Ukiyo-e Heroes (24) : 'Times Burned Bright'

good morning this is woodblock print maker de Mol speaking to you for my usual place for the introduction of these videos here at my carving bench in our shop in a sacs in Tokyo I got to tell you right up front this is going to be a very different video from some of the ones you have seen before not different in contents because it's going to show you the production of over but print that you've seen before but it's different in production I didn't make this video my friend Cameron who just pressed the button on the camera here is the one who did this he and Suba son our printer have been working for the past two or three weeks I guess putting together a video that shows the construction or a newest ukiyo-e Harris print this is one that Jed cost times burned bright a group of heroes surrounding a campfire ready for tomorrow's action those of you know the game I've been waiting for this for a long long time there's a reason it's taken a long time it's extremely difficult it's the most difficult woodblock print we have yet created in this workshop there's at least 20 Cameron I forget 27 impressions on this thing and you can see it it builds up and up and up and up and up suka Sam took the test impressions and I had to send her back to the beginning she did it again I sent her back to the beginning it went on a lot a long long I don't wanna make it something she didn't know what she was doing she didn't know what she was doing but we really put the screws on to make a beautiful print on this this upcoming video is gonna be a little bit long because it shows you every one of the steps of this thing going from the beginning blank paper right up to the end of it well I myself saw this as a rough cut for the first time last night and it was hugely interesting normally I make these videos so it's you know the person who made it can't really see it from a third-party point of view but I saw it last night for the first time and I had a mixed feelings I was like half of it was so oh my god oh my god what's happened what's next how long is this gonna go on for are they finished yet it just goes on and on lunch and then when I was finished I realized holy crap these things really do take an incredible amount of work to make and I hadn't realized that myself anyway let's just get to this I don't need to talk much more I'm gonna turn you over now the Cameron and Tsubasa they've spent the last few weeks making this you're gonna hear it but if an interview with them in the middle of this let's see the production of times burned right Cameron sent over you [Applause] you as David just mentioned there really is a lot of work going into each one of these woodblock prints to demonstrate just how much work goes into it I wanted to let this keyblock impression go without any cuts you get to see the entire impression done from start to finish I had two cameras running simultaneously so that we could jump back and forth and get different views but it's all one take the key block is the most important block in Japanese woodblock printing as it serves as a guide for all the colorblock impressions that will come later you for a portion of the second impression I decided to use a much wider lens so that you could get a better view of sugah sans full workspace we'll take a closer look at it later you can already see for pigments on our left her right and her finished prints over on her left our right it's interesting to note how rich and dark this red looks in the video but in fact the color on the print will be very different as you'll see in a moment this could just be an issue with the camera work though I'll blame the camera man that's me on this block it almost looks like sue Ghassan is just getting the block wet like there's hardly any pigment on it at all but in fact this is a nice light earthy color for the foreground you in Justin anyway going to help people into a little tool fellas I've heard that doesn't matter matter John that was used in a previous translations motive previous circle Prince as this is the first full batch using the modern Modric on su Gaston is able to isolate the colors because it's hard to really tell if you have the pigments right if you're looking at one that has many different colors in the background the completed print and then the other that's still only partially done by using the modern motor Chun she is effectively isolating the colors and giving both the white background so she can see if they are the same [Music] you impression six here as you'll see is the first of many many shadow layers these all build up to create a beautiful image in the end you you you'll notice I marked this one as eat a the first impression of this color that's because the background is made out of several layers of pigments all overlapping in different ways to form a shadowy mysterious background and this is the first of those large layers to do a gradation sukhasana first uses that wet cloth wrapped around a block to get water onto the wood block then she uses a brush that has pigment in about half of it and then uses that brush to spread the pigment so that it gradually gets less and less going from one side to the other and then once she puts that pressure way she grabs another one that looks the same but it's a different brush and this one only has water in it to further dilute the pigment making for a smooth gradation you will see these steps in action again and again throughout this video because there are many more gradations to come including a second impression of this one after some discussion with David and doing a few tests they decided that one impression of this block didn't leave the right impression so they ran the whole batch through again doing a second impression so that's why we have 8a and 8b it's the same block with the same pigment of course I could have trimmed these two to make it look like one impression but I wanted to show you just how much labor and love go into these beautiful prints [Music] [Music] you [Music] you'll see here sue guess I'm doing something very interesting she uses a small folded piece of paper to keep the print off of the pigmented part of the block where she doesn't want pigment to land as the paper is always kept moist it bends very easily and without that you might end up with splashes of glue where it doesn't belong here we have another shadowy layer in the background and you can see how it adds a lot of depth just to add one more layer of shadows onto many of the characters [Music] I have to apologize I've made a mistake I didn't get a scan of impression number 11 so the next scan will be on number 12 fortunately you'll still be able to see the effect of number 11 on number 12 here on number 11 though we see an impression in the red orange color that covers most of the same areas the yellow fire impression but it's just different enough to add a little bit more depth and interest to the image sugus on is still working on that fire this time adding a Bokashi a gradation at the bottom of the fire I made the scan last a little bit longer so that you can see the orange layer over the yellow layer in addition to impression number 12 the red Bokashi at the bottom here sugus is doing one more layer on the fire this time a beautiful red gradation at the top you you here we ran into an interesting issue looking at the test prints the warrior in the background face and hands for getting printed a little bit too dark so David and sue Ghassan discussed some options and decided to have David carve out the face and the hands from the shadowy section of the block in order to do this sue Gaston had to choose one of her prints to be sacrificed and the glued onto the block to glue it onto the block she used the botton tool but instead of applying pigments with it she first applied just a layer of glue got the whole thing attached very firmly and instead of peeling off only the print she handed the entire block to David while waiting for the blocks to come back she mixed some pigments testing along the way notice the different smears of different shades of gray she tests again and again until she's satisfied she's found the right color david has brought back the block in order to carve the block david had to peel away layers of the washi destroying that print completely he then carved out the area of the Warriors head and hands so that they wouldn't receive the pigment on the next impression watch sugus on peel off the paper and get ready for the next impression [Music] you I look to see all the colors that our printers put together and the surprising end result he or she starts with a green and then adds red and that ends up being the gray in the shadows and the armor of the warrior you here we have another background gradation you you you you this time the shadows are taking a different form we can see trees and other foliage you you here's another example Oh the colors on the block looking very different from the final color that appears on the trend looks rather green as she applies it to the block in the end it ends up being a very nice light shade of tan adding a lot of depth to the foreground the more colors that are added the harder it gets to keep track of which color is new on these scans fortunately at the end there will be a slideshow to make it much easier to understand finally after all those earthy tones here's one that's easy to recognize in the scan a nice bright green I have been joking about all the background shadow layers because there are so many but honestly the final effect is absolutely gorgeous you [Music] here we add some dark violet for hair and other areas on the scan it didn't show up too well but when you hold an actual print the color is beautiful here's a brief look at sugah son's workspace pigments Bahrein waiting prints completed prints water and brush to keep everything moist she keeps everything close at hand this impression and the next one are too dark Bokashi gradations of the top and bottom these two impressions together add just a bit more depth to the image [Music] you [Music] you this small bluish bouquet she has a very subtle effect but it's an important part of the final image [Music] you these last few impressions are pretty short and quick so I haven't had to do a lot of cutting in order to shorten the video you yes 28 out of 27 this is not a wood block but rather the name embossing for the printer and the Carver it is done using a resin board or joushi bond in Japanese no pigment is used to make the embossing you [Music] Kabam latest so there's no hero heroes she Disney houses our quadratic day don't worry about a desk our morning keno sakushima know there's going my kite I know you tunnel hi good music I see this in it so this man I took an account I know I Wow mr. Scott that the earcup could all see my stuff yeah cheap on Thank You Nina Nina don't know uh nah you don't know me they're annoying Jabbar session as a king it's about pink you're not dr. Utah I know at a Sisyphean or has metadata to some thoughts good coding admitted it's even baked you're not come out of my mouth you got it all at al-azhar cleanin on the airport make your course online you need I know they because I know you know boasted mono auto-delete it open if you're destined to come so what could be your naughty much stuff okay take the you comes there hi music's got this yeah it's hot is named que sube this guy cool guy you I need you not guide yeah how do I need to conquer IQ my are you my son then you know what they're gonna take to you - stuff huh come kind of Ichiban use the Khajiit oh right that a mosquito a party baby - sup - so dance in a karate just thinking yeah poor they know cascade oh I know a curry - Paula - karai - Korra David - sonic or mysterious nakhon Ji Hoon Akio - tight there you go to their core even Oh glioma Nagala curry - Korra could I talk erotic good day my you know yet in our stairs okay good idea renounce their somebody's Ned Kelly I get a ton of their my yo-yo demo in sacking me sty Tomoe Tomoe day a party sorry Musa go kid or a baby or not become a star it's about a Cheeto mind it's got a some of this sky you've got that what I thought is ah gonna go tomorrow eurisk onegai shima hi my thought you know sequani guys you are thank you so much for joining us for this video today I hope you've enjoyed watching sugus on put together this beautiful times burned bright print I know I've learned a lot and had a lot of fun working with sugus on and wrestling our movie editing program to put together this video for you while I'm not part of the production of these prints as a designer or a carver or a printer I still love to be involved at moco Hong Kong and I look forward to bringing more videos to you in the future thanks a lot

Channel: David Bull

Views: 88,056

Keywords: Japanese woodblock, woodblock printmaking, video games, woodblock prints

Id: BV1IcWV4fng

Length: 40min 45sec (2445 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 20 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/Xantaclause]

One of the best channels on youtube. Just shows the work, no fuss, no stupid editing, no pretentiousness. It lets the work speak for itself

[u/sin_tax]

I had the good fortune to be able to visit his shop and meet him. Great guy and a true artisan.

[u/darkenseyreth]

I have the Chibi series from him, I love the quality and seeing the effort that goes into all these never ceases to astound me.