2023
Woodblock print on paper
21 x 15cm
Edition of 10
‘So many questions’ explores the very strange event of Alice falling down the hole; but instead of being ABSOLUTELY terrified she has plenty of time to ponder the many questions swirling in her head.
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As I spoke of previously in “An explanation of this new art” I had become frustrated with the traditional Japanese woodblock printing process. I’d really enjoyed designing and making the blocks, but I had so many problems with the printing process. It would take me days to print them and my success rate at best was 50%. So I stopped printing for awhile so I could think about how I could tackle this problem.
A full year after not printing I decided to have another go but this time using the block printing method of a roller and block printing inks. No more damp paper. No more paste or gouache. No more experimentation with different papers. Just a roller, block inks, a limited colour palette and whatever set of 10 papers I had on hand.
So the palette is now CMYG – cyan, magenta, yellow and gray – it’s so much easier to work with. I love the strong colours and reference to the commercial printing process that I’ve worked with my professional life. The ink and roller are much easier to use and I’m able to create a fairly consistent print where you can read the text even if it’s reversed.
Plus, I’ve learnt to have a new perspective thanks to Tash the studio manager at Blender; to not expect commercial quality prints and to not be so hard on myself about expectations. So needless to say, I’m very happy with how these have turned out.