Mokuhanga - Japanese woodblock printing - requires simple but specialist tools and materials. You can find a brief summary (with links to product pages in the UStP shop) below…

Paper

Mokuhanga printing needs sized paper. Many Mokuhanga artists size their own washi according to their personal needs - in terms of their process, the kinds of prints they are making, climate and seasonal changes in humidity and temperature.

When you are starting out, it can be very difficult to find sized washi papers in Australia. And the websites of some Japanese washi paper suppliers are in Japanese or possibly reluctant to post to Australia. To avoid incurring a huge paper bill from overseas, UStP stocks these sized papers to get you started:

• Pansion mokuhanga paper 63x97cm, ~64gsm, warm natural colour. Machine made, high Kozo content. Internally sized. This is the paper used in UStP mokuhanga workshops - a good quality beginners mokuhanga paper. Feel - soft, light, thick, easy to handle. Printing - takes a fine impression, holds colour well. May need to be torn down prior to posting (to keep postage to a minimum) as the sheet sizes are so big. Available as single sheets $7/sheet. In stock.

• Wettable cartridge paper for proofing, A3, 130gsm & 200gsm, bright white. Stronger than usual cartridge. Internally sized. (Suitable as is as a proofing paper for Mokuhanga, western relief printing and cardboard drypoint etching.) $__/100 sheets of 130gsm & $42/100 sheets of 200gsm. In stock.

• Click to order either of these papers from the UStP shop.

• Alternatively you could purchase unsized washi (click here) and size it yourself. For user-friendly instructions, please refer to pages 58-59 and 88-89 of Laura Boswell’s book Making Japanese Woodblock Prints.

Carving tools

• For good quality, affordable tool sets, click to order from the UStP shop.

• To help with the regular honing of carving tools, start by using the Flexcut slip-strop from Carba-tec.

• Click here for an excellent demo of tool sharpening, using both homemade and purchased equipment. (Western woodcut, lino or mokuhanga; the principles of sharpening are the same.) Woodcut printmaker Rod Nelson hones his tools every ¼-½ hour with polishing cream on leather glued to a block - the equivalent of us using polishing compound on a scrap of MDF in class every 15 minutes or so :)

Quality Japanese shina plywood

• Much of the plywood available in Australian art shops is 3mm thick and constructed from balsa wood faced on either side with a thin wood veneer. Whilst good for other printmaking processes, it’s not the best for a good mokuhanga experience.

• For a better mokuhanga experience:

  • For printing solid blocks of colour - try 6mm double-sided shina block that is made from 5 layers of shina (linden wood) and no balsa wood.

  • For more advanced carving - eg, detailed key blocks with very fine lines - try solid wood sakura or katsura blocks. (Note: these blocks are much harder to carve than shina plywood blocks.)

• Click the inventory at the bottom of this page to order 6mm double-sided Japanese shina from the UStP shop:

  • 22.5x30cm double-sided 6mm Japanese shina - $17.50ea.

  • 14.9×22.5cm double-sided 6mm Japanese shina - $9.25ea.

  • 11.2×14.9cm double-sided 6mm Japanese shina - $5ea.

• Prices for solid wood sakura and katsura blocks coming soon:

  • Sakura is cherry wood, prunus serrulata, a hard wood that is great to carve & print.

  • Katsura is cercidiphyllum japonicum, a medium-hard wood.

Inks

• Good/high artist quality tubes of watercolour or gouache and sumi ink instead of black watercolour. Can be purchased from reputable art shops.

• The best quality watercolour inks are Holbein’s Pigment Pastes, developed especially for mokuhanga printing. You can read more about these beautiful inks here. Can be purchased from reputable online art shops.

• Never use watered-down acrylic paints. Acrylic paints contain plastic and, over time, will seal your woodblock. (And mokuhanga printing works because your woodblock is able to absorb water.)

Brushes

• Economy doza brush for sizing and watercolour washes. Made from goat hair, with a wooden handle and copper stitching. For a fancier version from McClains USA, click here. Or click the inventory at the bottom of this page to order an economy version from the UStP shop:

  • Economy doza brush 2” - $10.35ea.

• For economy flat brushes that can be used as water brushes, for sizing & watercolour washes. Made from lambs wool, with a wooden handle, stitched nylon & metal ferrule. Click the inventory at the bottom of this page to order from the UStP shop:

  • Flat brush 50mm lambs wool - $7.40ea.

  • Flat brush 40mm lambs wool - $7.15ea.

  • Flat brush 30mm lambs wool - $6.15ea.

  • Flat brush 15mm lambs wool - $4.25ea.

• Surikomi brushes for applying colour to smaller areas of the block. Made from deer hair and pig hair (not hog hair), with split bamboo handles & stitched with twine. Click the inventory at the bottom of this page to order from the UStP shop:

  • Surikomi brush H 0.5 - $8.60ea.

  • Surikomi brush H 2 - $15ea.

  • Surikomi brush H 3 - $18.70ea.

  • Surikomi brush H 4 - $24.50ea.

• Marubake / Burashi brushes for applying colour to larger areas of the block. Made from the mane hair of horses. Available in Australia from Japanese Tools online (in Sydney).

Fine water misters

• A continuous mist spray bottle that gives a very fine mist via extended slow release. Available from Dick Smith online.

• Any fine mister will work. Recycled Jurlique rosewater spray bottles & glasses cleaner spray bottles both work well.

• Never use a bottle that sprays large droplets of water.

Nori / rice paste

• Most starch pastes will work for mokuhanga, rice or wheat paste.

• Click the inventory at the bottom of this page to order nori (rice paste) from the UStP shop:

  • Awagami Japanese Yamoto Washi Rice Paper Glue 100g - $26ea.

  • Yellow tub nori paste 220g - $23ea.

  • Blue tub nori paste 330g - $31ea.

Barens

• For good quality, affordable options, click to order from the UStP shop.

Terry McKenna’s excellent process manuals

• The lovely Terry McKenna of the Karuizawa Mokuhanga School in Japan once ran mokuhanga workshops for us in Adelaide every January, until Covid disrupted the world.

• If you are in Adelaide, you are welcome to enrol in my one-day introduction to Mokuhanga workshop. (Click for the workshop outline, and choose an available Sunday that suits you.)

• Or you could travel to Japan to benefit from Terry’s teaching in person by enrolling here, or enrol for his excellent pre-recorded online courses here … Fundamentals & Intermediate. (Many of us in Adelaide have benefited from Terry’s terrific teaching over the years, in person, in Japan and online. I re-do his online workshops every year to hone my skills as a teacher.)

• And if you have some experience, but would like a reminder, you can purchase Terry’s manuals in Adelaide from me. Click the inventory at the bottom of this page to order from the UStP shop. $55/book.

Terry McKenna/Karuizawa Mokuhanga School’s excellent starter kits of tools/materials

• It you don’t have the time to buy individual tools/materials, you might like to start with a quality beginners kit that has a little of everything from the Karuizawa Mokuhanga School… Click for more and to order direct from Terry in Japan.

• Or you could combine 2 starter kits from McClains in the USA: a set of tools such as these and a printing set such as this.

Special orders are available - including new orders of Out of Stock items and bulk orders. Please text Simone on 0407 079 604 to enquire.

Postage by Australia Post Parcel Post, up to 5kg, within Australia, with tracking, 2+ business days delivery (actual time may vary according to Australia Post’s delivery conditions).
- Postage small items, small-medium post pack (up to 5kg in total), parcel post, $15.
- Postage packs of paper rolled in an A1 Australia Post tube, (up to 5kg in total), express post, $30.
- Bulk purchases & paper purchases always by pre-arrangement, text 0407 079 604. (Delivery costs are dependant upon size/weight of package.)

Alternatively, collection from Adelaide (SA) inner city for no charge.

Collection times must coincide with Simone’s teaching/studio schedule - mostly Saturdays during the day (Stepney), most Sundays during the day (Hindmarsh), Monday/Tuesday evenings (Hindmarsh) and Wednesday afternoons (Stepney).

No drop ins please.
(Artists work across many venues, so studio visits are always by appointment, thank you.)

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Note: other sized papers used in class for Mokuhanga (available elsewhere):

• Kitaro Kozoshi. Japanese washi paper, 87gsm, 100% kozo, 96x66cm. Sized. Colours natural and white. Good for Mokuhanga, western relief printing, letterpress and some intaglio processes. Best purchased direct from Japan www.washi-kitaro.com/english-1/product-lineup/.

• Zerkall laid white. German western paper, 120gsm, 100% cotton rag, 76x53cm. Sized.  Creamy white colour. Good for Mokuhanga, western relief printing, letterpress, book binding and some intaglio processes. Best purchased from Melbourne Etching Supplies during their twice-yearly sales.