Image of woodblock from wikipedia

Some months ago I wrote about a demonstration of Japanese woodblock printing by Tae-Huk Kim.

Now I’m pleased to see that Printfreak has posted a video of the process, that looks very similar to Kim’s. When I came to the end of this video and saw the name of the artist, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it is Graham Scholes, a well-known BC artist. I’ve spoken with him on the phone when he assisted me in my online re-registration (when I changed my email address) for the Carfac newsgroup. It was fun to put a face to the name.

You will notice that Kim’s and Scholes’ works are very different. Kim’s is contemporary and semi-abstract, while Scholes’ is traditional. It is interesting how an ancient technique is still used by artists today in very different styles.

David Bull, another woodblock printmaker living and working in Tokyo, also has an extensive and recently updated site about his work and techniques. Baren Forum is another resource, and check out the links in my earlier article.

Some day I must try out this technique. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s a non-toxic process and does not need a printing press, so it’s ideal for a small home studio like mine. My style and images would change, just in colour alone because they are light watercolour washes rather than the heavy oil-based inks that I use for etchings and collagraphs. Of course I have done some woodcuts in the western technique of relief rolling the ink and either using a press or a wooden spoon, another look again.