Embracing Creativity: Tom Killion Woodblock printing

Introduction to Japanese-Style Printmaking with Tom Killion – Green Gulch Zen Center, Muir Beach, CA, USA

As photographers we are creative professionals and something I don’t do enough of is try out other art forms. This past weekend, however, I finally tried out Japanese-style woodblock printing (ukiyo-ë). I took a class from my favorite American artist of this style, Tom Killion, whose work I’ve admired for years since I first discovered it.

Ukiyo-e is defined as “pictures of the floating world” and perhaps the most popular artist or well- known one would be Hokusai who’s Great Wave off Kanagawa is an iconic image.  From an early age I had collected Hokusai and Hiroshige cards depicting their art that were packaged in ochazuke packs my family would buy at the Japanese grocery stores and Hokusai was my first “favorite artist” as a child so I had always been enamored of him and woodblock prints.

Fast forward to this past weekend, and I had booked a class with Killion that was held at the Green Gulch Farm and Zen Center in Muir Beach, the perfect location since much of Killion’s work depicts Northern California and that area in particular.

The homework for the class was to sketch out an image you wanted to carve out for your first woodblock.  I had two ideas in mind, both photographs I had taken: one was a shot of San Francisco ensconced in fog (below), and another was of a mother and child orca that I had seen just a week ago with my sister out in the Straight of Juan de Fuca off the coast of Northern Washington/Victoria BC.

I ended up opting for the orca shot after Killion explained some of what works best, especially for beginners, and he went over his own creative process.  His work has many detailed lines, which was one thing he warned us against as fine black lines are one of the hardest things to do in woodblock printing since you carve out a negative of your image that you ink and press to make a positive image (somewhat like how photography works, albeit all by hand!).

Killion explained how the tools should be used and what he does to create his prints and it quickly became evident that the work he produces takes incredibly skill and craftsmanship.  Using your hands to sharpen tools, saw off handles to create a proper fit, and carving out the wood itself was very Zen.  Since the class was at the Zen Center at Green Gulch Farms we were welcomed by Sarah Tashker who read us some Suzuki to kick things off and get our heads into a good space.

After spending a few hours on the carving, you mind was quite settled from the concentration and focus required of the work.  The slow evolution of the plain wood block into your image was quite satisfying as well, and once we got to a point of being ready with the image, we proceeded to ink and create a proof print and then a couple of actual prints on the Torinoko paper that Killion has custom made for his own prints.

After the class was done, it made me realize I need to push my creativity more and go outside of just photography. Any creative endeavor transfers and sharpens your other skills and keeps your mind sharp and is a must to prevent boredom or complacency – so get out there and try something you’ve always wanted to do!