木版画　Woodblock prints

"Ukiyo" in Ukiyo-e means "reality", and it started in the latter half of the 16th century as a picture depicting the ordinary people's life in Kyoto. Ukiyo-e became popular as a popular culture only in the 18th century (Edo period). Improvements in woodblock technology, the introduction of familiar subjects such as actors and beautiful women, and the popularisation of reading materials for the masses during this period were the catalysts. The painters who were drawing illustrations on such reading materials became artists of Ukiyo-e.

Ukiyo-e is not created by one hand. A work is completed only when three people, the painter, the carver, and the printer, cooperate with each other.

・First, the artist draws a rough sketch with a line of ink.

・Next, an engraver will put the rough sketch on a mountain cherry tree board and engrave the design to make a woodblock called Sumita. This is for printing the outline of one black colour.

・Woodblocks are carved for each colour and colour plates are made for each colour.

・With the attendance of the artist, the printmaker who prints the prints adds colour to each print.

-Each woodblock is marked at the same position, and the printer applies the designated area of the printing paper to each woodblock when printing the colours. Then you can finish without shifting.

・The procedure for overlapping colours is

(1) "From light colour to dark colour", and

(2) The principle is "from a small area to a large area".

Finished with a gradation called blur.

You can see Ukiyo-e in;

1,Sumida Hokusai Museum