The Nature of Mokuhanga: Modern Japanese Woodblock Printing
with Mary Brodbeck
$100 lab fee | June 28–July 4 | Skill-building
Mokuhanga, or woodprint, is the modern Japanese term for woodblock prints made with traditional Japanese tools and materials, a process that flourished from the 17th through the 19th century. Students in this class will learn the time-honored methods and techniques of Japanese woodblock printmaking in a contemporary way. Focused demonstrations will feature wood carving, kento color registration, watercolor printing, and pressing with a handheld baren. Design prompts may be provided alongside Japanese design, aesthetics, and process books, including Arthur Wesley Dow’s Composition: Understanding Line, Notan and Color and April Vollmer’s Japanese Woodblock Print Workshop. Students will view examples of mokuhanga, including historic process prints and contemporary Japanese pieces. Additionally, the class will screen Mary Brodbeck’s 35-minute documentary, Becoming Made (2014), in which artists Annie Bissett, Yoshisuke Funasaka, Tuula Moilanen, Richard Steiner, April Vollmer, and Karen Kunc share their insights into this process and the nature of creative work. Focusing on the process, students will be assigned to create an edition of 10 prints of their design that incorporates two or more colors. Students are encouraged to bring a preliminary drawing of their desired image, designed to fit within a 7-by-10-inch matrix (9-by-12-inch paper size).
SAIC students: This is a 1.5-credit course; use the course code PRINT 674 001.
Mary Brodbeck (she/her) is an artist, educator, and nature enthusiast who has specialized in mokuhanga (traditional Japanese woodblock printmaking) for over 25 years. Her ethereal, nature-inspired woodblock prints mainly depict scenes from the Great Lakes region. Initially trained in industrial design (BFA, Michigan State University), she began her career in the West Michigan furniture industry. She took her first woodcut class at Ox-Bow in 1990, marking the start of a new direction. She subsequently studied woodblock printmaking in Tokyo on a Japanese government Bunka-Cho Fellowship and earned her MFA in Printmaking from Western Michigan University. Her works are now part of numerous public, corporate, and private collections, including the Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, NJ; the Detroit Institute of Arts, MI; and the Muskegon Museum of Art, MI. Brodbeck has taught mokuhanga workshops across the US, in Canada, and in Japan.