Daryl Howard - Printmaker: I Become What I'm Doing

Ambition and confidence are two concepts that make an artist. These ideas can take different forms and trajectories, but artists can accomplish anything with talent and a supportive community. 

In this episode of The Unfinished Print, I speak with one artist who exudes ambition and confidence. Daryl Howard is a mokuhanga printmaker and artist who lives and works in Austin, Texas. What drew me to Daryl's work is her desire to maintain the mokuhanga tradition, putting both body and soul into her mokuhanga. 

Daryl speaks with me about her evolution as a mokuhanga printmaker, her travels, her community, and her time with Hodaka Yoshida. 

Please follow The Unfinished Print and my own mokuhanga work on Instagram @andrezadoroznyprints or email me at [email protected] 

Notes: may contain a hyperlink. Simply click on the highlighted word or phrase.

Artists works follow after the note. Pieces are mokuhanga unless otherwise noted.

Daryl Howard - website, Instagram

Time Of Smoke That Thunders (2022)

Sam Houston State University -  is a public research university located in Huntsville, Texas, USA. Established in 1879 to educate teachers for Texas public schools, SHSU has evolved into a school which offers subjects in criminal justice, Texas studies, and is known for its athletics.

intaglio printing - is a printing method, also called etching, using metal plates such as zinc, and copper, creating “recessed” areas which are printed with ink on the surface of these "recesses.” More info, here. The MET has info, here. 

lithography - is a printing process which requires a stone or aluminum plate, and was invented in the 18th Century. More info, here from the Tate. 

serigraphy - is another word for the art of silk screen printing. Silk screen printing can be in on various materials, silk, canvas, paper. 

Stanley Lea  (1930-2017) - was a Texas printmaker and teacher of printmaking at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. 

Texas A&M - established in 1876 as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, Texas A&M is a research University in College Station, Texas which has a variety of subjects and programs, more info here.

Yokota Airbase, Tōkyō (横田飛行場,) -  established in 1940 as Tama Airbase for the Japanese Air Force, converted in 1945 as an American military base used in the Korean War and the Cold War. 

Dr. Richard Lane (1926-2002) -  was a collector of Japanese prints. He was also an author and dealer in Japanese art. 

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi  1839-1892 (月岡 芳年) was a mokuhanga designer who is famous for his prints depicting violence and gore. His work is powerful, colourful, and one of the last vibrant moments of the ukiyo-e genre of woodblock prints. More information about Yoshitoshi’s life and his copious amount of work can be found, here.  

Yūten Shami - Fudō Myōō threatening the priest Yūten Shami (1867)

shin hanga - is a style of Japanese woodblock printmaking which began during the end of the ukiyo-e period of Japanese printmaking, in the early 20th Century. Focusing on the foreign demand for “traditional” Japanese imagery and motifs such as castles, bridges, famous landscapes, bamboo forests, to name just a few.  Shin hanga was born in 1915 by Watanabe Shōzaburō (1885-1962) when he found Austrian artist Frtiz Capelari (1884-1950) and commissioned Capelari to design some prints for Watanabe's feldgling printing house . From there shin-hanga evolved into its own distinct “new” style of Japanese woodblock printing. It lasted as this distinct style until its innevitable decline after the Second World War (1939-1945).

Tachikawa, Tōkyō - 立川市 - is a city located in the metropolis of Tōkyō. It had an American military presence until 1977. For some tourist info, you can find it here.

surimono (摺物)-  are privately commissioned woodblock prints, usually containing specialty techniques such as mica, and blind embossing. Below is Heron and Iris, (ca. 1770's) by Andō Hiroshige (1797-1858). This print is from David Bull's reproduction of that work. You can find more info about that project, here.  

Kunitachi - 国立市 -  is a city located within the metropolis of Tōkyō. Originally a part of the 44 stations Kōshū Kaidō (甲州街道), a road which connected Edo to Kai Prefecture (Yamanashi).

Hodaka Yoshida (1926-1995) - was the second son of woodblock printmaker and designer Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950). Hodaka Yoshida's work was abstract, beginning with painting and evolving into printmaking. His inspirations varied as his career continued throughout his life, but Hodaka Yoshida's work generally focused on nature, "primitive" art, Buddhism, the elements, and landscapes. Hodaka Yoshida's print work used woodcut, photo etching, collage, and lithography, collaborating with many of these mediums and making original and fantastic works. Outside of prints Hodaka Yoshida also painted and created sculptures.   

White House O.J. From My Collection (1980) lithograph

Fujio Yoshida (1887-1997) - the wife of Hiroshi Yoshida and the mother of Tōshi Yoshida (1911-1995) and Hodaka Yoshida. Fujio was so much more than a mother and wife. She had a long and storied career as a painter and printmaker. Fujio’s work used her travels and personal experiences to make her work. Subjects such as Japan during The Pacific War, abstraction, portraits, landscapes, still life, and nature were some of her themes. Her painting mediums were watercolour and oil. Her print work was designed by her and carved by Fujio. 

Red Canna (1954)

Chizuko Yoshida (1924-2017) - was the wife of painter and printmaker Hodaka Yoshida. Beginning as an abstract painter, Chizuko, after a meeting with sōsaku hanga printmaker Onchi Kōshirō (1891-1955), Chizuko became interested in printmaking. Chizuko enjoyed the abstraction of art, and this was her central theme of expression. Like all Yoshida artists, travel greatly inspired Chizuko’s work. She incorporated the colours and flavours of the world into her prints.

Butterfly Dance (1985) zinc plate and mokuhanga

Ayomi Yoshida - is the daughter of Chizuko and Hodaka Yoshida. She is a visual artist who works in mokuhanga, installations and commercial design. Ayomi’s subject matter is colour, lines, water, and shape. She teaches printmaking and art. You can find more info here. 

Spring Rain (2018)

University of Texas at Austin - is a public research university in Austin, Texas, USA. Founded in 1883, the University of Texas at Austin has undergraduate and graduate programs. You can find more information here.

Lee Roy Chesney III (1945-2021) - was a printmaker and professor at the Universitty of Texas at Austin. 

William Kelly Fearing (1918-2011) - was an award winning painter,  printmaker, and artist who was professor Emiritus at the University of Texas at Austin. His work focused on landscapes, religious imagery, and the human figure.

Abstract Figure in Oil (1947) oil on canvas

Ban Hua: Chinese woodblock prints - There is a lot of information regarding Chinese woodblock printing. The history of Chinese woodblock goes back centuries, longer than the Japanese method. Modern Chinese printmaking began after Mao's Cultural Revolution, strongly connected by the writings and work of philosopher, academic, and artist Lu Xun (1881-1936), who established the Modern Woodcut Movement. First, check out the work of the Muban Educational Trust based in England. More info can be found here and here at Artelino; for Lu Xun's history, you can find more information here. 

Victoria Falls - is a large waterfall located on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe in South Africa. It is also known as Mosi-oa-Tunya or "The Smoke That Thunders" in the Bantu language of Sotho. The falls are 1,708 meters and 108 meters high. 

Wacom -Wacom - is a Japanese company that began in 1983. It produces intuitive touch screen display tablets. It has offices in the US and Europe. 

Photoshop - is a raster graphics editor created by Adobe. It allows the user to create and edit images for graphic design, typography, and graphic design. 

Akua - are water-based pigments used in intaglio, mokuhanga, and monotype. 

Winsor & Newton - is a British artist supply company, started in 1832, which sells artist materials such as pigments, brushes, paper, etc. You can find more info, here. 

Guerra & Paint Pigment Corp. - is a brick and mortar store located in Brooklyn, New York that sells artists pigments. More info, here. 

Dallas Museum of Art - is an art museum established in 1903 and contains art collections from all over the world and from many periods of history. Some of the collections on the DMA are African, American, Asian, European, Contemporary, and Pre-Columbian/Pacific Rim. More info can be found here.

Impressionism - is an art movement founded by Claude Monet (1840-1926), Edgar Degas (1834-1917) and other artists in France. The movement was from 1874-1886 and focused on suburban leisure outside Paris. The Impressionist movement launched into the public consciousness in 1874 at the Anonymous Society of Sculptors and Painters and Printmakers exhibition. More information about the Impressionist movement can be found here at The Met. 

Blanton Museum of Art - founded in 1963 at the University of Texas at Austin. It houses collections of European, modern, contemporary, Latin American, and Western American Art.  You can find more information here. 

Albrecht Dührer (1471-1528) was a painter and author famous for making detailed devotional works with woodcuts. You can find out more from The Met here for more information about his life and work.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa - is a woodblock print designed by Katsushika Hokusai in 1831. It is very famous. 

Pop Wave Orange by Daryl Howard (2021)

Bridge In The Rain (After Hiroshige) - was a painting painted by Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) in the style of woodblock print designer Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858). 

baren - is a Japanese word used to describe a flat, round-shaped disc, predominantly used in creating Japanese woodblock prints. It is traditionally made of a cord of various types and a bamboo sheath, although the baren has many variations. 

Sharpening brushes on shark skin are traditionally used on mokuhanga brushes that were “sharpened” or softening the brushes bristles rubbing up and down on the shark skin. But today, you can use very fine sandpaper made of silicon carbide (dragon skin). Mokuhanga printmaker John Amoss has a beautiful write-up about using shark skin and its uses here. 

Echizen - is a region in Fukui Prefecture, Japan associated with Japanese paper making. It has a long history of paper making. There are many paper artisans in the area. One famous paper maker is Iwano Ichibei. He is a Living National Treasure in paper making, and the ninth generation of his family still making paper today. You can find more information in English, and in Japanese. 

kizuki kozo - is a handmade Japanese paper with many uses. Of a moderate weight and cooked with caustic soda. It is widely available. 

Shōzaburō Watanabe (1885-1962) - was one of the most important print publishers in Japan in the early 20th Century. His business acumen and desire to preserve the ukiyo-e tradition were incredibly influential for the artists and collectors in Japan and those around the world. Watanabe influenced other publishers, but his work in the genre is unparalleled. The shin-hanga (new print) movement is Watanabe’s, collecting some of the best printers, carvers and designers to work for him. A great article by The Japan Times in 2022 discusses a touring exhibition of Watanabe’s work called Shin Hanga: New Prints of Japan, which can be found here. 

Itoya - is a stationary store in the Ginza district of Tōkyō. It has been in business for over 100 years. They have stores in Yokohama, in various malls throughout Japan and at Haneda and Narita airports. More info can be found on their web page (Japanese) and their Instagram. 

Bunpodo - is a stationery store located in the Jinbōchō district of Tōkyō. It was established in 1887 and is considered the first art store in Japan. More info here. Matcha Japan has a walkthrough of the store here.

McClains Woodblock Print Supply Co.  - based in Portland, Oregon, McClain's is the go-to supplier of woodblock print tools in the United States. Their website can be found here. The Unfinished Print interview with Daniel Jasa of McClain's can be found here.

Wood Like Matsumura - is an online and brick and mortar store, for woodblock printmaking, located in Nerima City, Tōkyō.

Cocker-Weber - is a brush manufacturing company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.  It was established in 1892. You can find more information here. 

Philadelphia Museum of Art - originating with the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, the PMA has over 200,000 pieces of art and objects and is one of the preeminent museums in the US.

James A Michener (1907-1997) - a Pulitzer Prize winning writer, scholar and academic who wrote on Japanese prints, amongst many more topics.

Mokuhanga Artists Using Laser - many mokuhnaga printmakers today are exploring using laser engraving for their woodblocks rather than hand cutting. Printmakers who use this method are Cal Carlisle, Endi Poskovich, Shinjji Tsuchimochi, and Benjamin Selby. If you know of others, please let me know!

Illustrator - is an Adobe product which creates two-dimensional pieces for artists and illustrators. 

James A McGrath - is an educator and artist who served as Director of Arts for American Schools in Europe; he taught design, painting and poetry at the Institute of American Indian Arts and was the Arts and Humanities Coordinator for the US Department of Defence School in Southeast Asia. He also worked on the Hopi Indian Reservation and returned to the Institute of American Indian Art as dean of the college and Museum Director. He is now retired. You can find some of his work and writings here at The Smithsonian. 

Hopi Mesa - is the spiritual and physical home of the Hopi tribe in Arizona. It is a group of villages (pueblos) on three mesas. Mesa are flat-topped ridges surrounded by escarpments. More information can be found on Visit Arizona here.

National Endowment For The Arts - was established by the US Congress in 1965 and created to fund arts and education in the United States. You can find more information here. 

Dawson’s Springs Museum - is an art museum located in an old bank and was established in 1986 in Dawson’s Springs, Kentucky.

Karoo Desert - is a semi-desert located in South America and distinguished by the Great Karoo and the Little Karoo. A great article about the Karoo Desert by The Guardian can be found, here

Chobe River - also known as the Kwando, is a river which flows from Angola and Namibia. It is known for its wildlife and runs through various National Parks.  

Kachina - these are the religious beliefs of the Hopi, Zuni, Hopi-Tewa, and Kerasan. It incorporates the supernatural, dancing, and dolls through Ancestor worship. 

bas relief - is a sculptural technique where figures and designs are carved or moulded onto a flat surface, only slightly raised above the background. Bas relief has been used in art and architecture for thousands of years and is found in various cultures, such as the Egyptians, and Assyrians, during The Rennaisance, until today. Bas relief is used today to decorate buildings, monuments, tombs, and decorative objects such as plaques, medals, and coins.
In bas-relief, the figures and designs are typically carved or moulded in shallow relief, with only a few millimetres of depth,  creating a subtle, three-dimensional effect that is less dramatic than the more deeply carved high relief. Bas relief can be made from various materials, including stone, wood, metal, and plaster.

sepia - is a reddish brown colour. Can be found in various pigments. 

Duomo di Firenze - is the Florence Cathedral, finished in the 15th Century, using some of the finest architects from Italy. It is associated with the Italian Renaissance. 

Boston Printmakers -  is an organization of international printmakers started in 1947. It holds a Biennial every two years. You can find more information here.

The National Gallery of Art - is a free art gallery in Washington D.C. Founded by financier Andrew W. Mellon. The gallery houses more than 150,000 pieces dedicated to education and culture. Construction finished for the West building in 1941. More info can be found here. 

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***The opinions expressed by guests in The Unfinished Print podcast are not necessarily those of André Zadorozny and of Popular Wheat Productions.***