9.45am -5pm
£78 Lunch included
Material Charges £17

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

On this busy one day workshop you'll learn the basic processes of this fascinating traditional woodblock print technique and come away with the enthusiasm and skills to continue exploring and developing at home.

In the morning Julie will guide you through creating a simple 3-4 colour ‘seascape’ of waves, sky, clouds  and perhaps a sun or moon.  Each element of the design will then be transferred onto individual colour blocks - iro-ban - ready for carving and then cutting the register - or kentou - to ensure each block prints exactly on top of the previous one.

Using the supplied woodcarving tools you will carve into the wood (it's very soft) and isolate your shapes. If you have weak hands Jullie can help you with this part.  Once you have the outlines and the blocks are ready to use, it's time to prepare your paints, rice starch and paper ready and begin the exciting process of creating your prints.

Julie will then demo the various printing options and you can then print and explore your blocks in whatever way you choose, using a variety of western and Japanese washi papers to see how differently they print.

Your woodblock will be yours to keep and Julie will show you how you can re-carve areas and add extra elements to your design.  She will also demonstrate further techniques to explore at home. Suitable for all abilities, including beginners. Typically this course runs with 6 to 8 students. 

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

Saturday 13 April 2024

Please bring: If you prefer, you're welcome to bring your own simple wave shapes or use Julie's supplied templates. A design comprising of a sky with a sun/moon/ clouds, a horizon and 3-4 layers of waves would allow plenty of scope for experimentation. Please bring standard pencil case stationary along with a small ruler, and some simple sketches or shapes with you to fit a design size of 11 x 16cm.  Material charges are £17 payable directly to the tutor on the day, additional optional purchases of Woodcut tools, baren & paper  £20.60

About 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.