The Woodcarver's apprentice #32

A mix of aesthetics from the Ukiyo-e and Shin-hanga woodblock movements, with modern elements.

ukiyo-e (浮世絵) = "pictures of the floating world", which peaked in the late 19th century.
shin-hanga (新版画) = "new prints", from roughly the 1920-1950s.

Some comparisons between the prints of the Japanese masters and gen-art:

• The number of prints. Based on how well a piece was received, the publisher could decide to produce more copies, usually in batches of 200. Compare this to limiting the edition size on fx(hash). The initial prints would have sharp lines and accurately coloured areas. Very popular prints with thousands of impressions would slowly degrade the blocks, leaving final prints with worn-out linework and colours that weren't true to originals.

• Woodblock prints were actually a collab between the artist, the wood carver, and the printer. In many cases only the artist and publisher were recognized on the final prints. It was usually the publisher who owned the woodblock, not the artist. Often the artist was considered a worker, contracted at the request of the publisher or patrons funding the project. Compare this to the NFT space, where ownership is carved onto the blockchain, and artists have freedom to create whatever they wish.

• Copyminters.... Similar to the NFT world, fake publishers sprang up from time to time, who would reproduce famous prints. Enji Takamizawa was one such counterfeiter, who was able to skilfully produce woodblocks replicating originals down to the wood grain!

• While fine-quality woodblock prints from the Edo era command huge auction prices today, they were in reality affordable art for the regular people of their time. NFTs are similar in this light, where we can enjoy pieces at home rather than say, visiting galleries or museums of unattainable art.

Additional querystring params (use when viewing in a separate window)

• fullsize=true (33 megapixel output)
• colourcorrect=false
• grain=false
• border=false

Licenses included in source. Relying on:

• PIXIJS for drawing
• JSTS for geometry functions
• chromajs for colour functions
• noise and gaussian helpers from p5js