Learning Objectives 

Students will: 

• Research and gather information about Japanese woodblock prints. 
• Discuss the influence of the Japanese print-making process by their characteristic style of flat brilliant colors.
• Observe gradations in value (lightness or darkness of color) employed in Japanese printmaking.
• Recognize how shapes appear flat as if cut from paper and pasted to a wall.
• Discuss that Japanese artists included characters from Kabuki theater, the countryside, flowers, and birds.
• Complete a block print of a character/person, landscape, birds, or flowers.
• Demonstrate positive and negative space by carving away the negative spaces in the designs.
• Produce a print lining up multi-color prints using kagi and hikitsuke marks.

Standards Alignment

National Core Arts StandardsNational Core Arts Standards

Common Core State StandardsCommon Core State Standards

Recommended Student Materials

Videos

• Ukiyo-e Woodblock Printmaking with Keizaburo Matsuzaki

Websites

• Ukiyo-e Timeline
• Hiroshige
• Hiroshige: 12 Works
• 10 facts about Hiroshige
• Katsushika Hokusai
• Kitagawa Utamaro
• Kagi and a Hikitsuke

Additional Materials

• Sketch paper or newsprint
• Tracing paper
• Carbon paper
• Printing or rice paper
• Sharpened pencils
• Woodblock or pine board cut
• Carving tools
• Barren
• Paint or ink
• Clothespins
• String
• Optional: wooden bench hooks

Teacher Background

Teachers should familiarize themselves with the Ukiyo-e Timeline and the process of Ukiyo-e Woodblock Printmaking with Keizaburo Matsuzaki. 

Student Prerequisites 

Students should be familiar with basic art terminology: composition, gradation, flat, brilliant, subject, depth/dimension, etc. Students should have basic background knowledge of Japanese history and culture.

Accessibility Notes

Provide assistive technologies during research and the art-making process. Allow sufficient space for movement around the room.

Engage

1. Have students view and discuss a variety of woodblock prints. Ask students: How are the prints similar? How are they different? Do they remind you of other works of art? Why do you think these prints were created?

2. Explain the history of Japanese woodblock paintings. The first known ukiyo-e (woodblock) paintings emerged in the cities of Kyoto and Osaka in the early 1600s. Ukiyo-e, which means “pictures of the floating world,” was admired by the merchant class. Early paintings were very simple. Artists added sumi (black ink) and colored chalk by hand. Over time, artists began to use more and more color, making the ukiyo-e paintings more complicated to produce. As a result, the woodblock print process emerged as a collaboration of the artist, block cutter, printer, and publisher. Ukiyo-e followed the general migration from the smaller cities to Edo (present-day Tokyo) at its height during the 1800s. The shogunate (ruler) at the time demanded that the daimyo (lords) and their samurai (warriors) spend time in Edo. This caused the entertainment industry to grow in Edo, and the city became a political center as well as a cultural center. The merchant class in the city grew with the influx of people, and many became wealthy—though they were still commoners in the eyes of the nobility.

Two-color and three-color prints emerged during the mid-1800s, and full-blown multicolored prints became the norm soon after. The ukiyo-e print became commercialized during that time, with widespread production. Prints depicting characters from Kabuki plays were used as flyers to advertise performances in the cities and countryside. Other prints depicted beautiful women, birds, flowers, and landscapes.

Build

1. Have students explore the Ukiyo-e Timeline of woodblock prints from the 1600s to the 1800s. 

2. Discuss the genre of Japanese art, ukiyo-e. Point out that over time ukiyo-e became known for its use of flat, brilliant colors, as well as gradation of colors, limited depth (shapes appear flat), and scenes from Kabuki theater, the countryside, flowers, and birds. These are the characteristics students should be looking for as they view ukiyo-e and should incorporate it into their own print. The phrase floating world of the common man refers to the fleeting pleasures depicted and is an art form for the average person.

3. Have students read about ukiyo-e artists. Share the resources, Hiroshige,  Hiroshige: 12 Works, and 10 facts about Hiroshige. Hiroshige Ando was an ukiyo-e artist who created a series of prints called the Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō. The Tōkaidō or “Eastern Sea Route” was the main highway from Tokyo (where the military leadership lived) to Kyoto, where the imperial court was located. Students can also explore the works of Katsushika Hokusai, and Kitagawa Utamaro. 

4. Share the video of Ukiyo-e Woodblock Printmaking with Keizaburo Matsuzaki. Have students observe the woodcut techniques by artist Keizaburo Matsuzaki. Ask students to note the steps taken and techniques used during the process. 

Apply

1. Create a three-color block print. Students may use a linoleum block or pine board cut to size. Prior to each step below, the instructor should provide verbal instructions, a visual aid or briefly model the step for students.

2. Have students develop sketches for ukiyo-e three-color prints. Sketches should include a character, landscape, flower, or bird such as those found in the prints they observed. Using pencils and newsprint, students should create five different 2” x 2” thumbnail sketches showing a variety of ways to depict the idea. Then, they should choose one thumbnail sketch for their final print and enlarge it on 12” x 12” tracing paper.

3. Have students transfer designs to blocks. Students should place sheets of carbon paper on the blocks, then place tracing paper on top of the carbon paper, image side down. Explain that the picture must be carved in reverse in order to print correctly. Demonstrate how the image will be reversed when printed. When students have arranged the tracing paper correctly, they should trace the images with very sharp pencils, to transfer the images to the blocks. Students will carve three blocks: one for each color.

4. Have students identify the areas to be printed with each color. Each of the color blocks must have a Kagi and Hikitsuke guide mark so that the colors register in the same place for each print. This ensures that the paper is placed on the block in the same place each time. Remind students that they will carve the negative space in the sketch and that they should only carve the area that needs to be inked for that block’s color.

5. Review safe carving instructions and allow students to begin carving. Instruct students to make all cuts away from themselves and caution them to always keep the hand holding the block away from the path of the carving tool. (Wooden bench hooks may be used to brace the block during the carving.)

6. Have students check the design. Once all three blocks are carved, students can get rough previews of the final image by placing pieces of newsprint on the carvings and rubbing over the surfaces with the sides of a pencil.

7. Have students apply the first color. Squeeze a small amount of ink from the tube onto an ink slab. Roll the ink with a brayer until it is spread thoroughly over the ink slab. Use water to obtain the right consistency. It should be a little sticky, making a crackling noise when you roll your brayer over the ink. Apply the brayer to the carved block until it is completely and evenly covered.

8. Prepare six sheets of printing or rice paper for the print series. Number the papers with the number of the print and the total number of prints in the series (1/6, 2/6, etc.) When inking each paper, they will work in this order for each color, completing print 1 of 6, then 2 of 6, etc. If students complete practice pieces they should label them as artist proof, rather than number them.

9. Line up the printing or rice paper on the block using the registration guide markers. Carefully place a sheet of rice paper by lining up the kagi and the hikitsuke registration guide markers with the side of the paper. Use the baren to rub firmly from the back with a circular motion. Print six sheets with the first color. Re-ink the block between each printing.

10. Hang prints to dry. String a clothesline across the room and use clip clothespins to hang the prints. Hanging them in order along with placing the number on them makes for easier tracking. Allow prints to dry overnight.

11. Apply second and third colors. Ink the second color block and line up the paper with the guide markers. Continue this process for the third color, allowing a day of drying between each additional color.

Reflect 

1. Display the woodblock prints around the room or create a gallery. Have students analyze and critique each other’s work. Have students consider the following questions: What are the characteristics of ukiyo-e style prints? What elements were you able to include? How did shapes appear in the print? How was color utilized? Why was this method of reproduction necessary to reproduce posters that advertised the Kabuki plays?

2. Assess students’ knowledge of ukiyo-e woodblock prints. Students should be able to demonstrate proficiency in the techniques used during the printmaking process, as well as historical and cultural background about the prints.

Extend 

1. Have students explore artists inspired by Japanese woodblock prints. In the late 1800s and first half of the 1900s, European artists were highly influenced by Japanese woodblock prints. Their paintings and prints show Japanese-inspired colors, shapes, and subject matter. Artists who created works expressing Japanese print characteristics include Vincent van Gogh, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Mary Cassatt, and Claude Monet. 

2. Research and gather how artists were influenced by ukiyo-e by choosing a Western artist and at least one work that demonstrates this influence. Students should point to specific attributes of Japanese ukiyo-e in the work chosen.