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We start the colour blocks with the traditional tint known as beni. The cartouche area will be untouched from here on in, but the rest will probably all be overprinted:

Next up is a simple one - a base tone for the turtle area:

Most of the prints in this series have a kind of 'technical' point tied to them, and this one is no exception. Here's an excerpt from the story that will accompany the print when it is mailed out to collectors:

... and that brings us to another very important point about traditional Japanese print production, one that is unfortunately not readily visible to the typical viewer.

Here's the projected budget for this project (and series, if it becomes that). Some of these numbers work from the bottom up (based on the actual costs of the components, which are totally fixed by the suppliers), and some are from the top down (calculated as percentages of the selling price).

Now the selling price can't be calculated until all the costs are worked out, so it's a bit of a circular process, but that's what spreadsheets are for ...

Anyway, based on a price of 3500 yen (within Japan) and $35 (overseas) - more about that disparity later - we get something like the following chart for the expense side of things. This is assuming an initial production run of 200 sets (each with three senshafuda, printed as a 3-up on one block set, trimmed apart when done):

Expenses for initial batch of 200 sets
Supplies
- Printing paper	46,000
- Wood blocks	20,000
- Packaging	20,000
Workers
- Designer's royalty (10% of retail)	70,000
- Carver's fee (15% of retail)	105,000
- Printer's fee (25% of retail)	. . . [Long item has been trimmed at this point. The full blog entry can be viewed here]

This item is taken from the blog Mokuhankan Conversations.
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Subject: Today a Plan
Posted by: d. moll, l.ac.

02/10/1011 Metal Rabbit Plan (Amelia as model) Today's rabbit is, as you can see, a drawing; a stylized Amelia, AKA the Great White Zeppelin, demands her due pet. It is a plan for a print for the Baren Forum Year of the Rabbit Print Exchange. I'll print in my usual Moku Hanga method; carving and printing each color separately by hand; each print will be slightly different because I am human, not machine; but each one individually special, packed with the Qi of the all moments that went into it from the papermakers, to tool makers, to the tree, the pigment and the brushes. Really as the artist, carver and printer I play a small part and feel humbled by that. For some art is self expression, I do not find this to be true for myself. I ask each print from start to finish "what do you want to be? how can I help? what is right for this print".

This item is taken from the blog The Qi Papers.
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