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  • Visual Arts
  • History
  • World Cultures
  • Grades 9-12

Ukiyo-e Woodblock Prints
What techniques are applied to Japanese woodblock print art?

In this 9-12 lesson, students will explore the history and evolution of the Japanese woodblock print. Students will study the ukiyo-e genre from its early beginnings to its height in the late 1800s. Students will also learn about the techniques and development of this process, view prints from the time period, and create original ukiyo-e prints.

 

 

Lesson Content

Learning Objectives 

Students will: 

  • Research and gather information about Japanese woodblock prints. 
  • Discuss the influence of the Japanese print-making process by their characteristic style of flat brilliant colors.
  • Observe gradations in value (lightness or darkness of color) employed in Japanese printmaking.
  • Recognize how shapes appear flat as if cut from paper and pasted to a wall.
  • Discuss that Japanese artists included characters from Kabuki theater, the countryside, flowers, and birds.
  • Complete a block print of a character/person, landscape, birds, or flowers.
  • Demonstrate positive and negative space by carving away the negative spaces in the designs.
  • Produce a print lining up multi-color prints using kagi and hikitsuke marks.

 

Standards Alignment

Recommended Student Materials

Videos

Websites

Additional Materials

  • Sketch paper or newsprint
  • Tracing paper
  • Carbon paper
  • Printing or rice paper
  • Sharpened pencils
  • Woodblock or pine board cut
  • Carving tools
  • Barren
  • Paint or ink
  • Clothespins
  • String
  • Optional: wooden bench hooks

 

Teacher Background

Teachers should familiarize themselves with the and the process of

 

Student Prerequisites 

Students should be familiar with basic art terminology: composition, gradation, flat, brilliant, subject, depth/dimension, etc. Students should have basic background knowledge of Japanese history and culture.

 

Accessibility Notes

Provide assistive technologies during research and the art-making process. Allow sufficient space for movement around the room.

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  • Original Writer

    Elna Eichenmuller

  • Adaptation

    Jill Gerlman

  • Editor

    JoDee Scissors

  • Updated

    January 12, 2022

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