Beginnings (part 1)

Another 'ramble' video from woodblock printmaker Dave Bull in Tokyo. This is the first of a two-part set that will cover Dave's early beginnings in woodblock printmaking, and focusses on the first prints he ever bought - a set of four designs based on the old novel 'Genji Monogatari'. They were designed by Okada Yoshio, and published by the Yuyudo Company in Tokyo in the late 1970s.

The images of the prints contained in this video are copyright Mr. Yoshio Okada. (People have been asking about how to obtain the book that I show in this video. The book has no ISBN, so I can't give you a definitive link, but the title in Japanese is 絵草紙 源氏物語 (E-zoshi Genji Monogatari), and it was written by Tanabe Seiko and illustrated by Okada Yoshio. Published by Kadokawa Shoten in 1979.

[Update: the four prints are now available to view in the Mokuhankan Collection here: https://mokuhankan.com/collection/ind...]

Dave's personal website (kind of old-fashioned) is at:
http://woodblock.com/front.html

His newer work with the Mokuhankan venture is at:
https://mokuhankan.com/

The famous Ukiyo-e Heroes prints can be seen here:
https://mokuhankan.com/heroes/

Dave streams many days each week over on Twitch:
  / japaneseprintmaking  

... and there is a Patreon page at:
  / mokuhankan  

Thanks for watching!