Uploaded January 2016 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
This is the second in an ongoing series explaining and illustrating the new collaboration between our Mokuhankan printmaking venture and the old Doi Hanga publishing house.
In this episode, our young printer Ayumi Miyashita gets her first look at the block set from which she will be making a batch of the new/old prints. They are fairly battered and worn, but this is all part of the game for an experienced printer, and she's ready to learn how to handle them.
This is the second in an ongoing series explaining and illustrating the new collaboration between our Mokuhankan printmaking venture and the old Doi Hanga publishing house.
In this episode, our young printer Ayumi Miyashita gets her first look at the block set from which she will be making a batch of the new/old prints. They are fairly battered and worn, but this is all part of the game for an experienced printer, and she's ready to learn how to handle them.



![Any Sufficiently Archaic Technology is Indistinguishable from Magic
In this video, Tokyo-based printmaker Dave Bull shows the entire process of making a batch of woodblock prints from blank paper to finished print - in PPOV style (Printers Point Of View) - with each of the impressions happening in an uncut, unedited, uninterrupted flow, of ten sheets per colour. The viewers can get a very good feeling for the rhythm of the process, and can see just how the pigment/paste balance is controlled along the way.
00:00:00 Daves introduction
00:01:52 Impression #1 : Key block : Black
00:13:15 Impression #2 : Distant lines : Teal
00:17:51 Impression #3 : Bamboo : Light green
00:25:36 Impression #4 : Kimono pattern : Red
00:31:04 Impression #5 : Garden fencing : Brown
00:38:58 Impression #6 : Ground / bamboo : Teal
00:50:45 Impression #7 : Shadow tinting : Purple
00:58:53 Impression #8/9 : Sky gradation : Blue (Each sheet twice)
01:22:09 Impression #10 : Sky gradation : Green
01:29:23 Impression #11 : Worker names / Print title : Embossing
The print used for this demonstration is ‘Takeoff’, which was designed for us by Atelier Sento. It is part of our Dreams of Future Past’ subscription series; information here:
https://mokuhankan.com/subscriptions/...
The block set was carved for us by Taran Casey, and he produced a video on his own YouTube channel showing _that_ process:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIYfuYO1sHY
[ Note: there is no narration included in this video, in an attempt to bring you into the undisturbed world of a printers work. Dave will be watching the comments, so drop your questions there, please. (And maybe scan through the comments first, to see if your question has already been answered) ]
There will undoubtedly be questions about the three bowls. They are, from left to right:
- the pigment for that impression (powder pigment mixed with water)
- paste (a starch paste, mixed in water)
- water (used to help balance when the colour starts to get a bit too deep in the prints)
The Mokuhankan website:
https://mokuhankan.com/index.html
Our Twitch stream (live three times a week):
https://www.twitch.com/japaneseprintm...
The Mokuhankan Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/mokuhankan Any Sufficiently Archaic Technology is Indistinguishable from Magic](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HycBmwVHa6Y/mqdefault.jpg)

![Concert for the Printer
Recorded in the Seseragi Studio, Tokyo workroom of woodlbock printmaker David Bull. Young trainee printer Ms. Teiko Fujii was working at her bench, when she was interrupted by a visitor who perched on the railing, and gave her a three-minute concert of birdsong!
[Note: we dont have an ID on this bird; if you know what it is, please let us know in the comments - thanks!] Concert for the Printer](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/If0SKNWUvoo/mqdefault.jpg)




![Ukiyoe Heroes (13) : Fox Moon - carving the colour blocks
This is the third episode in the collection of videos showing the production of the woodblock print version of Jed Henrys Fox Moon design (from his Ukiyoe Heroes series). This one show how the colour blocks are designed and carved.
[Information on the background of this project, and on how to get the prints, can be found at: http://mokuhankan.com/heroes/index.html ] Ukiyoe Heroes (13) : Fox Moon - carving the colour blocks](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/K7ZIdt8jZhY/mqdefault.jpg)