It was important to me that I researched and sourced high quality and authentic tools and materials and the proper terms for and uses of them. This is a gallery of the tools and materials I have sourced and their various functions.
(From left to right)
Hangi-toh – the knife – used to cut the thin outlines of ukiyo-e blocks.
Maru-nomi and komasuki – two U-gouge tools.
Kento-nomi – straight chisel for kento cutting.
Sankaku-toh – V-gouge.
Shina plywood – large piece of wood.
Baltic birch – smaller piece.
Shina wood is used most widely but traditionally cherry wood was used for woodblock carving.
Nori – starch paste – mixed with the ink – used to bind and disperse the pigment colour.
Sumi and other other waterbased inks – Sumi ink is made from pine soot and animal glue.
Hanga bake – two shorter brushes – used for applying the colour mixture to the wooden block.
Mizu bake – longer brush with white bristles – used to apply water and dampen the paper before printing.
Washi paper – translucent Japanese printing paper used in mokuhanga. Made using traditional Japanese fibres such as kobo and gampi as well as other non-tree fibres; bamboo and cotton.
Baren – this type of baren is a modern disk baren – handheld printing disk – has a clear plastic printing surface of small raised dots.
Sources:
Vollmer, April. Japanese Woodblock Print Workshop: A Modern Guide to the Ancient Art of Mokuhanga. Watson-Guptill, 2015.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.