now have a clean slate with which to make future alignment holes on, when what I was thinking would only fill it in and probably not be a permanent fix. Thank you for taking the time to answer me though. I adore this channel and you have a real knack for storytelling. As you know exactly what information to explain and what information is general enough knowledge to not go too deeply into it. I wish so many people had your talent for talking and telling a tales. Not to mention your amazing wood working talent. If I might make a request for one piece of content that I, and probably others of your fans, would like to see. During your video where you told about the amazing carver that you kept trying to study under but passed before you could fulfill that goal. You ended up with a knife. You said you might not be able to use it without breaking it. Do you think you might ever get an approximation of that tool and use it, to show off the finesse and talent required to use it, or even as a study and trainer for yourself, so that you might one day use the tool you acquired?

[@ohgiranja1750]

nice

[@Voltaire8559]

Bob Ross of Japan