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Mokuhanga

Print: Mokuhanga, Woodblock printing

Mokuhanga example 1
Mokuhanga model comparison 2
Mokuhanga model comparison 3
Mokuhanga model comparison 4

The prompt

{subject}, rendered as a Japanese mokuhanga woodblock print: flat carved ink-black contour lines and solid sumi blocks, one muted indigo-blue field, and a single vermilion-red spot accent, hand-printed on crisp off-white kozo paper, bold confident gouged contours, fine woodgrain texture inside the printed colour blocks, flat hard-edged colour areas, no gradients, {composition}. Absolutely NO text, NO letters, NO words, NO numbers, NO logos.

Materials
Kozo paper, Sumi
Techniques
Mokuhanga, Woodblock printing

mokuhanga, woodblock, ukiyo e, flat ink, sumi

Slot recipes

How the prompt changes for each kind of picture.

  • Hero: The subject carved in flat sumi blocks, indigo field and one vermilion spot accent, filling a wide 3:2 frame edge to edge.
  • Feature: The subject rendered full-frame in flat hard-edged blocks, sumi line, indigo field and a single vermilion accent.
  • Avatar: A three-quarter contour of the subject in flat carved ink, indigo and one vermilion spot, filling the frame.
  • Empty state: A quiet single subject in flat carved blocks, sumi line on indigo or off-white paper, woodgrain texture, filling the frame.
  • Illustration: The subject in flat carved blocks with asymmetric composition, sumi line, indigo field and a vermilion accent, fine woodgrain texture, full-frame.

Guidance

Do

  • Apply the woodblock treatment to any subject equally — a face, an object, a city, an animal.
  • Keep colour to flat hard-edged blocks: sumi ink, one indigo, one vermilion, on off-white paper.
  • Keep fine woodgrain texture inside the printed colour blocks.
  • Carve bold confident contour lines and flat hard-edged colour areas; fill the frame.

Don’t

  • Do not render the apparatus — no woodblock, press, paper sheet, or frame as the subject.
  • Do not add any text, letters, numbers, or logos.
  • Do not use gradients or photographic shading.
  • Do not leave empty negative space reserved for text or a press block.

In the lineage of

  • Japanese mokuhanga woodblock printing, tradition. carved contour and solid fields

A generated style is an aggregate of many influences. Credit goes to the artists and traditions it draws on; it is not a claim of authorship.

Produced by unrecorded, sourced by unrecorded, images by unrecorded

Remix with this style

Apply Mokuhanga to any UI language and swap the palette: the preview takes this style's hero image.