I finished the batch of boatmen! They are already at Mokuhankan in Tokyo, also available online here: https://mokuhankan.com/catalogue/KP02.php.

Here are my printing notes.

1. Maimeri Blu Primary yellow: boat, lamp and sky bokashi. Block 1.
2. 3-way bokashi on the water (live dangerously!): Primary yellow, Holbein Opera, Holbein Prussian Blue. Used a big shoe brush. Sheds like a dog, but it’s a good way to get a big brush on the cheap. Block 2.
3. Holbein Opera bokashi on the sky, rim of the boat. Block 1.
4. Grumbacher Academy Payne’s Gray, round bokashi on water. Block 3. This one has the water sparkles cut out. Used the big shoe brush again; brush marks visible on most copies.
5. Grumbacher Payne’s gray: sky bokashi. Block 4. This one has the clouds cut out.
6. Grumbacher Payne’s gray on Block 5, which has the boat interior, the shade of the boat, the man, and the hills and their reflection.
7. Windsor Newton Indanthrene Blue: Block 3 (water sparkles)
8. Indanthrene bokashi on Block 4 (sky)
9. GB Payne’s Gray, round bokashi on water. Block 3 (water sparkles). This time I used two brushes rather than the big shoe brush, to try to smooth out the brush marks.
10. GB Payne’s Gray on Block 6. This one has the darkest shadows on the water, the shaded side of the boat with its gear and pilot, and the above-water parts of the hills. I omitted the hills.
11. GB Payne’s Gray roundish bokashi on the sky, block 4. Small hill was omitted.
12. GB Payne’s Gray bokashi on the small hill, block 4.
13. GB Payne’s Gray bokashi on the tall hills and their reflection (block 5)
14. GB Payne’s Gray again on block 6, darker in the corner (omitted hills).

I am hereby appointed the ambassador for Grumbacher Academy Payne’s Gray 🙂

I took only a couple of process shots. The first is after impression 3, and the second is after impression 4.

• 

• 

If I were to carve these blocks again, I would try to think of a way to avoid the hard line at the horizon. It’s not just a matter of merging blocks 1 and 2, because the strong yellow on the rim of the boat and the lamp and its reflection need to be independent of the water blocks. But probably dividing responsibilities among the blocks differently could yield a more harmonious horizon.