Woodblock Wednesday - trying out papers

Week 1 of the advanced woodblock printing course. First task, print on different papers, keeping the variables as much the same as possible.

The usual Hosho, from sheets and pad -

Plentiful papers of various sorts -

 ... and a lot of single-sheet samples from John Purcell, ranging from 9gsm to 89gsm -

Another factor is the watercolour paint;  Holbein watercolour paints are commonly used in Japan -

First off, I needed a back-to-basics for consistency of nori and pigment -

 ... and tried to be uniform in the amount of each used each time -

 ... with these results (Mission Gold paint, cerulean) -

 Laying out our prints -

I tried some Holbein paints too, crimson lake (not right with cerulean!) and a yellow that got contaminated by blue that was still in the brush -

Consensus was that the "top three" were Shoji Natural, Atsukuchi (both 39 and 57gsm), and Bunkoshi white. Bibtenguyo (12gsm), Inbe, and (for me) Tosa Washi were also good.

Two more weeks of the advanced course are to come; next week I'll talk about the Chinese woodblock printing course I attended in the summer.