Japanese Woodblock Print

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Japanese Woodblock Print
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It was a sunny winter's afternoon; another perfect Sydney day. I was on my balcony enjoying the sunshine when I heard a familiar voice. It was my neighbour Tom.

"Hey Dean. My garden's looking good," he said in a proud and confident tone. "But I can't help but feel there's something missing."

"Like what?" I asked.

Tom, massaging his chin and gazing out over his own version of the botanical gardens then leaned over his balcony looking me straight in the eye and in a firm voice said..."bamboo."

"Explain?" I responded with a puzzled look.

"Privacy my friend, privacy," Tom retorted.

I thought a moment, looking a little puzzled and then it hit me!

"Yes, privacy! Bamboo would give us the privacy we've been looking for," I exclaimed although I wasn't sure how.

Let me fill you in. I live close to the beach in a block of four town houses. Tom lives next door with Jenny and the other two dwellings are occupied by another two couples. Until recently, we had a full view of the water but always knew it would one day be gone since we bordered a large block of vacant land. As it turned out, a large two level block of apartments was given the all clear to be built by the local council and developers didn't waste any time in getting it up.

Our view was gone but we knew that was coming. With the building up we had another problem...lack of privacy. Suddenly blinds which I had hardly ever used were being closed constantly to keep inquisitive eyes out. We searched for answers and found none until Tom uttered the magic word...bamboo!

"So Tom, what do you know about bamboo?"I asked in a not so confident tone.

"Plenty Dean, plenty", he replied in an almost sarcastic fashion.

We both went downstairs into the garden area. Tom led the way. He reminded me of one of those gardening experts on television. I was almost in awe.

"Well Dean",Tom said resembling some botanical icon that I could have put a dozen names to."Bamboo comes in a heap of different varieties. See this corner over here, I think we'll put in some 0ldhamii. Do you know it grows up to 40 feet?"

"Yes," I replied. "I've heard that!" The truth be known, I had no idea at the time.

Tom then quickly paced up and down the length of our fence.He stopped and looked at me and said in an authoritative voice.

"You know, for height I think we might put in some Chinese Painted Bamboo...or how about some Giant Buddha Belly.Do you know it also can grow to over 50 feet."

"Amazing I thought," looking high up into the sky then replying a little sarcastically.

"I just hope we're not in any flight paths!"

Tom didn't hear me. He was in bamboo heaven. He was kind of talking to me but to himself, if you know what I mean. He grabbed his chin again and spoke in a soft but stern tone.

"We've got to be careful with the running varieties of bamboo Dean."

I hesitated slightly and then responded a little shakily... " Your...you're right. Can't have that running bamboo taking off on us." Then I thought to myself..."running bamboo? What's running bamboo?"

Tom was in his own bamboo world.

"No problems. I like the look of Black Bamboo. Although it's a virulent runner we can contain it in pots. On the other hand, I also like Temple Bamboo. It's a slow runner and looks really good."

Tom was taking notes and drawing a diagram of his bamboo project. He was inspired. I'd never seen him so excited about a gardening project. Yes he loved his gardening but I always got the impression it was a chore that had to be done. Not so on this on this occasion. He just couldn't wait to get started.

And so began my first introduction to the wonderful world of bamboo. Several months later and it's all starting to take shape. The bamboo is in the ground and growing at a furious pace. In 12 months time, we'll have all the privacy we need. Our water view might be gone but you know, the trade-off is certainly worth it. Those chats on the balcony now start off with a hello, how are you and quickly turn into a conservation on bamboo as we marvel at this versatile plant and the problem it solved for us.

Dean Caporella is a professional Journalist and Sports Announcer. He takes an interest in a wide and varied number of topics. In the last few years, a close friend introduced him to the wonderful world of bamboo and it's many uses. "I just love the stuff!" he declares. From a privacy barrier on my fenceline to my "Lucky Bamboo" plant on my window ledge." Learn more about bamboo at http://www.bamboogalore.com.

Ukiyo-e Master Hokusai's Great Wave of Woodblock Art

Hokusai (1760-1849) is world-famous for his designs of Mount Fuji, the most famous mountain of Japan. Hokusai (meaning 'pole-star' ) represents Mount Fuji in an impressive triangular shape in his prints of the holy mountain in the summer with massive floating clouds with lightning to the side of the mountian. One glance on such a simple and effective composition makes an unforgettable impression on the viewer.

Mini Biography

Little is known about Hokusai's early life. From what he has told himself he developed an urge to draw all kinds of subjects related to nature from the age of 6. Also from an early age he came into touch with the art of woodcutting. This experience was as a 'hidden force' when he became a woodblock designer in his adult life. At the age of 19 he started as a pupil of Shunsho which marks the beginning of his career as a illustrator.

His first prints give the impression that Hokusai was not a natural talent but that was compensated by his possessiveness to drawing and his productivity which is unmatched in the history of Ukiyo-e. Initially he designed mainly kabuki (actor) prints and book illustrations but slowly he started experimenting within the other Ukiyo-e genres such as surimono (commissioned print), kacho-ga (flower and bird print) and shunga (erotic print).

Manga

In 1812 Hokusai travelled to Kyoto and Osaka. On this ocassion he produced hundreds of sketches with the intention of getting them published in the form of a handbook on the art of drawing. Between 1812 and 1820 the first ten volumes were published which are known to the world as the 'Sketchbooks of Hokusai' (Hokusai Manga).

This overwhelming quantity and striking diversity of sketches shows the viewer the full reality of the Japanese daily life. The subjects are almost unlimited and forms a colourful encyclopaedia of human life and labour, myths and legends and of the material and natural environment.

Great Wave

It is like the production of these sketchbooks were a finger exercise, a contemplative preamble for his masterpiece which places Hokusai in the pantheon of greatest artists being on a par with Raphaël, Michelangelo and Rembrandt. This masterpiece series, called the '36 Views of Mount Fuji' (Fugaku sanjurokkei), with Mount Fuji as its main subject, portrayed under changing weather circumstances from different locations and points of view, was published when Hokusai was 70. One of the prints is called the 'Beneath the Wave of Kanagawa' (The Great Wave) and is the most famous print in the history of Japanese woodblock art.  

Hokusai's Great Wave print depicts one enormous wave coming from the left and reaching up into the sky with its tentacle crests ready to smash the boats including their passengers. It's the magnificent juxtaposition of the three elements the divine, the human and the earthly presented here in a perfect harmony giving the image such an impact and power.  It was Hokusai's '36 Views of Mount Fuji' -series and especially The Great Wave that provided the impressionists a decisive impulse in their quest inventing a new art as stated by Edmond de Goncourt in his book on Hokusai in 1896:

"This horizontal series, with its rather crude colours, which nonetheless attempt to reproduce nature's colours under all lightning conditions, is the album which inspires the landscapes of the impressionists of the present moment".    

Books on Hokusai  

'Hokusai' by Gian Carlo Calza, ' The Hokusai Sketchbooks' by James A. Michener, Hokusai: 'First Manga Master' by Jocelyn Bouquillard and Christophe Marquet.      

About the Author

My name is Marijn Kruijff and I am an artdealer specialized in Japanese woodblock prints. We have a website called AK-Antiek and are located in Coevorden, the Netherlands. On our site we have a special section of Hokusai's work.

Click here for checking out The Great Wave..

Here you can find prints by Hokusai's contemporaries.

Adobe Photoshop: How to make a photo look like a Japanese woodblock print?

I am working in Photoshop CS3 and would like to edit a photograph of mine to make it look like a Japanese woodblock print. This would probably involve creating a dark outline around the objects, and flattening planes to make them look more 2D. I'm also interested in trying to replicate the colours. Thanks!

There are 2 techniques you can probably use to do this.

The first technique is one that I found on this website. It has info on how to create some dark outlines.
http://www.illustratortips.com/index.php/Instruction/Advanced-Tips/sparkle-and-glow.html

The second technique is by replicating traditional filters. This site has some details.
http://www.askphotoshop.com/replicating-traditional-photography-filters/

Creating a realistic Japanese woodblock print out of a photo would be quite tough and requires a lot more work so I wish you all the best of luck!

~ Josh Tam
http://joshtam.net/world

Viva Lautrec!
Museum puts remarkable collection on display Acquaint yourself with the social menagerie of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's Montmartre in the late 1800s through a visit to a captivating new exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Art, "Toulouse-Lautrec's Paris." Meet the dancers La Goulue and Jane Avril, the impresario Aristide Bruant, the portly comedian Cadieux, the chanteuse of the long, black gloves ...

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