karacho’s karakami woodblock-printed paper

karacho’s karakami - japanese woodblock-printed paper ................................................................................................................................................................................

karacho’s karakami
the production process of karakami

what you don’t see in this illustrated article: gu-hiki
or the pocess of preparing the pigments:
the use of colors is limited as most of the karakami patterns
do not print well with too many color overlays. the limit is
usually three colors, including the original color of the paper.
the basic colors are vermillion, blue, yellow, black and gofun
white, - made from ground mother-of-perl. the pigments are
mixed with mica dust and an adhesive to create a paint.
natural pigments are used as much as possible. they are the
most compatible with washi handmade paper. natural colors
help to create subtle nuances of shadow and light, when the
karakami paper is exposed to candle light and sunlight.

the mica dust and gofun have also more pratical applications
as they help to make the paper fire-resistant and are able
to cut down the humidity in a room by absorbing excess
moisture in the air.

from this point - the karakami making is illustrated in pictures.
enjoy!

page 3

karakami inside ‘katsura rikyu’,
the katsura imperial villa

page 1

karacho's karakami

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this is an example of a design-aerobics lesson
from the 'paper' course - part of our 'materials cycle'.
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the process of karakami involves: carved woodblocks, washi handmade japanese paper,
paints, sieves, brush...

every artisan has their own brush

for long ‘fusama’ sheets karacho staff member koh kado is measuring the size of the pattern

his collegue helps him for the precise placement of the woodblock

the paint is brushed onto a fine mesh sieve covered with gauze ...

... and applied on the woodblock pattern.

the sieve should be kept perfectly parallel to the pattern, in order not to apply too much
color in certain parts and not enough in others.

the first upper part is printed.

during our visit to the karacho wokshop, we were able to explore our manual skills.
we tried our ability on a small sheet of paper. as first step birgit (designboom) gently
presses the paint-coated sieve onto the carved woodblock.

the right corner of a sheet is carefully aligned with the right corner of the block.

just a little paint on the block pattern is what’s needed

the paper is then pressed down with a gentle sweep of the hands (for a few seconds only)
and then carefully peeled away.

cleaning of the woodblock

with a sponge

with a toothbrush

printed sheets of paper are hung to dry



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