Resurrecting a 300 year Hokusai Design

Producing a woodblock print nearly 300 years after Hokusai's "Great Picture Book of Everything," was abandoned. The link to get the print is down below:
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https://www.brandonjohnsonstudio.com
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My name is Brandon Johnson and I am an 'artist' outside of Chicago, IL. I work in a variety of mediums including painting, drawing, etc, however within the last year or so I have caught the printmaking bug. Rarely has a day gone by over the last year and a bit without either designing, carving, or printing.
Nearly 300 years after Hokusai first put his brush to paper to create, what would have been a monumental creation, "The Great Picture Book of Everything." An encyclopedia of the world, histories, and stories from foreign lands; this project was commissioned by a book publisher in Edo, but for some reason or another would never be made. Because of this, Hokusai's original paintings for the project were never destroyed, a by product of the woodblock process, and through good luck were preserved until the current day. Coming into the hands of the British Museum in 2020, this would be the first time a majority of the world would have access to see such works. As it happens, it also coincided with my early interests in woodblock printing. You could imagine my excitement when Dave Bull and Mokuhankan would begin their two year project of making their own originals from the paintings. I had always anticipated tackling this challenge on my own, but was never sure when. It is now two years since I began carving my own blocks, so I figured it would be a good chance to test my merit as it were. Three months later, we have crossed the finish line! There are elements that I could most certainly improve upon, however, I think from where I started this year to where I ended, I am happy. 
My goal is to make one more follow up video on this print talking about the history of the original designs, Hokusai's life, and my own thoughts on the process of making this print. Yes, I did say 'talk.' I will try to make a narrated video, once I work up the courage, Haha.
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandonjohn...
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Chapters

0:00 Opening
0:15 Carving Prologue
0:50 Printing Tools
1:15 Printing the Blocks
7:00 The Final Image


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#japanesecraft #japaneseart #ukiyoe #asmr #woodcut #unintentionalasmr