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Here's the final version of the print I showed you in progress in the past two posts. Wow, was this fast to do! Two days, but I could have easily done it in one long day. It's pretty, I think, and as my friend Andrew said in a comment earlier it's elegant. (Although there are pin holes on the right side from my registration method.) I tried another version using some Masa paper I had around. I found the Masa much less receptive to the pigments than the Echizen Kozo. The surface of Masa is 'harder' and the paper a bit thinner. It slipped around a little and I felt that it didn't absorb the paints as well. I think this method likes a thicker softer paper. So here are the pros and cons for me about white line printing. PROs: - It's a fast process. It's ideal for one-off images and would be great for client work. - Nice emphasis on linework, and much easier to do this kind of linework than black (relief) lines. - Even more low tech than moku hanga since you can print with a spoon or doorknob or other common object. - You print with dry paper, so it's way less fussy than moku hanga, where you have to always be aware of moisture levels. - Room to experiment more since the prints aren't editioned. - One piece of wood instead of many (= cheaper) CONs: - You have to work quickly and/or in small areas or else the paint dries before you can transfer it to the paper. - No editioning, an issue if you like multiples. - The lines are white. I know, duh. But white lines have a certain look — light, airy and sort of happy — that I find disconcerting. It's funny to consider "light, airy and sort of happy" a drawback. "What's wrong with happy?" Lynn asked me when I said that. (Let it be noted that when the Sunday NY Times arrives, Lynn goes directly to the Style Section to look at wedding announcements, while I grab the front page for world news and the Obituaries.) But it's a good question she asks, what's wrong with happy, and this concern about happy certainly says more about me than about white line printmaking. I guess, given that my topics are so often socio-political in nature, I like some gravitas in the look of my prints. I went looking for some white line prints that aren't quite so happy looking and then I remembered Edvard Munch. Munch didn't make white line prints, but he developed a ‘jig-saw’ cut woodcut in which he cut out shapes from a wood block, inked each part separately and then put them back together for printing. As in the Provincetown white line method, Munch's jigsaw method eliminated the need for a complex registration system while permitting the use of multiple colors, and as in the white line method it left a white line around the cut pieces as in the print below. Nobody can say Munch's prints look light and happy. It's quite possible that my issues with the white lines are really just issues about trying a new thing and not being confident yet. Flexibility is not my strongest character trait, so what I know is that I need some time to keep experimenting with the white line method before I make any pronouncements about whether or not I like it. Next on the agenda: a landscape in white line.

Wedding Save the Date Ideas: Hand Painted Engraved Watercolor Burlap Save the Dates by Kristy Rice Momental Designs via Oh So Beautiful Paper

Cressida Campbell (b. 1960), Nasturtiums, 2002. colour woodblock, 58.5 x 60 cm

Spring is upon us so it's time for some colour! Here's a watercolour tutorial showing how I approach painting my favourite British spring flower, Fritillaria meleagris L. Liliaceae. Commonly known as the Snake's Head Fritillary. F. meleagris was once a common sight in British meadows but the intensification of farming after WWII destroyed their habitat, and, when combined with and the practise of picking and selling vast quantities of the flowers in markets - the population was left severely depleted. Today the status of Fritillaria in Britain is Nationally Scarce ( non IUCN data 2007) and the remaining population is largely concentrated in Oxfordshire. I know in my last blog post I said I was going to do leaves... but that's coming up later! Also if leaves are your nemesis, the monocots with their thin strappy leaves, like this Fritillaria, make life a little easier, so that's a good excuse for me to postpone a leaf tutorial! The Subject Fritillarias last a few weeks so you have a good bit of time and each flower lasts a few days. Always consider the longevity of the subject if you are slow at working and take photographs for back up reference. NOTE: Beware of colour and morphological changes due to environmental influences e.g. heat, light, nutrients etc. which can occur when you take a plant indoors or take a cutting. Put it back outdoors at night or in a cool place if it's a cut stem. The Preparation Before putting pencil to paper take time to observe the subject and find the best position by turning it around....take a good look and think it through. I lit the plant from the right hand side using an angle poise lamp ( right handers light from the other side). I used a pot of Frits containing 5 plants, purchased from the garden centre. The Fritillaria is a kind subject, in this one I like the way the two leaves at the top curl around, so this is a good feature for a painting. Look for attractive and curves and shapes and avoid awkward overlaps or foreshortening which make it difficult for the viewer to see what's actually going on. Make a few rough sketches before deciding on the best position. Put them aside for at least an hour before deciding which one is the best.You can do some colour testing in this time. Drawing Once you have decided on the best position start be making an line drawing of your subject as described in previous post on drawing. Keep it very light and never press on so hard that the pencil indents the paper. I use an H or HB pencil. I'm working on Langton Extra Smooth Hot Pressed 140lb paper. Once I have made the initial drawing I use a putty rubber to lighten it so there is as little as possible pencil on the paper but just enough to be able to see the outline. Identify the Colours Identify which colours you are going to use before starting. I usually take a leaf and petal from the plant ( if possible) and lay them on a separate sheets of white paper to isolate them from surrounding colours, which influence your perception of the colour. if you have made colour charts these can be very useful, particularly with green mixes, however I'm lazy and too disorganised!... so I don't bother with colour charts and mix colours on a 'need' basis....I never seem to want to spend time doing charts but if you can they are worth the effort. For the shadows I used a Botanical Grey Mix: There are lots of different mixes for a botanical grey comprising equal parts of blue + red + yellow. I'm using Cobalt blue, Perm Magenta an Winsor Yellow. Petals: There is an underlying brighter red colour for this I used Perylene Maroon +Permanent Magenta. For the darker purple I add Winsor Violet Dioxide and add Neutral Tint for the darker shades. The leaf tip is lemon yellow. Leaves: The leaves have a blue/grey green colour. I used Cerulean Blue + Transparent Yellow with a little Magenta to kill the brightness. The ratio of the colours determines the colour balance. Also check the colour of the newer leaves compared to the older leaves, usually older leaves are more yellow. The Stem: The underlying colour is green with a red/purple/ brown marking. I use the same green mix as the leaves with the red/purple mix on top. I always try to use the same colours throughout to create transition and continuity and always try to use a few colours as possible. The Anthers:Winsor yellow for closed anthers with the green mix on top. Dehisced anthers are more of a Cad yellow. Neutral Tint mix 4:1 ratio of French Ultra to Perm Azil Crimson with a tiny amount of Cad Yellow. mixed to make a black. Painting I always try to work on a painting up as a whole rather than concentrating on any one part. So I lay in all the washes first, I think it makes for a better all round ' balanced' painting For example, it can be tempting to focus on the most visually appealing part of a plant such as the flower and neglect the leaves until last, I don't like to work in this way because I'm left with the parts I either don't fancy doing or find difficult, and this, for me, is how a painting remains in an unfinished state....it's also quite a stressful experience if you make a good job of the flower and leave the tricky bits until last! To start with I lay down a tea wash of the green. A tea wash is simply a very dilute mix of paint with lots water.....like tea! Leave out only the strongest highlights when painting a tea wash. I paint this was very quickly and used a flat W & N 3mm/1/8" One Stroke brush. I like this brush for stems and curved strappy leaves because it can be angled to allow more paint to be deposited on the shaded sides but it also tapers well at leaf tips. The underlying colour of the flower is basically light/white with a heavy chequered pattern on top, so once the first leaf wash is complete I paint in the shadows on the flower using the botanical grey mix. Again this is added quickly and left to dry completely before starting on the first colour wash ( which you can see I have just started in the image below). Also be careful to leave the anthers clear of paint as a sharp edge will be needed around these. You can use masking fluid but I find it more trouble than it's worth. I then apply a second wash of the green mix to the leaves, using a more concentrate green to define the leaf blades and shadows. Remember my light is from the right hand side. I used the same flat brush but a size 3 round brush will also work well When the botanical grey wash on the flower is completely dry I start to add the brighter red mix ( perylene maroon and perm magenta) as a chequered pattern. It doesn't need to be very neat and organised because the colour bleeds into the petals. It you paint it in too regimented a fashion it will look unnatural. I used a Rosemary and Co. size 2 spotter brush but again any size 2 brush will do, the shorter haired miniature brushes work well for this type of pattern because you have more control over them. I also add the same red mix to the stem, which has a reddish brown colour in places. The effect of painting red over green creates this brown colour. I always try to use the same colour in the stem or leaves as that used in the flower, where there is such colouration, this creates continuity in a painting and 'binds' it together. Following the first wash of the red pattern I start to add the purple mix working in the same way but being careful not to completely cover the underlying red. I use a slightly more concentrate mix of paint for this purpose. I also darkened the shadows a little on the petals as I felt they were too light and add a little more detail to the leaves to balance the leaves with the flower. I add the yellow mix to the anthers. Only closed anthers are showing here and the stigma is largely obscured. The anthers dehisce in stages to increase the chances of pollination, and in this flower they open to release pollen 3 at a time, thus extending the period of time available to pollinators. I only show the 3 closed anthers here and the tip of the stigma. Once they are all dehisced the stigma is clearly seen. So always pay particularly close attention to the reproductive parts as they change rapidly I also add a the same yellow in a very dilute mix to the petal tips. I add a little of the green mix to define the anthers down the centre. From here on it's really just a case of building up the colour. Where darker shades are required, such as down the central petal rib I add a small amount of neutral tint, this darkens the colour without changing it, I find that sometimes complementary colours change the colours because we are not dealing with true primaries with the watercolours ( if that makes sense?). I prefer use my own mix of neutral tint rather than a ready prepared one ( see colours above) but it's up to you. Be careful not to overpaint or lose the highlights. Finally I also add a little cobalt blue to the highlights at the top of the flower to brighten them. I probably should have done this earlier but things change as a painting develops and tweaks are required! Finish off by adding some definition by using the dry brush technique define the petal veins, rib and pattern using a size 1 miniature or spotter brush. Dry drush should alsways be applied last and is really just a more concentrate mix of paint applied with a 'damp' rather than wet brush. Mix the paint, load the brush until is swells ony slightly and then dab any excess waster on kitchen paper. If you havenet tried it befor it takes a bit of practise. I'll write more on it later as there are a few variations in the technique. That's about it! it's just the way I do it....it's not the only way.

From album of flowers. No. 12. Laelia. Orchid. Although much of Konan TANIGAMI's profile has been unknown, he produced many excellent flower-plant themed prints before W.W.II. The most of his works were printed in exquisite colors by the publisher Unsodo.

Some artists have favorite subjects that reappear over and over in their work. Think Georgia O'Keefe and flowers, Kuniyoshi (or Foujita) and cats, Brangwyn and bridges (or windmills), etc. For Charles William Bartlett (1860-1940), a seminal image in his work would be the Taj Mahal. Self-Portrait (September 1933) Personal Collection (watercolor) In December 1913, Bartlett and his second wife, Catherine ("Kate"), left England for a trip around the world. By January 1914, the pair was in Kandy, Ceylon and, by February 3rd, they were in Madura, India. Bartlett and his wife would spend more than a year and a half traveling throughout India and Pakistan until the early fall of 1915, when they finally left the subcontinent for Japan. Bartlett filled a number of sketchbooks and generated a sizable number of watercolors documenting various scenes of Madura, Pondicherry, Benares, Allahabad, Jaunpur, Agra, Srinagar, Peshawar, Amritsar, Muttra, Udaipur, and the Dal Lake in Kashmir, among other locales. The Bartletts visited Agra twice, first in March 1914, and again sometime in 1915. Taj-Mahal (1915) Courtesy of the Honolulu Museum of Art (watercolor over graphite) Through Kate Bartlett's friend, the artist Elizabeth Keith, Charles Bartlett was introduced in Tokyo to the young woodblock print publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō, who was looking to expand his fledgling shin hanga print business. (Other authorities state that the introduction came via Friedrich Capelari or through Watanabe's friend Hattori Kibei.) After publishing a dozen prints designed by Capelari and a one-off with Hashiguchi Goyō, Watanabe was still having difficulty convincing Japanese artists to work with his craftsmen. It therefore should not be surprising that Watanabe saw the potential for Bartlett's Indian watercolors to be turned into new prints that would have both artistic merit and commercial appeal to his Western clientele, and he immediately took steps to add Bartlett to his stable of artists. Work seems to have begun in January 1916, and there are records of sales of two print designs as early as mid-February 1916. Sketchbook study for 1st Series. India. portfolio cover (c. late 1915 - early 1916) Photo from a sketchbook now residing at the Honolulu Museum of Art (ink drawing) Cover for the 1st Series. India. portfolio (1916) Courtesy of hanga.com (woodblock print) Bartlett's collaboration with Watanabe began with a series of six India landscape prints which, in addition to being sold individually, were also issued as a group in their own portfolio. There are sales records of portfolios being sold by the end of March 1916, so all the print designs must have been completed and produced by that date. The portfolio cover itself was adorned with its own woodblock print of the Taj Mahal. The printing run of the Indian portfolio prints was supposed to have been limited to 100 impressions, but that probably did not extend to color variants issued outside of the portfolio. (As a point of comparison it is known that 250 copies were initially made of the "Udaipur. 1916, II" (aka "Water Palace, Udaipur") design just a few months later.) However, the extreme rarity of the cover prints for the India series portfolio (as well as those for the subsequent Japan series portfolio issued later that year) suggests that the number of complete portfolios issued was quite small. No doubt a significant number of the portfolio covers were lost as a consequence of the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923 that destroyed Watanabe's shop. The highest numbered portfolio copy I've encountered so far in the literature is number 32. Agra. 1916 (1916) Courtesy of Scholten Japanese Art (woodblock print) Besides the portfolio cover, one of the initial six India Series prints was a Taj Mahal nocturne called "Agra. 1916." The original mat window for the print is inscribed with the following remark based on a comment found in Bartlett's sketchbook: "The domes and minarets of the Taj-Mahal stand out clear in the moonlight. A caravan of camels passes." This print sold very well right out of the gate, as there is a record of 70 additional copies of it and two other designs from the India series being printed in early 1917. Taj Mahal. 1916 (1916) Courtesy of Paramour Fine Arts (woodblock print) By the end of September 1916, Watanabe had published two more Bartlett Taj Mahal designs in a somewhat larger format. One is a dawn view from the north bank of the Yamuna river called "Taj Mahal. 1916". The original mat for this print is inscribed "The Tomb of an Emperor's wife. / The calm of an Indian dawn." Taj Mahal, Early Morning (c. 1914-1915) Personal Collection (watercolor) Taj-Mahal. Agra. 1916. (1916) Courtesy of The Art of Japan (woodblock print) The other is a view from the Paradise Gardens called "Taj-Mahal. Agra. 1916" (although it is sometimes referred to as "Taj-Mahal by Moonlight"). Interestingly, the original watercolor upon which it is based is called "Taj Mahal, Early Morning." Bartlett's sketchbook contains the following poetical description: "Pearl of the Orient sculptured and wrought / Gem finely cut from an Emperor's thought / Casket enshrining a world of fair dreams / Set in the light of the moon's silver beams." This particular print design evidently sold so well that there were no copies left to be included in Watanabe's famous June 1921 exhibition and sale. I think it safe to say that some of Hiroshi Yoshida's later India prints owe a great deal to the success of Bartlett's India prints. Taj-Mahal - Night (1931) by Hiroshi Yoshida Courtesy of The Art of Japan (woodblock print) The Bartletts would spend much of the rest of 1916 traveling through China and Korea before setting sail for Hawaii, arriving in Honolulu in January 1917. The pair liked the climate and the people so much that they repeatedly extended their stay, eventually deciding to take up permanent residence in Manoa. Although the Bartletts would return to Japan and China in 1919 for a brief visit, and spent most of 1921 in Japan, China, and Java, the bulk of Bartlett's remaining woodblock prints were designed in Hawaii and mailed to Watanabe. Watanabe, in turn, would mail him back keyblock prints and trial prints for Bartlett's review and annotation. In the period prior to the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923, Bartlett's prints would include three additional Taj Mahal designs. (Color variants of many of Bartlett's woodblock prints and even some etchings exist, but I'm saving that discussion for another time.) Taj-Mahal from the Desert (c. 1914-1915) Courtesy of Christies.com (pen and watercolor) Taj-Mahal from the Desert (c. 1919) Courtesy of Artelino.com (woodblock print) Taj at Sunset (c. 1914-1915) Personal Collection (watercolor) Taj-Mahal. Sunset. (c. 1919) (woodblock print) Bartlett's sketchbook contains the following comment: "The red sandstone wall with its corner towers throws into relief the pearly quality of this unique memorial." Sketchbook study for "Taj-Mahal. Twilight" (c. 1914-1915) Photo from a sketchbook now residing at the Honolulu Museum of Art (pencil drawing) Taj-Mahal. Twilight (1920) Personal Collection (watercolor) Taj-Mahal. Twilight. (c. 1920) Personal Collection (woodblock print) Interestingly, the above impression of Taj-Mahal, Twilight is the very one that Bartlett used to satisfy the U.S. copyright registration deposit requirement, and it bears a Library of Congress stamp on the back. Bartlett's sketchbook contains the following comment: "The moon is full. The dome and minarets catch the last rays of the setting sun." Gateway to Agra (c. 1923) Courtesy of Robyn Buntin of Honolulu (etching, drypoint hand-colored with watercolor) Starting around 1923, Bartlett would returned to etching, a medium in which he hadn't worked since leaving England a decade earlier. These etchings would provide relief from Bartlett's work on larger canvases, which took longer and longer to complete, particularly as Bartlett's eyesight began to deteriorate. It also provided a quicker way of generating print stock as opposed to the rather slow mail order process with Watanabe. Like his earlier Dutch etchings, most of these later etchings appear to based on Bartlett's paintings. Five of these etchings feature the Taj Mahal and/or architectural structures on its grounds. Taj-Mahal from the East. (c. 1923-1927) Courtesy of Castle Fine Arts (etching, drypoint hand-colored with watercolor) Taj Mahal by Moonlight (1923) Courtesy of the Honolulu Museum of Art (oil on canvas) Taj Mahal, Agra (aka Pearl of the Orient) [large version] (c. 1923-1925) Personal Collection (etching, engraving, drypoint printed in blue ink hand-colored with watercolor) Taj Mahal, Agra (aka Pearl of the Orient) [small version] (c. 1923-1925) Personal Collection (etching) Taj Mahal, Agra (aka Pearl of the Orient) [small version] (c. 1923-1925) (etching, hand-colored with watercolor) Taj Mahal, Agra (1915) Courtesy of the Honolulu Museum of Art (watercolor) Taj Mahal (1927) Personal Collection (etching, drypoint hand-colored with watercolor) Whether accidental or intentional, Bartlett's last completed woodblock print design also featured the Taj Mahal in the distance. In the original impressionistic painting, the Taj Mahal is barely discernible through the morning mist. Bartlett, however, would have revised this work when designing the print, both in size and in composition, and there is a record in Bartlett's papers of having sent such a watercolor to Watanabe in January 1925. (Presumably, this watercolor currently resides in the Watanabe family vault.) For the print, the observation angle through the Golden Pavilion's columns has been greatly simplified and the number of people has been reduced to a lone figure in red gazing at the Taj Mahal on the other side of the riverbank. Taj-Mahal From The Golden Pavilion (c. 1914-1915) Personal Collection (pastel with watercolor) The Taj-Mahal from the Fort. Agra. (c. 1926) Courtesy of hanga.com (woodblock print) While it is tempting to imagine the figure in red as a surrogate for Bartlett himself saying a final goodbye to the Taj Mahal, Bartlett produced one last etching on the subject in 1927 (as shown above), and he would again return to this subject in 1936 for one of his last major oil paintings. Taj Mahal in Moonlight (1936) Personal Collection (oil on canvas) Why did Bartlett return again and again to the Taj Mahal in his work? Behind the semi-poetical inscriptions in his notebooks, Bartlett himself doesn't seem to have left behind any written discussion on the subject. One can only speculate as to the various factors that may have played a part. To a British subject like Bartlett, colonial India, the "jewel in the crown," would certainly been a source of nationalist pride, and there is hardly a more emblematic symbol of India than the Taj Mahal. Nor could Bartlett have been oblivious to the patently commercial nature of the image. Certainly Watanabe recognized this in producing so many of Bartlett's woodblock prints featuring the Taj Mahal. Then there's the obvious parallel between Bartlett, whose first wife died in childbirth, and the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal as a mausoleum to house the tomb of his favorite of three wives, Mumtaz Mahal, who also died in childbirth. Fruit Sellers Under The Banyan Tree, India (1931) Personal Collection (oil on canvas) None of those reasons can be discounted, particularly the latter. (Somewhat understandably, the Taj Mahal was not a particular favorite of Kate Bartlett.) But I think there was a fourth factor as well. The Indian sun brought about a change in Bartlett's painting style. After years spent painting grey-skied Dutch landscapes and somber peasant scenes, Bartlett's India paintings have a new found power and energy as he opens himself up to the possibilities presented by such intense sunlight. He moves from an unromantic, naturalistic style to one that is increasingly impressionistic and romantic. Instead of drab farmers, the natives are depicted in brightly colored robes. The interplay between sun and shadow becomes key both in his paintings and in his prints, as does the changeable nature of light at various times of day. This is true, of course, for almost any of his Indian paintings, not necessarily just those involving the Taj Mahal. However, the reflective nature of the white marble of the walls and dome of the tomb provided Bartlett with a particularly unique subject to capture from various vantage points as the lighting conditions varied. His later oil paintings are rendered in an thick impasto style using mineral pigments that practically shimmer and glow. Bartlett also started to scrape the paint on his canvases to impart a palpable tactility and a three-dimensionality to his subjects. Amritsar (c. 1940) (unfinished at the time of Bartlett's death) Personal Collection (oil on canvas) I leave the readers with two final Bartlett images of the Mormon Temple in Laie, Oahu. This was the first temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints built outside of the continental United States. It was still under construction at the time that the Bartletts arrived in Hawaii, and was not completed under November 1919. As such, it certainly would have been a topic of conversation among the locals at the time, and it quickly became a magnet for tourists. For Bartlett, however, I believe it was more than just another exotic building to paint. It became, in effect, a stand-in for his beloved Taj Mahal, with its tree-lined series of reflective pools, gardens, and a white facade that is illuminated at night. Sketchbook study for Mormon Temple, Laie, Oahu (c. 1919) Photo from a sketchbook now residing at the Honolulu Museum of Art (pencil drawing) Mormon Temple, Laie, Oahu (c. 1919) Personal Collection (watercolor with pastel) Bartlett's ledgers contain the names of several other Taj Mahal paintings and sketches beyond those depicted in this post. Four additional Agra watercolors or drawings reside at the Honolulu Museum of Art, but unfortunately they are not available for viewing on its website. The other owners of the remaining Taj Mahal paintings are not known at this time, at least not to me. Please feel free to contact me if you happen to have images to share of other works by Bartlett that feature the Taj Mahal. If a comment box does not appear below, click on this link instead: http://easternimp.blogspot.com/2015/12/charles-w-bartlett-and-taj-mahal.html

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