Peter Brown

Printmaking - Japanese Woodblock A love of fine craft, an active sketchbook and patience are the requirements of this course, which will introduce the beginner to the beautiful and sensitive tradition of Japanese printmaking. Over the weeks, you will learn and practise the skills of cutting and printing to create your own distinctive images, using key techniques such as mixing pigments with rice paste (nori), moistening the paper and making the unique registration marks (kento) for multicolour designs. In this wonderfully tactile process, the printing is done by hand using a bamboo pad, called a baren, and this as well as the use of water-based colours makes Japanese printmaking a thrillingly simple alternative to Western methods. It is also eco-friendly, involving no harsh chemicals. Image composition, tool sharpening, appreciating the qualities of different Japanese papers (washi) and a historical context will also be covered.
At the onset of the course, each student will be given a set of tools, a baren, some paper and woodblocks. These can be taken home so that cutting and printing may continue outside the class.

Peter Brown gained a post-graduate diploma in illustration from St Martins in 1992. Since then he has worked as a freelance illustrator and printmaker. He is a visiting lecturer in further education and teaches printmaking workshops at Gainsborough's House and the Sidney Nolan Trust. He specialises in wood engraving and Japanese woodblock and has illustrated a weekly wildlife column for the Times newspaper for the past 14 years. Peter exhibits regularly with the Society of Wood Engravers and the Society of Wildlife artists.