Here are some basics that will help you plan your participation in this project.

 

Stage 1: Preparation of concept images

• Work with a simple drawing tool (analog or digital).
• No colour at this stage. We want to understand your concept - how you intend to fit into the theme.
• You can work in either a vertical or horizontal orientation; keep to around a 3 x 2 ratio.
• In order that the series can reach as wide a general audience as possible, we ask that you refrain from submitting erotic work.

Have you ever designed for a woodblock print before? If not, you will need to learn a bit about the genre. Look at the prints on our website that we have already published: Ukiyo-e Heroes designs ... the Mokuhankan print catalogue ...

An excellent reference is the vast database of Japanese prints stored in the Ukiyo-e.org print database ...

Speaking in general terms, the Japanese woodblock genre for the most part is a 'flat' medium. In the early days of the genre, everything was based on the line - the drawing itself - and colouring came later. So at this stage of the development of your ideas for this project, we are asking that you submit a drawing with no colouring. We need to be able to see and understand your concept in this clean and simple form.

You may enter Stage 1 as many times as you wish, either with different concepts for one of the 8 themes, or for other themes ...

 

Stage 2: Preparation of presentation images

When/if you are approved for Stage 2, we will of course need you to work your image out in more detail, in order for it to be made into a woodblock print. Although we fully expect the eight images to wildly differ in appearance and mood, the series will need to be tied together, and we will do that by producing the prints in a standardized 'framework':

• The paper dimensions of all the prints will be 210 mm x 140 mm, and the image area will be placed in a rectangular outline within this: 192 x 124 (for vertical images), or 122 x 194 (for horizontal images).
• A cartouche will be incorporated, providinf a unifying feel among the eight designs. You will be free to move it to any location you choose within the image area. The cartouche will contain the series name, along with the theme title - all in Japanese kanji lettering.

The prints in the series will need to fit within a standardized framework for carving and printing. We have prepared a template into which you will need to prepare your image details. This is a layered Photoshop file (.psd), and will help you structure your image to fit within our production requirements.

• There are eight image layers in the file for you to use, in addition to other layers containing such things as registration marks, outlines, cartouches, etc.
• Those 8 layers will represent the two faces of each of the four blocks of wood that will be carved to produce the print (you may of course use fewer colours if you wish).
• All layers are pre-set to a Blending Mode of 'Normal'. Do not change this, as it provides the best representation of how colours actually blend when being printed from wood.
• The pigments that will be used to make the actual print are all transparent (with the exception of the black used for the key lines), so no colour layer can have an opacity of 100%. Please don't use anything greater than 80%, and in most cases, the opacity will be somewhat less than that, particularly for colours that should be more of a 'tint'.
• The base layer of the file represents the slightly toned washi paper on which your print will be made, and you should use it. Do you need pink in your image? Then use a red layer with a very low opacity setting. This will leave a pink on the print, and is exactly how we do it in real life. In the method of Japanese woodblock printmaking as traditionally practiced here in Tokyo, we never - as in never - use a white pigment to mix colours. We use the paper.
• A maximum of two of the layers can incorporate a gradation.
• The keyblock (image outlines) will be the top layer; at carving time, the cartouche and outines will be cut onto the same block.

 

Legal Issues

For Stage one submissions:

• It is understood that you will only submit work which is your own design.
• You retain all rights and ownership of the design, but are giving us permission to display it on the internet for the duration of this project.

In the case of the Stage two submissions, where the final choice of design has yet to be made:

• We will pay you a one-time Honorarium for each image at time of receipt of your submission.
• We are not buying any 'rights' at all with this payment; it is simply to help compensate you for your time.

If your design is one of the eight selected for production as woodblock prints, we will ask you to enter into a publishing contract with us. The key points of that contract will be these:

• You must represent to us that this is indeed your original work.
• You grant us a license to use your design for the print.
• You retain rights of ownership in the design.
• The agreement is non-exclusive, and you are free to use/distribute your design in other places (publish your own ink-jet prints, etc.)
• We will publish a woodblock print based on your design in an open (unlimited) edition.
• You will be involved at the time of proofing the initial prints, and your feedback and input will be carefully considered, but final directives to the printers will be provided by Mokuhankan.
• You will of course be fully credited on all materials that reference or reproduce your design.
• You will be paid a royalty of 10% of the retail price for every copy of the print that is sold (calculated and payable monthly).

 

So that's an outline of the project. We hope you find it interesting, and we look forward to receiving many interesting submissions!