COLOR PRINTS


these colors. The result depends entirely
upon the experience of the printer, who
mixes either in color-dishes or upon the
blocks themselves. The printer places his
block upon the table before him, lays on
the required color with a brush, puts a
sheet of paper down upon a plank and
lightly rubs it with the baren, which is a
small, hard shield, consisting of a stiff disc
covered with layers of paper pasted to-
gether and turned up on the edge, and cov-
ered with cotton cloth on the outside.
   A second disc fits into this shallow recep-
tacle and is held in place by a bamboo
sheath drawn tightly over it and twisted
together to form a handle. This rubbing
with the baren is repeated upon a number
of sheets of paper. The printer then takes
up another plank, makes a second impres-
sion upon the sheets bearing the first one,
and this is followed by a third, fourth, etc.,
until the printing   is completed. Rice
paste is sprinkled over the pigment upoh
the block and the brush is also soaked with
this paste to increase the brilliancy of the
colors and to fix them more completely. As
each color requires a separate cut, each
plank must have certain fixed marks, so that
all the sheets may be laid down in exactly
the same position to ensure the fitting of
each color upon the others. The Japanese
printer depends here simply upon his expe-
rience: the registering marks on the block
consisting of a rectangular notch at the
right and a straight mark at the left.
  It is evident that the Japanese printer
must be an accomplished artist to be able
to produce with his brush the various hues
and  shades, precisely  as a water-color
painter does. He can deposit more or less
pigment on the block, according as he


needs a stronger or more delicate tint, and
can also produce gradations on a flat block.
To produce a graduated sky, the Japanese
engraver gives the printer a flat block on
which merely those parts are cut away which
correspond to objects seen against the
sky, such as trees, mountains, houses, etc.,
and which must be kept free from the blue
sky behind them. On this block, the print-
er stamps the gradations needed, and if he
cannot get a satisfactory result with one
printing, he uses the same block twice. A
block may be printed in a fiat tint the first
time and then charged a second time with
another color gradation and printed on
top of the first to produce modulations.
The same block may be printed with differ-
ent colors in different parts. As many as
one hundred and twenty impressions or
printings have been known. In modern
times when the Japanese needs secondary
or tertiary colors, these are printed by
themselves, though in the old prints the
printing of the primaries over one another
to produce the secondaries occurs.
   The wooden blocks naturally soon lose
their keen edge, and in first editions the
printer works under the direct supervision
of the artist, or varies the color composition
to please his own fancy.
   The later editions are printed more care-
 lessly and cheaply. Good specimens of
 the work of the great artists may be yet
 procured, but are growing rarer and in-
 creasing in value every year.
   In the earlier period of Japanese art,
classic standards prevailed, but about the
year 1680 occurred the breaking away
from old traditions. Numerous schools
and styles were established.
   A well-known one of these was headed by
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