It takes hours. Once the netsuke is carved, decisions have to be made about its finish. Will it be stained? If so, there are a variety of colours and materials, from water or oil-based stains, commercial or homemade, and techniques, from boiling the piece, to repeated dippings in hot stain, to dippings in cold stain. Some netsuke-shi colour the piece only after sanding to a fine, polished finish; others stain before the sanding process because colouring in water-based stains raises the grain of the wood, which then has to be sanded down and polished. Some netsuke have staining in the crevices only, the rest being sanded off the piece; sumi ink, oak gall, yashi or other dark-coloured stains are often used for this purpose.
Whatever the process, sanding is important. Carvers usually work with grits from 200 up to at least 2000, using even finer abrasives and grits up to 12000 if they want a high polish. Other carvers use pumice or rottenstone powder as part of the process and slightly stain the piece afterwards to colour any powder trapped in the pores. Both sandpapers and powders are used with polishing compounds such as hard-finish waxes or hard-drying oils in the final stages of sanding. Final polishing may then be completed with a thin layer of oil or wax and buffed hard with a chamois leather or soft cotton (T-shirt cotton) cloth. Some netsuke-shi use an electric sanding/polishing wheel, while others prefer to complete the process by hand. Each piece is treated differently, with some perhaps having a high gloss finish and others a more matt sheen; all depends on the quality of the carved material and what end the netsuke-shi is trying to achieve. In general, the harder materials like boxwood, holly, ivory and tagua will take a high gloss, if so desired, while the softer woods respond better to a more matt finish. As well, only parts of the netsuke need be polished, while others may be left in a rougher state so that the piece varies in quality and appearance.
There are many oils and waxes. Those who want a stain with their oils can use boiled linseed or tung oils; those who don't may want to use pale walnut or grape-seed oils. The idea is to bring out how the light reflects the qualities of the grain of the wood and is the reason why varnishes and shellac are not encouraged; the latter result in the piece being too shiny and uniform. Thin coats of wax can be used instead, as long as care is taken not to clog the crevices of the carving with it. Thin layers seems to be the rule for both oils and waxes.
Some netsuke-shi experiment with urushi, or lacquer-work finishes. As with carving and other types of finish, be prepared for hours and, in the case of lacquer, days of work.
Monday, 30 March 2009
Friday, 27 March 2009
Finding tools
Mainly, it's difficult. There are some manufacturers of micro woodworking tools, but these tend to be expensive, not under 1mm in width and only of the chisel, parting tool, gouges, v-tool variety. Netsuke-shi often have to work with tools of a smaller width or diameter. It is possible to use some dental tools and to find micro-reamers, drill bits and needle files, but micro-scrapers, punches, engavers and knives are also needed. Netsuke-shi either resort to specialist tool makers, or resort to learning forging techniques and make their own.
I've recently made some from hand-grinding micro-width pin punches and some scrapers, punches and engraving tools from off-cuts of piano wire, chosen because it's of a high-tensile enough steel to forge and temper to the right degree of hardness. That meant buying a mini-anvil and various small jewellers' hammers. I drew the line at building a mini-forge, or working indoors with propane gas burners, and, instead, used the flame on the gas jet of the kitchen hob. It heats the metal to a high enough degree to allow me to work it - and to temper the tool after. After an oil or water quenching, the tools are then set and glued into hardwood handles.
Now, all I need to make are some angled scrapers and mini knives and some round-headed punches - for the time being.
It's becoming clear that it would be best to make the tools I need as I go along.
I've recently made some from hand-grinding micro-width pin punches and some scrapers, punches and engraving tools from off-cuts of piano wire, chosen because it's of a high-tensile enough steel to forge and temper to the right degree of hardness. That meant buying a mini-anvil and various small jewellers' hammers. I drew the line at building a mini-forge, or working indoors with propane gas burners, and, instead, used the flame on the gas jet of the kitchen hob. It heats the metal to a high enough degree to allow me to work it - and to temper the tool after. After an oil or water quenching, the tools are then set and glued into hardwood handles.
Now, all I need to make are some angled scrapers and mini knives and some round-headed punches - for the time being.
It's becoming clear that it would be best to make the tools I need as I go along.
Thursday, 26 March 2009
First things first
After a couple of false starts, this pumpkin was my first completed netsuke, measuring about 43 x 23mm, though the photos were taken at a stage before completion.
It was carved from 8 year old sycamore and stained with a strong mixture of Assam and Rooibos teas, resanded with up to 12,000 grit sandpaper, then treated with grape seed oil, left to dry for a few weeks and polished. It took about three months and over 150 hours to complete. That was 150 hours without preparation and sketching time, or final sanding and polishing. The polishing took about 12 hours, or so.
Though I've always loved the minuteness of netsuke, I'd never realised just how many hours went into making them. Using power tools for some of the work might have reduced the time, but I'd determined to complete all the process by hand, from sawing the wood-block to final polishing. I can't see how else a craft can be learned, initially; power tools may or may not come later.
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
Welcome
Calling this blog "Netsuke Now" might be being a bit previous as I'm new to carving (though not to other artwork) and only have one and a half under my belt so far - plus a folder full of ideas, sketches and photos, plenty of materials and tools and the folly of beginner's hope. Give me a lifetime or so and I might, with luck and a good deal of application, have many more. Though I've got through the daily finger-cutting stage, I've still much to learn and will be sharing what I discover via the blog.
Where did all this interest in making art and craft come from? I think it comes from my parents; my father was a tailor, but was also a musician and wordsmith (yes, I play a number of instruments, used to sing and have published some poetry), and my mother was a chef, but also a painter. She had been encouraged to go to art school, but, as a working class kid, she was sent out to work at 15 as a kitchen maid and made her way upwards as a trained chef and pâtissière. However, in her late 50s she took up painting again, exhibited and sold the results. Their chances of higher education curtailed, my parents looked to me to become the educational achiever. I suppose, all the academic training and years of work notwithstanding, I come from a family of makers and have returned to making since semi-retirement.
So, how did I come to be enamoured of netsuke? I've always loved miniatures, even as a child. A friend of my father collected netsuke and introduced them to me (rather than me to them!) when I was under ten. Though I wasn't allowed to touch them, I was allowed to view them in their glass cabinet for what seemed like hours. My main longing was to hold one, but that didn't happen for a number of years.
We lived a bus ride's journey from the South Kensington museums in London and I spent many Sunday afternoons in the Victoria and Albert Museum, drinking in netsuke, snuffboxes, tapestries and Islamic and Chinese pottery. My brothers, of course, sneered and spent their time at the nearby Natural History, Science and Geological Museums!
At college, I made a friend whose father just happened to collect netsuke and, as his family wasn't interested in "dad's hobby," he spent many hours with me, teaching me about when they were made and who made them, while letting me handle them. Occasionally, we went to viewing days at auctions, including Christie’s and I still have the catalogue of one 1983 sale at Sotheby's. For years after, every museum, here and abroad, that I went to, I searched out if they had netsuke. There was always a feeling of disappointment if they didn't.
I never had the resources to buy the antiques, or even good contemporary ones, so I collected a few, cheap, modern copies, but only those that showed evidence of real skill with carving, so I could study the techniques and make further decisions about what type I really like. Mainly, my tastes are for fine though not over-decorative carving, also for very simple shapes that rely on the beauty of the material for their effect and for netsuke that show evidence of the carver exploring and experimenting with his material and his subject. I see no joy in any work of art that is just about production and doesn't show any development in technique or depth of content.
It didn't occur to me to carve them until about ten years ago, when friends of mine came back from a holiday in the States with a present of an epoxy resin cast of the little cat-geisha in the NY Museum collection. Not liking fakes, but having the chance to examine some of the artistry that way, I thought I'd like to try carving them. I collected some tools and wood, but life intervened and it wasn't until 2008 that I was able to take it up seriously. By then, I'd found three sites online, The Carving Path, Following the Iron Brush and the International Netsuke Society, all of which proved helpful for beginners, so with those, a number of books, some knowledge of composition, drawing and painting, and dyeing and staining, I started in on carving. Time will tell about how far it goes!
Where did all this interest in making art and craft come from? I think it comes from my parents; my father was a tailor, but was also a musician and wordsmith (yes, I play a number of instruments, used to sing and have published some poetry), and my mother was a chef, but also a painter. She had been encouraged to go to art school, but, as a working class kid, she was sent out to work at 15 as a kitchen maid and made her way upwards as a trained chef and pâtissière. However, in her late 50s she took up painting again, exhibited and sold the results. Their chances of higher education curtailed, my parents looked to me to become the educational achiever. I suppose, all the academic training and years of work notwithstanding, I come from a family of makers and have returned to making since semi-retirement.
So, how did I come to be enamoured of netsuke? I've always loved miniatures, even as a child. A friend of my father collected netsuke and introduced them to me (rather than me to them!) when I was under ten. Though I wasn't allowed to touch them, I was allowed to view them in their glass cabinet for what seemed like hours. My main longing was to hold one, but that didn't happen for a number of years.
We lived a bus ride's journey from the South Kensington museums in London and I spent many Sunday afternoons in the Victoria and Albert Museum, drinking in netsuke, snuffboxes, tapestries and Islamic and Chinese pottery. My brothers, of course, sneered and spent their time at the nearby Natural History, Science and Geological Museums!
At college, I made a friend whose father just happened to collect netsuke and, as his family wasn't interested in "dad's hobby," he spent many hours with me, teaching me about when they were made and who made them, while letting me handle them. Occasionally, we went to viewing days at auctions, including Christie’s and I still have the catalogue of one 1983 sale at Sotheby's. For years after, every museum, here and abroad, that I went to, I searched out if they had netsuke. There was always a feeling of disappointment if they didn't.
I never had the resources to buy the antiques, or even good contemporary ones, so I collected a few, cheap, modern copies, but only those that showed evidence of real skill with carving, so I could study the techniques and make further decisions about what type I really like. Mainly, my tastes are for fine though not over-decorative carving, also for very simple shapes that rely on the beauty of the material for their effect and for netsuke that show evidence of the carver exploring and experimenting with his material and his subject. I see no joy in any work of art that is just about production and doesn't show any development in technique or depth of content.
It didn't occur to me to carve them until about ten years ago, when friends of mine came back from a holiday in the States with a present of an epoxy resin cast of the little cat-geisha in the NY Museum collection. Not liking fakes, but having the chance to examine some of the artistry that way, I thought I'd like to try carving them. I collected some tools and wood, but life intervened and it wasn't until 2008 that I was able to take it up seriously. By then, I'd found three sites online, The Carving Path, Following the Iron Brush and the International Netsuke Society, all of which proved helpful for beginners, so with those, a number of books, some knowledge of composition, drawing and painting, and dyeing and staining, I started in on carving. Time will tell about how far it goes!
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