Photoshop & traditional skills
MAKE WOODBLOCK STYLE PRINTS
Tom Foster demonstrates how to replicate the gorgeous look of a traditional Japanese woodblock print
Artist PROFILE
Tom Foster
LOCATION: Scotland
I’m a comic book artist, best known for my work on Judge Dredd for 2000 AD. I also regularly run comics workshops in schools across Scotland. bit.ly/3MOJr6T
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Although Japanese woodblock printmaking is a tradition that goes back several centuries, it’s an aesthetic that tends to look timeless – particularly the Shin Hanga prints of the early 20th century. The tightly rendered line work has so much in common with contemporary western artists like Frank Quitely and Chris Burnham, that it’s easy to imagine it appearing in the pages of a modern comic book. But there are a few tell-tale signs that betray the age of the originals and it’s these I’ll be focusing on here, in order to mimic the style.