All the component parts are finally in place, and the initial group of Share Certificates are leaving the building today ... heading out to countries all over the world.
Regular watchers of our Twitch stream knew this was happening, because they saw the printing happening last Monday:
They didn't see the next step, which was to pass the woodblock-printed sheets over to Camer...
2018-06-14 05:41:30 +0000 UTC View Post
Some of you have perhaps been thinking I would never get to this ... but I have actually been making progress on these rewards. For those of you who don't remember what I'm talking about - the 'reward' for our Patreons who contribute at the 'Share Level' is one of these certificates, which comes after 12 months of participation.
Each certificate is a combination - the text and surrounding decorative borders are done with ink-jet, and the central image is hand-carved and printed woodbl...
2018-05-27 08:07:42 +0000 UTC View Post
This one has been way too long in the making ... I think perhaps many of the Patreons are giving up on me recently! We're hugely busy with a combination of a hugely busy Sakura Season and our ongoing construction of the new shop down on the 1st floor.
But I finally got the editing done on this one, and I think it turned out not-so-bad ... It's a short overview talking about the Japanese melodramatic novels of the late Edo period ... Does that sound boring, or ...
2018-05-10 05:20:53 +0000 UTC View PostWith the upcoming 1st anniversary of our Patreon community now rapidly approaching, I have got to get busy with the next pair of Patreon Chibies!
Watchers of our Twitch streams know that the work has already begun, because they've been watching me live doing the carving!
The key block was recently finishe...
2018-04-08 10:30:36 +0000 UTC View Post
This is certainly later that it should have been ... but it's ready just in time for the shipping of the actual prints ... the third new design in the series to come to life in the past few months.
I've actually got all the 'film' in the can for the next process video, and am just trying to find time to get the editing done. Why the delay on these? It's of course because of the construction work we are doing downstairs ... I'm sure most of you must have heard the news by now, but we're moving ...
2018-03-24 22:03:45 +0000 UTC View Post
Here is the second of the two videos showing how I have been making the Ukiyo-e Heroes books that were promised as part of last year's Kickstarter campaign.
Each of the books contains ten prints - the first ten designs created in the series (from 2012 ~ 2014), and is being bound in the traditional Japanese 和綴じ本 style (sewn with silk thread).
This video shows the binding process in close detail ... Might you like to try making something like this yourself?
2018-02-12 13:50:29 +0000 UTC View Post
This was a project that grew out of the feedback from viewers of our Twitch stream. Quite a few of those viewers have caught the woodblock printmaking bug, and have been making their own experiments. Because they are not all 'original artists' some of them have been using public domain designs, and a popular choice has been an image created back in the early 1900s, of a young woman bathing.
I also found the image attractive, and because it is fairly straightforward technically I thought it wou...
2018-01-13 19:12:50 +0000 UTC View Post
What's this? Didn't our video series about the production of Hokusai's Great Wave print wrap up around two years ago? Well ... no!
We are frequently asked about print editions; about the number of prints we are able to make from any given set of blocks. This video starts to answer that question, showing examples of block wear on a number of different woodblocks we have been using here, including ... our iconic Great Wave edition.
tl;dr? The block ...
2017-12-05 12:47:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Patreon supporters ... thank you very much for your patience! I've just uploaded another in our series of videos where I introduce some prints I find particularly interesting: David's Choice - Episode #5.
In other news ... please stand by for a little bit, because with the assistance of the Patreon funding, we have recently made a breakthrough in one of our most difficult problems - sourcing the mulberry fiber for papermaking. I'll bring you the news once we have it all tied down!
2017-10-23 07:00:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Now that I am spending so much time back at the carving bench, it has become practical to set up a Twitch account for streaming. I've streamed more than 80 hours of printmaking over the past month!
I generally stream twice a day, once in the morning (Tokyo time) and again in the late afternoon; this makes it practical for people in different time zones to have a chance to catch it. But even if you can't, you can watch later, because each stream is archived on the Twitch site for a few weeks. 2017-09-30 07:38:32 +0000 UTC View Post
We completed a new video last night, and it shows (in more than one way) the progressions of the colours building up on a pair of our subscription prints (from the Yokai Faceoff series).
It also introduces another of the young ladies who is working here as a printer - this time it is Natsuki Suga.
Thank you for watching!
Dave
2017-08-29 02:39:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe Patreon Chibies are ready! - at least the initial printing batch is … We've started off with a run of 200 sheets, and they came to my desk for checking yesterday afternoon. They are very nicely done, and I think the backers will be very pleased.
The next step will be to separate the two designs, and pre...
2017-08-24 05:16:37 +0000 UTC View PostThis is all working out so well, I can't believe it! Over the past couple of weeks, we've been training the new staff in the shop, and as I sit here in my 'office/carving area' preparing this post, one of them is out there running a Print Party. Now that we've switched to a 'double staff' system in our shop - with me not having to be out on the floor all-day every-day - other projects are getting their chance.
And top amongst those is of course ... CARVING TIME! I've spent more tim...
2017-08-23 02:33:59 +0000 UTC View Post
This is the third episode in the series showing the production of the prints we will shortly begin sending out to Patreon backers. This one show Dave doing the initial test proofing of the blocks. That turned out fine, so the block set has now been taken over by one of the Mokuhankan printers, and production of the initial batch has begun.
Stay tuned!
2017-08-18 11:36:28 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's the second part of the series showing the process of making the Chibi prints that will be sent out to Patreon supporters later this summer. Thanks again everybody!
2017-08-10 13:33:14 +0000 UTC View Post
It's (past) time to get busy with making the woodblock prints that we will be sending to Patreon backers this summer. Here is the first in what is planned to be a three-part series showing how they are made!
Thank you so much to all the backers for your support so far. We're 'on target', with two new employees now on board and helping in the shop already, and a new administrative manager has been hired to begin this fall. I can't quite believe this is all actually happening! :-)
2017-07-18 14:09:32 +0000 UTC View Post
Another in our series of ‘process videos’ has just been uploaded. This one shows young Ayumi-san stepping through the colours on a classic Hiroshige reproduction. Watch the print come to life colour by colour, and we have a short interview with her too ...
Thanks again to everybody for your support of this work!
2017-06-18 15:12:10 +0000 UTC View Post
This video is a supplement to the one posted yesterday about the "Favourite Flowers of Japan" woodblock book. It shows video and stills of many of the pages of the book. I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for watching!
2017-05-20 15:04:13 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's the next video in the David's Choice series. This episode takes a look at a very interesting woodblock printed book published back in the early 1900s in Japan ... in 'multi-media' technology ... I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for watching!
2017-05-19 13:42:48 +0000 UTC View Post
As a 'celebration' of the wonderful launch of our Patreon page just a week ago, here we are with the next video in the David's Choice series. It features just a single woodblock print ... but what a print!
Thank you for your support of our work, and we hope you enjoy this one!
2017-04-27 15:52:43 +0000 UTC View PostWhat are the Patreon funds going to be used for?
This is going to morph as time goes by. Here’s our plan as things stand right now:
As outlined in this video presentation, our most pressing immediate need is to hire a general manager to take as much of the daily/weekly office work as possible away from Dave, freeing him for actual production (specifically - carving new prints and making new videos...
2017-04-21 12:49:41 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's a short video of Dave doing a recap of our patron levels and the rewards that Patreons will receive.
2017-04-21 11:58:28 +0000 UTC View PostBackers of our work here on Patreon are of course free to end their support at any time, and over time there is a steady stream of people 'coming and going', or changing their reward levels. But some of the rewards we are sending take considerable resources to prepare, so we must ask for a minimum length of participation before receiving them.