
Japanese Woodblock Print Search - stareatgoats
https://ukiyo-e.org/
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jeresig
Uh - woah! This is incredibly unexpected. I'm really glad people are
interested in my database and in Japanese prints!

From a technical perspective there've been a lot of interesting open source
projects that I've made to support this site:
[https://johnresig.com/projects/ukiyoe/](https://johnresig.com/projects/ukiyoe/)

I've also written a number of papers and given presentations on the work that
I've done here (and elsewhere in the digital humanities).
[https://johnresig.com/research/](https://johnresig.com/research/)

This is a talk that I gave in 2014 about the construction of the site and my
reasons for building it: [https://codeascraft.com/speakers/john-resig-
analyzing-japane...](https://codeascraft.com/speakers/john-resig-analyzing-
japanese-art-with-node-js-and-computer-vision/)

I've since worked on a number of other projects like a database for a
consortium of Art History Photo Archives:
[http://images.pharosartresearch.org/](http://images.pharosartresearch.org/)

And I'm building another one now on Japanese Picture Books (from the 19th
century and older).

These are all my "spare time" fun hobby projects, my day job is still at Khan
Academy as a Frontend Architect. I just enjoy getting to explore other types
of applications and problem spaces!

Happy to answer any questions anyone might have!

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JKCalhoun
Amazing site.

I've recently fallen in love with the more modern ukiyo-e artists like Kawase
Hasui: [https://ukiyo-e.org/artist/kawase-
hasui](https://ukiyo-e.org/artist/kawase-hasui)

Look at the shadows from the leaves of the unseen trees here:
[https://data.ukiyo-e.org/mak/images/13612-6.jpg](https://data.ukiyo-e.org/mak/images/13612-6.jpg)

Now I can explore to my heart's content....

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bhritchie
It's by jQuery creator John Resig:
[https://ukiyo-e.org/about](https://ukiyo-e.org/about)

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strmpnk
An interesting part of this project was dealing with artist names. John has
done a very good job normalizing all of this data in a graph which can allow
others to discover related works and even merge otherwise distinct aliases.

A subset of this problem emerges from the transliteration of name kanji.
Romaji is not always handled consistently, especially in historical contexts,
and name characters have their own rough history around digitization of han
character code points.

One of the first steps was to adopt name indexes to help with normalization
but beyond some of those databases, it's been very interesting to see the
graph analysis approach work with a combination of computer vision technology
and carefully crafted apps to help archivists and researchers in these
communities work together to combine their own data. This is a great example
of what technology can do for a community if the intersection between people
and technology is done well.

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tynan
This is an incredible site that is invaluable for anyone involved in
woodblocks. Japanese woodblocks are also a great way to get into art. You can
get the same exact prints that are shown in museums for $100+.

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MrJagil
Where do you recommend starting? Both in regards to getting educated, but also
practically acquiring prints.

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plopz
David Bull has a great youtube channel about japanese woodblock printmaking
that I highly reccomend.

[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKSrgKjevPmNZxCAyTZP5cQ](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKSrgKjevPmNZxCAyTZP5cQ)

~~~
halbritt
David Bull also sells prints at reasonable prices.

[https://mokuhankan.com](https://mokuhankan.com)

The site is kinda hard to navigate. He did a reprint of The Great Wave that I
want to get.

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fatbird
I have that. It's lovely. My wife and I also did an 18 month subscription to
an 18 print series he did covering the history of Japanese printmaking.

~~~
halbritt
That sounds lovely.

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ridgeguy
This site identified a print that's been in my wife's family for over 80
years. Very cool, thanks.

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rconti
If you're into woodblock art, check out Tom Killion in Marin.

[https://tomkillion.com](https://tomkillion.com)

~~~
hampelm
Thanks for sharing that, those prints are wonderful. I also love the work of
William H Hays:

[http://www.theartistsloft.com/printgallery1.html](http://www.theartistsloft.com/printgallery1.html)

Would love to learn about more artists

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yawn
I was super inspired by this when it first came out. I considered doing one
for paintings/painters then realized how much effort it would require. I love
sites like this...the passion John has for the woodblocks shines through the
site.

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person_of_color
How can I make a woodblock print at home

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person_of_color
How can I make one at home?

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smackfu
It’s pretty easy to get a simple setup to do single color prints at your local
arts and craft store. Speedball brand sells the ink and press and various
other bits and bobs. You can either carve in linoleum which is softer and
easier but less precise, or in wood. We’ve done Christmas card this way a
couple of times and the results have been great if a little “rustic”.

OTOH, doing multi block, perfectly aligned woodblock prints like the ones in
the link is quite difficult. There’s no shortcut, you have to carve each color
block by hand.

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ondutyvillain
Great! Thank you.

