9.45am -5pm
£82 Lunch included
Material Charges £18

Join Julie Evans for an exciting foray into the art of Mokuhanga, an ancient Japanese printing technique  . . 'Catching a Wave'

On this intensive one day workshop you will learn the basic processes of this ancient traditional Japanese technique that uses only watercolours and rice starch, as used by Hokusai  for his 'Great Wave off Kanagawa'  You will come away with the skills you need to continue exploring and developing at home.

In the  morning Julie will guide you through creating a simple 3-5 colour  ‘seascape’  of waves, sky, clouds  and perhaps a sun or moon.  Templates to the correct size of 16x11 cm will be provided for you to use or adapt.  Each element of the design will then be transferred onto the colour blocks - iro-ban ready for carving.  You will learn how to cut the registration kentou that ensure each block prints exactly on top of the previous one.

Using a set of woodcutting tools you will outline each area of the design and carve a gully all around it to isolate it from the surrounding wood.  If you have any injury or arthritis in your fingers, hands or shoulder you may find this part difficult, but Julie can help you with the carving and the shina-plywood  is very soft.

After lunch you will prepare your paints, rice starch and paper ready to begin printing the woodblocks.  Julie will show you how to control the paint and pressure of the baren to create different effects.   After that you will be free to explore your blocks in whatever way you choose.  You will be supplied with a variety of western and Japanese washi papers so that you can see how differently they print.  Julie will also be bringing along some of her professional tools and equipment for you to try.

Your woodblock is yours to take home and Julie will show you how you can re-carve areas and add extra elements to your design.  She will also demonstrate how you can use a floating kentou to create additional and abstract effects which involve a little less carving. Typically this course runs with 8 students. 

Other dates for this course - see the table below to book:

Saturday 4th October 2025

  (Mokuhanga  'Iconic landscapes'  is in Spring 2025  under the separate workshop heading) 

Please bring: Material charges for the one day workshop will be £18 on the day and you will take home the blocks, baren, floating kentou, nori and paper so that you can continue printing at home.
Please bring a pencil case with all the usual items plus a small ruler, a fine permanent marker and a few coloured pencils. A rigid A4 folder will keep your prints safe until you get home.
I will supply artist’s quality watercolour paints, but if you have any favourite tubes of watercolours or gouache please bring them if you wish. Pans of paint are not suitable for this workshop.
If you have no previous experience of this technique you can use my templates for your design which you can adapt and print in any colour palette if you wish.
If you do wish to bring your own design, keep all the elements simplified and uncomplicated. You want lots of surface area on which to paint and time does not allow for carving very fine detail. I have attached some examples that illustrate the type of design that will work well.
Please get in touch with me prior to the workshop if you would like to discuss your design ideas. You will be working with an image size of 11 x 16 cm, and if you can also bring a flipped version if you are using photographs, you may find it helpful.
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Instagram: @julieevans.printmAbout the Artist  Julie is an artist printmaker who began her printmaking career in York studying art & geography, concentrating primarily on etching and aquatint. After graduating she moved to Cumbria before moving back to Lancaster where she runs workshops at Iron Press Printmaking.  She has had a number of joint and solo exhibitions, most recently curating ‘Watersheds’ a family exhibition held at The Storey.  She explores a wide range of techniques and enjoys combining processes to create unusual results.