Tag: sosaku hanga

POSTCARD-Fifth Series

Art August 12, 2017

Continuing the profile of my art postcards here are some more recent examples from this year on various themes. These cards are hand-printed, created from a combination of drawing and printmaking in low print run editions. Once I finished a session it meant the end of that particular batch. I would not repeat the design or reprint it. Cards in an edition are all original prints, similar in design but are mono prints in as there are no exact duplicates. They fall within the standard postcard size dimensions of 10cm x 15cm or a near approximate. More information about this project is contained on the four previous POSTCARD posts (see the links below at the bottom of this post).

My previous POSTCARD posts form part of my graphic based material that includes painting, printmaking, cartooning and scrapbooking: THE GRAFIK GUITAR BOOKBINDING THE GRAFIK GUITAR CARTOON MORE CARTOONS RESEARCH CARTOONS UNIVERSITY CARTOONS POSTCARD POSTCARD-Second Series POSTCARD-Third Series POSTCARD-Fourth Series POSTCARD-Fifth Series PRINT Fish Two SCRAPBOOK SCRAPBOOK-More Pages SCRAPBOOK-A Few Pages More plus the posts on production of my artist book/comic BLOTTING PAPER: Issue #1: No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13 Issue #2: No.14 No.15 No.16 No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20 No.21 No.22 No.23 No.24 No.25 No.26 No.27 No.28 No.29 Issue #3: No.30 No.31 No.32 No.33 No.34 No.35 No.36 Issue #4: No.37 No.38 No.39 No.40 No.41 No.42 No.43 No.44 Issue #5: No.45 No.46 No.47 No.48

POSTCARD-Fourth Series

Art, Comics February 27, 2017

Continuing the profile of my art postcards here are some early ones from the years 2007-2009 on the theme of The Seasons. These cards were hand-printed, created from a combination of drawing and printmaking in low print run editions. Once I finished a session it was the end of that particular batch and I would not repeat the design. Cards in an edition are all original prints, but monoprints, i.e. the cards look similar in design and form a series but with no exact duplicates, but variations, thus the label of monoprints. The cards fall within the standard postcard size dimensions of 10cm x 15cm. The orange print marks visible on some cards come courtesy of Australia Post. More information about this project is contained on the three previous POSTCARD posts (see the links below).

A postcard from my Seasons series-© 2008 Michael Hill

A postcard from my Seasons series-© 2007 Michael Hill

A postcard from my Seasons series-© 2009 Michael Hill

UPDATE 7 MAR 2017: A gallery postcard pinup of some cards from the Seasons series.

Posts of my graphic based material include: THE GRAFIK GUITAR BOOKBINDING THE GRAFIK GUITAR CARTOON MORE CARTOONS RESEARCH CARTOONS UNIVERSITY CARTOONS POSTCARD POSTCARD-Second Series POSTCARD-Third Series POSTCARD-Fourth Series POSTCARD-Fifth Series PRINT Fish Tai PRINT Fish Two SCRAPBOOK SCRAPBOOK-More Pages SCRAPBOOK-A Few Pages More and the posts on production of my artist book/comic BLOTTING PAPER: Issue #1: No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13 Issue #2: No.14 No.15 No.16 No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20 No.21 No.22 No.23 No.24 No.25 No.26 No.27 No.28 No.29 Issue #3: No.30 No.31 No.32 No.33 No.34 No.35 No.36 Issue #4: No.37 No.38 No.39 No.40 No.41 No.42 No.43 No.44 Issue #5: No.45 No.46 No.47 No.48

PRINT Fish Tai

Art, Film, Japanning July 23, 2016

This series of posts will profile a collection of prints I have made over the years, beginning with some of my early efforts, a series of fish. Using the woodblock printmaking method with variations in inking to make monoprints, the prints made could be used in animation. Seven species of fish were featured, the first of which, featured here, was the Japanese Tai or sea bream. I was very attracted to the idea of working in either animation or printmaking at the time but found it difficult to choose between the two. I found the answer in combining both mediums. Animation’s enormous greed for artwork could be more speedily satiated by using the print medium. I was doubly happy but have since settled on making comics which falls in the space somewhere in-between the other two.

Shooting the 1990 animation Toxic Fish on the Oxberry animation rostrum camera with artwork produced from woodblock printmaking.

Posts of my graphic based material include: THE GRAFIK GUITAR BOOKBINDING THE GRAFIK GUITAR CARTOON MORE CARTOONS RESEARCH CARTOONS UNIVERSITY CARTOONS POSTCARD POSTCARD-Second Series POSTCARD-Fourth Series PRINT Fish Tai PRINT Fish Two PRINT Fish Three SCRAPBOOK SCRAPBOOK-More Pages SCRAPBOOK-A Few Pages More and the posts on my artist book/comic BLOTTING PAPER: Issue #1: No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13 Issue #2: No.14 No.15 No.16 No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20 No.21 No.22 No.23 No.24 No.25 No.26 No.27 No.28 No.29 Issue #3: No.30 No.31 No.32 No.33 No.34 No.35 No.36 Issue #4: No.37 No.38 No.39 No.40 No.41 No.42 No.43 No.44 Issue #5: No.45 No.46 No.47 No.48

POSTCARD-Second Series

Art April 26, 2016

This post continues the profile of my artistic activity of producing handmade art postcards. As previously stated, these works were created from a combination of drawing and printmaking in small editions of 10 to 50. Each of the cards is an original print, or monoprint, similar in design but with no exact duplicate, for example the three prints from the Landscape No. 2 edition, below, whilst carrying the same title, number and technique, all bear minor visual differences. Whereas my first postcard post was from the Abstract series in this post the postcards are from the subsequent Landscape series, some of which may abstract elements. With few exceptions these cards fall within the postcard size dimensions of 10cm x 15cm.

In both the above set and the postcard that follows I used a restricted palette in comparison to the Landscape No.3 and No.4 cards that follow in this post. There is a combination of textures present from watery and weedy to grassy and sandy surfaces.

UPDATE 6 MAR 2017: Here are a couple of photos of my assorted art postcards bundled up in a box for carting and then spread out on a table in an art gallery for sale.

Art postcards sorted and stacked for cartage to gallery.

Those cards spread across a table in the gallery for sale.

THE GRAFIK GUITAR

Art, Japanning March 27, 2016

My artist book The Grafik Guitar consists of 38 monoprints on the theme of the deconstruction of elements of the acoustic guitar, namely the machine head, tuning pegs, fretboard, strings and sound hole. The separate elements were carved in lino or wood then overlaid in various combinations and intensities to form composite monoprints. The Japanese creative print method (sosaku hanga) was adopted as part of the approach to this project using Japanese knives and chisels. The blocks were printed on Chinese paper with water colour ink, sumi and additional hand colouring.

A design application of the work was made in the form of a poster, program cover and published conference proceedings cover for an international popular music studies conference in Sydney, IASPM 1999.

For further development of this work see: BOOKBINDING THE GRAFIK GUITAR

Other posts of my graphic based material include: CARTOON MORE CARTOONS RESEARCH CARTOONS UNIVERSITY CARTOONS POSTCARD POSTCARD-Second Series POSTCARD-Third Series POSTCARD-Fourth Series PRINT Fish Tai PRINT Fish Two SCRAPBOOK SCRAPBOOK-More Pages SCRAPBOOK-A Few Pages More and the posts on production of my artist book/comic BLOTTING PAPER: Issue #1: No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13 Issue #2: No.14 No.15 No.16 No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20 No.21 No.22 No.23 No.24 No.25 No.26 No.27 No.28 No.29 Issue #3: No.30 No.31 No.32 No.33 No.34 No.35 No.36 Issue #4: No.37 No.38 No.39 No.40 No.41 No.42 No.43 No.44 Issue #5: No.45 No.46 No.47 No.48

POSTCARD

Art, Comics, Germania, Japanning August 5, 2015

This post begins a profile of another artistic activity that I have been active in for a few years now, that being the design and printing of limited run art postcards. These are some of the early cards. More will be added in subsequent posts to this one e.g POSTCARD 2, 3 etcetera. I hand-printed these postcards that were created from a combination of drawing and printmaking. I would make odd numbered editions of say 8, 19 or 33. A print run greater than 50 was rare. The total would be determined by the amount of blank cards I had available at the time of production. Once I finished a session that meant the end of that particular batch as I would not repeat the design. Cards in an edition are all original prints, or monoprints, so-called by being similar in design but with no exact duplicates.

First postcard in my Abstract series-© 2006 Michael Hill

The following three postcards show variations produced in one edition: (1) the overlaid pink patch is in a different position on each card and its shape and strength of colour vary; (2) the dragon stamp(the small curvy line) is in almost the same position on two cards but not the third and its legs seem absent in two impressions; (3) the large black and yellow mass varies in colour and texture from card to card; (4) the Post Office marking is at the top, bottom or missing; (5) my MH signature seal, whilst generally in the same position, is actually upside down on two of the cards…a creative accident!

A postcard from my Abstract No.2 series-© 2006 Michael Hill

Another postcard from my Abstract No.2 series-© 2006 Michael Hill

A third postcard from my Abstract No.2 series-© 2006 Michael Hill

Reverse side of postcard from Abstract No.2 series-© 2006 Michael Hill

A postcard from my Abstract No.3 series-© 2006 Michael Hill

A postcard from my Abstract No.4 series-© 2006 Michael Hill

A postcard from my Abstract No.5 series-© 2006 Michael Hill

Beer drinking, on most occasions a bottle of stout, marked the end of an edition to celebrate completion. This was usually late in the afternoon as I never seemed to print in the mornings. After a few years I supplemented this hand-made approach with digital printing, making copies from the scanned original. But then I eventually abandoned that and returned to the hand-made process.

UPDATE: 12 OCTOBER 2015: A selection of these art postcards have been displayed in exhibitions over the past few years, the first in 2007 titled Abstract Nos. 1-11 at the DAB LAB Gallery in the courtyard of the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building of the University of Technology, Sydney.

Pop-Up Postcard Exhibition: Abstract Nos.1-11, DAB LAB Gallery, UTS, 2007

Pop-Up Postcard Exhibition by Dr. Michael Hill: Abstract Nos.1-11, DAB LAB Gallery, UTS, 2007

Detail: Pop-Up Postcard Exhibition: Abstract Nos.1-11, DAB LAB Gallery, UTS, 2007

Detail: Pop-Up Postcard Exhibition by Dr. Michael Hill: Abstract Nos.1-11, DAB LAB Gallery, UTS, 2007

Exhibition flyer designed by Michael Hill

Exhibition flyer designed by Dr. Michael Hill

Reverse of ABSTRACT exhibition flyer.

UPDATE: 6 NOVEMBER 2015: At Hondarake Full of Books in 2012 the launch of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper was accompanied by a mini exhibition of 33 0f my art postcards from the Abstract, Landscape and Seasons series.

An exhibition of postcards accompanying the launch of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper at Hondarake Bookshop, February 2012 (Photo by Louise Graber)

An exhibition of handmade art postcards accompanying the launch of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper at Hondarake Bookshop, February 2012 (Photo by Louise Graber)

Fukushima Kids 2013 Auction, Japan: 10 postcards, made in small sets of 5-30, each print a monoprint, different and unique. Reverse side is signed and dated plus has artist’s stamp. Cards can be kept or mailed. These postcards were made on machine made cardboard following the Japanese sosaku hanga method of printmaking.

BOOKBINDING THE GRAFIK GUITAR

Art, Comics, Japanning November 13, 2013

My hand-made artist book, The Grafik Guitar, has recently undergone a wonderful transformation by virtue of being creatively bound and covered by Imogen Yang. The result: it’s art!

The Grafik Guitar artist book, front cover-bookbinding design by Imogen Yang. (Photo-© 2013 Michael Hill).

The Grafik Guitar artist book, endpapers. (Photo-© 2013 Michael Hill).

The book consists of 38 prints on the theme of the deconstruction of elements of the guitar. The images were carved in lino and wood following the Japanese creative print (sosaku hanga) approach using Japanese knives, gouges and chisels and printed on Chinese 2 ply paper with Dr. Ph. Martin’s water colour ink and some sumi.

The Grafik Guitar artist book, pages. (Photo-© 2013 Michael Hill).

Imogen emboss-printed the guitar strings block onto a strip of kangaroo skin for the front cover and had me add my signature chop. Her use of 6 thick binding strings to the front and back cover boards echoes the guitar’s 6 strings and I can’t explain the stitching pattern she has employed to bind the pages together. As an iteration of the cover design she has used my separate guitar strings prints for the endpapers. Wow!

The Grafik Guitar artist book, cover and stitching, bookbinding design by Imogen Yang. (Photo-© 2013 Michael Hill).

The book is currently on display at the Art Gallery of NSW in the 16th annual exhibition of the Australian Bookbinders. The exhibition runs from 7th November to 14th December in the Research library and archive.

The Grafik Guitar artist book on display in the Art Gallery of NSW.

Posts of my graphic based material include: THE GRAFIK GUITAR BOOKBINDING THE GRAFIK GUITAR CARTOON MORE CARTOONS RESEARCH CARTOONS UNIVERSITY CARTOONS POSTCARD POSTCARD-Second Series POSTCARD-Third Series POSTCARD-Fourth Series PRINT Fish Tai PRINT Fish Two SCRAPBOOK SCRAPBOOK-More Pages SCRAPBOOK-A Few Pages More and the posts on production of my artist book/comic BLOTTING PAPER: Issue #1: No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13 Issue #2: No.14 No.15 No.16 No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20 No.21 No.22 No.23 No.24 No.25 No.26 No.27 No.28 No.29 Issue #3: No.30 No.31 No.32 No.33 No.34 No.35 No.36 Issue #4: No.37 No.38 No.39 No.40 No.41 No.42 No.43 No.44 Issue #5: No.45 No.46 No.47 No.48

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.23

Art, Blotting Paper, Comics May 19, 2013

The inky black lake scene (Monoprint-© 2011 Michael Hill)

A deliberate ‘blotting’ effect was obtained from pressing a saturated inked block onto highly absorbent paper for a scene from the second issue. After the printing, the paper had to be peeled from the block quite carefully to avoid tearing due to the combination of the wet inked areas and the paper’s very soft and fibrous tissue texture.

Proposed cover or insert (Monoprint-© 2011 Michael Hill)

This unused print, above, from the first issue remains a possible inclusion as a cover or insert in the second issue.

Fish tail print (Monoprint-© 2011 Michael Hill)

Tails and fins of a cooked fish were inked and printed for some images used in Chapter 1. This approach was inspired by the Japanese sosaku hanga printmaking method in which inkable flat objects were employed as ‘blocks’ as an alternative to woodblocks. The resultant graphic effect is shown in the print above and photos of the image-making process involved in making that print, below.

Printing the fish tails (Monoprint-© 2008 Michael Hill)

Printing the fish tails (Photos by Louise Graberl)

Proposed back cover print (Monoprint-© 2010 Michael Hill)

Another unused print, above, from the first issue is a possible inclusion as a postcard insert in the second issue. It was constructed from a combination of woodblock and object printing. For a visual diary record and time-line overview of this project, see all of the BLOTTING PAPER production reports. Issue #1: No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13 Issue #2: No.14 No.15 No.16 No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20 No.21 No.22 No.23 No.24 No.25 No.26 No.27 No.28 No.29

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.20

Art, Blotting Paper, Comics, Japanning January 29, 2013

Continuing the series of regular reports documenting the production process of the first and second issues of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics, Chapter 1: The Ingurgitator and Chapter 2: A Blot On His Escutcheon, this post shows some of the art tools and the workspace utilised in the production of two-dimensional print images. In terms of image-making techniques, printmaking is suitable for generating both single and sequential images.

A bowl of sumi ink, a brush and a bamboo baren. (Photo by Michael Hill)

Following the Japanese creative print approach the use of sumi ink enabled me to obtain solid blacks in some of the images. The ink was brushed onto the block or substrate surface carrying the ink. The paper was placed onto this and rubbed down on the reverse side with a bamboo baren.

Bench hook, roller, rag and bucket on studio bench. (Photo by Michael Hill)

Materials used included water based ink and paint, rags and cloths for smearing, cleaning and wiping the ink, and a plentiful supply of running water for washing the blocks and brushes as well as my hands.

Water, cloths, sink and lino block. (Photo by Michael Hill)

Despite the implied reference to woodblocks in Japanese print techniques, it need not always involve woodblock printmaking. The wood may be replaced by alternative materials such as vegetables, fruit, leaves, string, rubber or other found objects that are sufficiently flat or pliable to be inked and pressed onto paper. The creative print (sosaku hanga) approach places the emphasis on the act of making the print. Oh joy!

Printmaking attire. (Photo by Michael Hill)

For a visual diary record and time-line overview of this project, see all of the BLOTTING PAPER production reports. Issue #1: No.1 No.2 No.3 No.4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10 No.11 No.12 No.13 Issue #2: No.14 No.15 No.16 No.17 No.18 No.19 No.20 No.21 No.22 No.23 No.24 No.25 No.26 No.27 No.28 No.29

BLOTTING PAPER The Comic: Production Report No.15

Art, Blotting Paper, Comics, Japanning July 29, 2012

I mentioned in my previous post that I have been drawing bones. In Chapter 1 of the artist book/comic I used fish bones as an image and as a printmaking substrate for the sosaku hanga technique on the AFTER DINNER PRINT pages. In Chapter 2 there will be drawings of human bones of the hand and foot. I have had the opportunity to study some broken bones incurred in falls from bicycles. Perhaps there will be more about this in the next report but speaking of cyclists I also make reference to the Bookseller of Glee character who was scheduled to appear in the first issue but ended up being edited out (see production report No. 6).

This bookseller rides a penny farthing type of bicycle and will play a part in this issue. I had my portrait of this gentleman in the Glebe Sesquicentenary Art Exhibition(see below) and then it was a finalist in the 2010 Bald Archy Prize: The Bookseller of Glee (mixed media-drawing, painting and collage on paper): It is a postmodern portrait of Roger Mackell, co-owner of Gleebooks (4 time Australian Bookseller of the Year), as a generous character gleefully disseminating books and promoting the joy of reading. The portrait caricatures the proprietor and his store’s contribution to the intellectual life of Glee Village, its nearby universities and community by virtue of its main street constructed from the writings of French literary critics and philosophers whose work the store made available in the 1980s. The populace is collaged from pages of Shakespeare, Dickens and Australian fiction.

The artist and his bookseller subject on display. (Photo by Louise Graber)

More bones (pen and ink drawing-© 2012 Michael Hill)