The Blues

I've added two more layers of blue and, because I have some other elements I want to layer on top of this, I think this blue is rich enough. I'm pleasantly surprised to see that the underprinting shows through. Doing many impressions with a single block is challenging because no matter how careful I am, the paper inevitably begins to stretch and deform. This is particularly true when part of the image area remains white as it does here. The baren pressure flattens the paper fibers on all the printed area while the white unprinted paper remains fluffy and thick. This causes some buckling to happen. The other issue with many overprints is keeping the paper evenly moist throughout the print run. Each pass adds a lot of moisture to the print, so I've been drying the paper completely and re-wetting it after every one or two passes. Moku hanga is teaching me patience. That's a lesson I've needed.