I printed my first plate lithograph in years, and my first lithograph in Japan ever! My husband and I moved to Sapporo, Hokkaido in the summer of 2019. Fortunately, there is one place in the city where one can print lithographs. (There may be more places that I’m just not aware of yet). There are some smaller stones in the studio there, but I was told that no one has used them for years. In the fall, we took a beginner plate lithography class together and it was one of the most fun things we’ve done as a married couple.
Taking a class is always a good way to familiarize yourself with a new print studio: the customs of the studio, their specific rules, and where everything is. It’s really fun to show someone who has seen many lithographs before but has never made one themself, all the steps and challenges and magic that is involved in litho printing! It was my first time to take a class fully in Japanese (other than Japanese classes about the language itself). This was a great experience for me. It was a really good way for me to learn some print-related vocabulary and verbs, especially since I already knew the content of what was being taught and could focus on trying to absorb everything that was being said and to copy certain print kanji.
I drew a mushroom based on ones I’d seen in the summer when hiking up Mount Moiwa. There are so many varieties of mushrooms here in Hokkaido. It’s something I’d like to learn more about and draw more of. This class reminded me how convenient (and lightweight!) it is to work with plates, but I did miss the feeling of litho crayons on smooth stone.
The print studio with pretty komorebi