I had gotten tired of power tools, which probably are necessary if you need to work quickly, but otherwise are to me just a pain. Back when I dabbled, and I do mean dabbled, in fine carpentry, I loved buying using chisels and planes from the 1800s or earlier(always at a very cheap price I should add). But it also entails I think an appreciation for the maker of the tools, especially all the hand tools that are used in mokuhanga, as well as for their history.
#MOKU HANGA TECHNIQUE HOW TO#
You can't do much carving if you don't have sharp tools and know how to use them. I have no problem at all with this type of craftsmanship. In mokuhanga in particular it means that you learn, slowly, how to use the various carving tools, and also how to sharpen them, learning how they differ from most western-style tools. Today I finally realized that craft is learning how to use the tools of your craft. Good tools are a gift to humanity, just like art and nature. There is a great sense of both accomplishment and also something akin to moral grounding in appreciating a good tool and learning how to use it for its intended purpose. The revelation, at least to me if not necessarily the rest of the world, is that craft and technique are different! Though I've never really cared about technique and did not have an artistic education that stressed it I nonetheless have always been appreciative of tools, of any sort, and learning how to appreciate them and use them as they were made to be used.
After thinking about a new blog post that would talk about the 4th International Mokuhanga Conference as well as the craft and technique that is part of mokuhanga I kept coming up with this big caveat: I generally don't like technique in my work or anyone's. I will start printing edition today or tomorrow.
Most of the proofs I made as I developed the moku hanga of the Bobolink at Dixon Meadow Preserve. The bamboo was softened before wrapping using the stone at bottom right. Along with baren that has just been newly wrapped in bamboo sheath. My carving tools for moku hanga, including a newly sharped aisuki chisel.
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