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Ukiyo literally means a gaily spirited world, and ukiyoe are wood-block prints depicting this world. They were priginally produced in the Edo era (from the 17th to the 19th century),and they provide a dramatic insight into the customs, the people and the scenery of that era. The best-known of the ukiyoe artists are probably Utamaro, with his portraits of beautiful women;Hiroshige,whosemost famous work is the Fifty-Three Stages of thee Tokaido; Hokusai,with his Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji ,and Sharaku, famous for his actors portraits. All Ukiyo-e is woodblock-printed by Uchida Art's craftsmen that are skilled professionals deeply committed to the preservation of the traditional craft of painted screen, scroll and woodblock print. This skill has been passed down through many generations and the expert craftsmen have learned their skills through many years of apprenticeship and will pass their skills have become famous throughout the world. With the passion for this art of Kyoto in their fhingertips, many skilled craftsmen create an exclusive and authentic screen, scroll and woodblock print. Even in this age of high technology, the traditional work of Kyoto will be preserved for many generations.
Ukiyo-e prints were made using the following procedure:
- The artist produced a master drawing in ink
- An assistant, called a hikko, would then create a tracing
(hanshita) of the master
- Craftsmen glued the hanshita face-down to a block of wood and cut away the areas where the paper was
white. This left the drawing, in reverse, as a relief print on the block,
but destroyed the hanshita.
- This block was inked and printed, making near-exact copies of the original
drawing.
- A first test copy, called a kyogo-zuri, would be given to the artist
for a final check.
- The prints were in turn glued, face-down, to blocks and those areas of the
design which were to be printed in a particular color were left in relief. Each
of these blocks printed at least one color in the final design.
- The resulting set of woodblocks were inked in different colors and
sequentially impressed onto paper. The final print bore the impressions of each
of the blocks, some printed more than once to obtain just the right depth of
color.
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