Heron over reed bank
2.4 s on hemp paper. The circle closes 85%; the seal sits in the gap.
Press, draw, lift.
Slow makes it heavy. Fast makes it dry. The sheet keeps the first one.
2.1 sfrom press to lift
38 cmof line, at screen size
83%of the circle closed
Above is an example stroke. Draw your own and these three numbers become yours.
Every plate we press is made in three moves, and none of them can be taken back.
Load.
Soot and water are ground on the inkstone until the black runs glossy. The brush drinks once, to the heel, and nothing is added after.
Hold.
The whole composition is rehearsed in the mind and never on the paper. The hand waits at full load until the stroke is already certain.
Lift.
One gesture from the shoulder. The mass lands wet, the bristles dry to a tail, and the brush leaves before the line can waver.
Three plates, three gaps.
Pine, single bough
1.7 s on mulberry paper. Closes 79%, the driest tail of the three.
Empty bowl, dawn
3.1 s on hemp paper. Closes 89%, the heaviest start.
Six plates a season.
Bring a subject. We set it on the slab, hold the breath, and lift the brush once. You see the plate when it is finished, not before.
Commission a plate