I have long been interested in Japanese woodblock printing, maybe from the age of about 13 onwards, so this year I decided to give it a go. I started with something very simple, just 2 blocks, (I've heard that 'proper' ones average about 17 colours!) and I made every mistake possible. I used Toshu washi paper, it stretched and shrunk so quickly as I printed that the registration was off, made worse by my own improvised registration system which I thought would be simpler then carving kento marks. The ink wouldn't stick and then when I used more nori, the ink stuck too much and to places where I didn't want it! This took 2 days to carve and print and was a wholly frustrating experience. To make matters worse I chipped my favourite wood block tool so I have to send it off to get reground. However, I am not giving up so easily. This is definitely something I can see myself working on in the future.. as soon as I find out what I did wrong and how to fix it.
