The Storm is Coming

Woodcut by Antonio Frasconi. Emigrated from Uruguay, Frasconi is a master graphic and woodcut artist. He's one of my personal faves... I did a previous post (December 2008) with some of his Christmas and winter scenes.
"Coupled with technical virtuosity is a rich, meaningful content. Frasconi has taken the popular art of the woodcut and clothed it in visually exciting color. " (sorry there were only black and white photographs available!) (Jules Heller)

Sabra Field

Fields and Mountains

Dandelion Galaxies

Windows of Light on the Snow

Deer in the Orchard

"The pastoral image... is a model for man to shape his environment with care, to make the natural world more beautiful, more whole. ...The pastoral image poses an answer to the question, 'How are we to live with our planet?' " - Sabra Field

Her prints hang in imposing corporate boardrooms and in rustic New England fishing camps. Her 1991 Vermont Bicentennial commemorative stamp depicting yellow farm fields, a red barn and blue mountains quickly became of the the USPS's best selling issues, with more than 60 million copies purchased. Sabra Field is that rare contemporary artist whose work has found a large falling well outside the traditional realm of collectors and art experts. At her home and studio set in the Vermont countryside, she meticulously carves and hand-inks the wood blocks with which she creates her magical prints, one color at a time. (Tom Slayton)

** From the book, Sabra Field - The Art of Place. by Tom Slayton. University press of New England.

Kento

Kento is Japanese for Registration Marks in Japanese Printmaking or Moku Hanga.

'The genius of the kento system of registration lies in its very simplicity. The position of the kento is fixed in relation to the image on the original drawing/keyblock and faithfully transferred to each block. The principle maintains exactly the size of the margin around the printed area on each block thus guaranteeing accurate registration. ' (Rebecca Salter)

**Taken from the book, Japanese Woodblock Printing by Rebecca Salter, 2001. I highly recommend this book if you're looking for a good reference for woodblock printmaking! You can buy it at McClain's.

A Short Lesson in Japanese Woodcutting Tools...

No. 1 is the Hangito tool, the most useful and important tool in woodblock printmaking. (also called the kiridashi. It is capable of cutting intricate, flowing lines that are at the heart of Japanese printmaking. All the outlines in the print are carved with this knife. No. 3 is the Komasuki tool or round gouge. It has a semi-circular tip used for clearing away wood around the areas carved in outlines using the hangito.

No. 2 is the Aisuki - a flat-bladed chisel. It's used for 'cleaning up' carved areas so they're not so jagged. No. 4 is the Sankakuto - a V-shaped gouge. It's a Western influenced cutting tool and was not originally used by Japanese ukiyo-e carvers. *

top left - made with the sankakuto tool top right- made with the hangito tool

bottom left - made with komasuki tool bottom right - made with aisuki tool

Here's the print of the woodcut above.


The following are some prints by Antonio Frasconi **- a renowned Western printmaker... these are woodblock prints - although I'm not sure if they are printed in the traditional Japanese method.

* from the book, Japanese Woodblock Printmaking by Rebecca Salter

**Images from the book, At Christmas Time by Valerie Worth and Antonio Frasconi.

Night Herons

Otto Eckmann. Night Herons - Three Philosophers, 1896. Color woodcut, printed in watercolor on Japanese vellum, 26.5 x 46 cm.

"With Eckmann, sentimentality in ornament was perhaps extinguished for good. He was, if not its final mainstay, nevertheless the one who lent ornament enough attraction to arouse the desire to preserve it... He always made me think of Chopin. Neither of them troubled themselves with the pure line of construction... His fingers quiver on the line like those of a violinist on the strings." (Henry van de Velde - from Gabriele Fahr-Becker's Art Nouveau).

Woodcut

Print made by a woodblock in which a picture or design has been cut in relief along the grain of the wood. The woodcut is the oldest method of printing, invented in China in the 5th century AD. In the Middle Ages woodcuts became popular in Europe, illustrating early printed books and broadsides.

The German artist Albrecht Durer was an early exponent of the technique. Multicolored woodblock prints were developed in Japan in the mid-18th century. Wood engraving is an allied but finer technique, the cuts being made across the end-grain of a block. The English artist Thomas Bewick is one of the first exponents of wood engraving. (Brockhampton)

All artwork by Mary Azarian

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff

Heads I, 1911.

Self-Portrait, 1916.

(1884-1976) - As an architecture student in Dresden, he made an acquaintance of Heckel, Kirchner and Fritz Bleyl, with whom he founded Die Brucke. He also showed with Der Blaue Reiter and contributed to Die Aktion. On of thee most prolific of the Expressionists, Schmidt-Rottluff made over 300 woodcuts, many revealing his interest in Cubism and African/Oceanic art. 51 of his works were shown by the Nazis in the infamous show of 'Degenerate Art.' (Shane Weller - Dover)

Flock Prints

A rare type of 15th century woodcut in which the block is 'inked' with glue and then printed. While the glue is still wet on the paper the surface is dusted with 'flock' (fluff of minced wool) which adheres to the printed design. The technique was later adapted in the 19th century for the manufacture of 'flocked' wallpapers, notable for their rich, heavy patterning. (Michael Clarke)

Note: Unfortunately, I don't have any flocked examples to show you so I posted an actual woodblock - by me of the 21th century. It has been printed before - hence the black ink stains. Now, just imagine it covered in glue.... about to be printed onto paper. I may have to try this myself!

Mary Azarian Prints

Apple - from the book, A Farmer's Alphabet, 1981 - woodblock print

G from A Farmer's Alphabet by Mary Azarian- woodblock print

"All you need to be happy is a library and a garden" - Cicero

***click on Mary's name below to read more about her!***

**check out my etsy shop for new items and a nice little sale!**

Antonio Frasconi

Argentine-born American printmaker. Born to Italian parents in 1919. He apprenticed with a printer when he was 12 years old, already a lover of art making. He experimented with woodblock printmaking in the 1940s. In 1945, Antonio moved to the USA to study with the art student's league and social research in NYC. By the 1950s he had gained recognition for his printmaking and had become prominent and successful. He has been a teacher in many universities and has done a lot of art work for advertising, Christmas cards and even a postage stamp. He lives and works in Connecticut.

(Images from the book, At Christmas Time 1992, poetry by Valerie Worth and art by Antonio Frasconi. Harper Collins.)

Mary Azarian

Here are a few examples of Mary Azarian's woodblock prints. She is a wonderful and very talented (as well as successful) print maker and I really admire her! Her work has appeared mostly in children's books. She won the Caldecott Medal for her book, Snowflake Bently, written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin. The back flap of this book, which I love, reads: "Mary Azarian is a consummate gardener, an avid reader, and a champion bridge player - and, of course, a skilled and original woodblock artist. She has lived in Vermont for more than 35 years."

She prints her woodblocks on an old Vandercook Press and has devised her own (and as far as I know, secret) way of hand coloring her prints. I believe she uses acrylic paints and watercolors. Mary has a nice website at www.maryazarian.com.