The Bearded Iris:

The Final Print

Diaz’s The Bearded Iris is a Japanese water-based woodblock print. Here you will find a completed description detailing the entire creation process - start to finish - including a video of the printing process. This description will also serve as a greatly abbreviated and abridged primer on the art of Japanese woodblock printmaking.

Some Terminology and Background on the Processes

Woodblock printmaking is the process of carving an image into a piece of wood (if not wood, but some other material, the process is often referred to simply as “relief printmaking”) then using some type of medium (usually some type of ink or paint) to transfer that image to a substrate (usually paper). The terms “woodblock printmaking” and “woodblock prints” mean different things here in the Western world than they do in the East. The term encompasses and signifies specific processes, materials, and methods.

Woodblock printing here in the west usually means carving into some type of wood (increasingly plywood, softer linoleum or even softer rubber alternatives – Woodblock and Relief are often actually used as interchangeable terms) with modified engraving tools (from engraving into metal), using linseed oil based inks (modified oil paints), and printing onto Western paper (cotton or wood pulp based paper). Prints may be equally created using a printing press, or by hand with a fabric covered baren or burnisher. The use of slow-drying, low-absorbing oil-based inks allows for open working time and longer drying times for prints, as well as even color coverage through the use of brayers (ink rollers).

Traditional Japanese printmaking is different in almost every way. In Japan, their traditional process is called moku hanga (pronounced moe-koo hahn-gah - literally wood print). Diaz’s moku hanga prints are just that – produced in the Japanese tradition, using traditional tools, techniques, and materials. Moku hanga are carved into black cherry wood or shina (Japanese basswood), using purpose-made tools with blades crafted in the tradition of precision and quality found in Samurai swords, printed with water based inks very similar to gouache paints mixed with rice paste, printed onto handmade Japanese papers made primarily from native species of plants usually kozo, mitsumata or gampi fibers. Wood easily absorbs water, and as such the humidity of every part of the print must be closely monitored and maintained – the wood must be damp but not wet, as must the paper. The water must be absorbed uniformly or else the absorption of the ink (and finished areas of color) will be blotchy. The ink is applied by hand with a horse-hair brush (whose humidity levels must also be monitored). Moku hanga are printed by hand using an oiled bamboo leaf covered baren.

There are quite a few other differences between the processes, and books have been written about each. Each process has its own strengths and weaknesses. Many people feel that the learning curve for moku hanga is too steep, especially given the return on the process, when compared to the time saved and ease of use and control in western printmaking. Essentially, in western printmaking, because of the relative simplicity of the process, the artist is free to focus more on the image, and less on the process. Conversely, in moku hanga, because the process is more delicate, more labor intensive, more “finicky,” there are no shortcuts. Mastery of the imagery is secondary to mastery of the process. Most of the skill in creating moku hanga is the kind that can’t be faked or substituted – they only come from lots of practice and experience. Not that this is entirely untrue of western printmaking, it’s just that western relief printing is usually (but not always) more of a means to an end, than an artform whose skill and beauty comes not only from the final work, but the process that creates it as well. If you’re the kind of person that can appreciate the work that goes into making something great, then you can appreciate moku hanga.

Making the Bearded Iris

The first step is the concept sketch. This is just as it sounds, a loose drawing that plans out the basics of the finished print – subject, composition, color, etc. This is intentionally kept loose so that it is easily edited or changed. The sketch is whittled down and adjusted into a final line sketch over several iterations.
In moku hanga, the final line sketch is important because there is traditionally a black outline block that gets printed last over all of the other colors. It is usually the actual final line sketch, and it’s called the key block. The actual final line drawing is glued to the block face down and carved through.
The key block is used to set up how the colors for the print will be laid out when transferred onto different blocks of wood (usually one for each color). If there is no black outline block, whichever block is used to layout the colors is also referred to as the key block. The key block is therefore always carved first.
In this print, the key block is the flowers, stems, and leaves all connected. From this solid block, they key print will be made, then transferred onto another block. This other block will be the yellow block for the flowers, so only they will be carved. The flowers on the key block will then be removed. This leaves two separate blocks that line up with eachother: the block that will make the yellow flowers, and the block that will make the green leaves and stems (originally the key block).
Diaz uses Holbein Iridori gouache paints – Japanese paints in traditional Japanese colors – as the ink for the prints. They are mixed with rice paste, which acts as a binder and stabilizer for the ink as it is transferred from the block to the paper. The dampened paper is lined up on the block. A piece of oiled paper similar to parchment paper is placed on top to protect the thin paper. The baren is then run over the block and the ink can be seen absorbing up through the paper. The lighter colors are printed first so darker ink colors on overlapping blocks don’t stain and transfer. It’s easier to show the printing process than it is to describe it, so below is a video of the printing the final test proof.
Here is the video of the first test proof printing for the final piece. This process (printing the yellow, then going back through and printing the green) is repeated for every print in the edition, plus some extras - not every one will come out perfectly. That's at least 100 rounds with the baren and ink for each color, most likely at least 110 total per color for this edition. Images with errors are destroyed. Usually the artist creates some proofs for themselves to keep and do with as they please, one for the printers (if you're not printing your own work), and perhaps some others. Each are denoted with some type of code followed by a fraction: p.p. 1/4 - printer's proof, one out of four total; a.p. 2/5 - artist's proof, two out of five, etc. These proofs are not considered part of the edition; the actual edition has no abbreviation or marking by its number.