#artplatformtokyo

まずは地塗りの白漆、これは漆の本来の素の色です。漆は空気中の酸素に触れて固まっていく際に一旦色が沈み、より深い色彩になるために、今は乳白色に見えます。しかし、漆には時間とともに透明度が増す性質を備えているために、徐々に白がより強く出るそうです。

デザインの下書きは、直線部分は直定規を使って、円部分は同じ直径に切り抜いた木の板をコンパス代わりに使って鉛筆で線を引きます。間違えた場合は消しゴムで修正。そのラインを囲むようにマスキングテープを貼ります。一度定規で線が描かれているものの、マスキングテープを貼る作業は結構気を使います。というのも丁寧に貼っていかないと曲がったり歪んだりするからです。写真の白、黄色のラインがマスキングテープです。

その後、細い筆を使って朱漆、黒漆を塗っても大きく線からはみ出さないように塗ります。漆で数回描き重ねた後にマスキングを剥し、気に入らないラインを描き直し、はみ出た箇所を修正していきます。

今回は、1mm幅の線を漆で描いたのですが、実はどうも気に入らない。。。ということで現在1.5mmの線に修正している最中です。修正するために再度マスキングを貼り直してから漆の作業に再び入ります。その後、マスキングテープを剥す前に砥石で漆の線を平滑に研ぎますが、白い地塗りの面に砥石が当たってしまうと表面を傷つけてしまいます。傷ついた地塗りの白漆を再度塗り直すことはかなり大変なので、慎重に作業を進めていきます。

Now it’s time to start drawing up the sketch on the surface. All the colored lacquers used on the surface is made in Japan, which are seven times more expensive than the Chinese lacquer. 

 The base coat is creamy white, a primal color of lacquer. When lacquer is hardened by being exposed to oxygen in the air, the color sinks into the surface to create a deeper hue, and this creates the distinctive creamy white. However, lacquer also possesses a property of becoming more transparent with time - as the result, the white will become brighter and more intense in the future. 

 To make the original sketch on the surface, Toshihiko uses a pencil and an eraser along with a ruler for the straight lines and hand-created wooden boards for the circles. He then applies masking tapes around the lines. Although he already has his lines to guide him, aligning masking tapes is tricky since they can easily be bent or twisted. The white and yellow lines in the photo are the marks made with masking tapes. 

 Then, he applies red and black lacquer with a thin paint brush, making sure that the color doesn’t veer off the lines. After painting it over several times, he removes the masking tapes and makes some corrections (i.e., redrawing the lines he doesn’t like, correcting the veered off lines). 

布着せが完成！

目摺り その後は麻布の目の中に切り粉下地をヘラでしごき入れます。切り粉下地とは漆、米のり、三辺地を混ぜたものです。4時間ほどかけて麻布の目を目立たなくして表面を平滑にしていくこの作業は「目摺り作業」と呼ばれます。下の画像は目摺りへら付けの様子です。

Mesuri After the surface has dried, a mixture of fine power called ‘Sanbenjinoko’ and rice paste are coated to fill in the grain of the linen using a spatula.  This process is called ‘mesuri’ (literally meaning grain scraping).  It takes approximately 4 hours to smooth out the surface.

切り粉漆 その後錆漆と水と粘土で混ぜた「切り粉漆」を作り、それを表面にヘラ付けしていきます。それが乾かいた後さらに砥石で2回平滑に研ぎます。切り粉漆作りから砥石で研ぎ上げまでの主要時間は４時間。切り粉漆をヘラで平滑に付けるのはある程度の熟練を必要とする作業です。上の画像は切り粉下地研ぎ、下の切り粉下地完成の画像です。

Kiriko-urushi Then, Kiriko-urushi, a blend of Sanbenji, rice paste, and Sabiurushi (clay, clay powder, water) is applied on the surface before grinding with whetstone. This process which takes 4 hours calls for a skilled and experienced craftsperson who can evenly apply the kiriko-urushi on the surface.

上記全ての作業においてはそれぞれ下地を付け乾くまで１日、寒い日は2日以上待ちます。単純作業の繰り返しのように見えるかもしれませんが、平滑に研ぐのは実は難しいのです。特に砥石を使う時は全体的に平均して当てながら、深いキズなどが付かぬように慎重に研いでいかなくてはならなく、平滑に下地を仕上げる段階から上塗りまで気を遣う作業の連続です。

岩田さんがその合板の表面を軽くヤスリをかける等の木地調整をした後、いよいよ塗りに入ります。今回の作品くらいの大きさですと、岩田さんは自分で塗りをしてしまうことも多いそうですが、今回は会津で漆の装身具等を作っている塗師、小松さんに下地から地塗り研ぎまでを外注に出しました。漆の需要が減少している今日この頃、塗師さんに地塗りまでの作業を任せることにより、少しでも塗師という職を絶やさないことにも貢献したいと語っていました。

相談の結果、今回はコスト削減のために、下地の生漆は値段の安い中国産の漆を使用しました（上塗りは日本産を使用します）。まず生漆を溶剤で希釈し、ヘラを使って何度も漆を合板に塗り染み込ませます。この「木地固め」と言われるこの工程は、最初に十分に木地に漆を吸わせることで、それ以上の漆の吸い込みを止める為の作業で、漆作品の強度を上げます。この作業を数回繰り返し、湿度が保たれている密閉された空間「漆風呂」（サウナみたいなものらしいです）で漆を固化させます。季節によっても変わりますが行程を終えるまで2週間程かかります。

After the design is decided, Toshihiko ordered the plywood.

Choosing the right material for lacquer work is essential. The wood should not have any wormholes or rough particles and the measurement must be accurate for the work to embody the beauty of the original design. Toshihiko who lives in Kamakura City asks Mr. Uno in Uonuma area in Fujisawa City, a competent wood worker/furniture builder, to prime the wood. 　Most of time, he asks for plywood made of Japanese lime, which has smooth surface and doesn’t warp easily. Because plywood is made from layers of wood that are glued in the direction of wood grain rotating up to 90 degrees, it is rigid.

After lightly sanding down the plywood to prime the surface, Toshihiko sends out the wood to Aizu for the undercoating. Usually with a work this size, Toshihiko often does his own undercoating, but he decided to assign Ms. Komatsu, a craftsperson who mainly creates lacquer accessories, to do the preparatory work from undercoating to polishing. In this era where the demand for lacquer is diminishing, Toshihiko tries to secure craftsperson’s job by outsourcing this phase as much as possible.

これでもお客様は今一つ満足されないようです。「ちょっと黒とか赤がうるさすぎる」、「真ん中の赤い線が気になる」。「最初のシンプルなエスキースの方が良かったかもしれない」と、方向性を戻すことにしました。油絵と違い、岩田さんの漆は途中で方向転換が簡単にできないので、エスキースの段階でお互いに納得しないと、後ほど取り返しのつかないことになります。約一ヶ月後、お客様のもとにメールが届きました。

「もう一色足し、色面をプラスして構成しました。また、ラインのイメージを取り入れデザインしました。」

それが、以下のデザインです。

今回のデザインはお客様も気に入られ、結局、黒と赤のシンプルなものに決着。。。と思っていたのですが、その３週間後にお客様にまた以下のメールが届きました。

「エスキースを改めて眺めていて、印象が弱いように見えたので、少し変更しました。文様の上方→黒い線を内輪に、もう一本足しました。右手、端に黒い線を描き入れました。厚み→エスキースで横の厚み部分にもデザインを描きましたが、野暮ったい印象なので厚さを縮めました。」

岩田さんのデザインのセンスが前面に出たクールなデザインです。結果的に最初のエスキースから最後のエスキースまで２ヶ月以上かかりました。前回、コミッションワークはアーティストとお客様の「共同作業」を書いた理由がお分かり頂けたかと思います。

次回はいよいよ制作に入ります。

After the client and the gallery (or artist) confirm the contents on the agreed document, the in-depth discussion on the design resumed. The rough drawing of the work from the artist Toshihiko Iwata was sent to the clients.

`I‘m not convinced’, `I want to see more dynamism’, `Is there any way that you can color the shapes’, ‘Can’t you make it like Mondrian’s Broadway Boogie—Woogie?’…there were various opinions and requests from the clients. Toshihiko who carefully creates each draft with his pencils sent them the revised versions.

The clients weren’t again satisfied claiming, ‘I think the black and red are too loud’ and `The line in the center is too conspicuous.’ They agreed that perhaps the initial design might have been better and decided to reverse the direction. Unlike oil painting, once the production process starts, it’s not easy to change the direction of the work for Toshihiko’s lacquer art. Unless there is a consensus on the design, the artist and the client may end up having unsatisfied and unhappy piece of artwork. Almost a month later, the clients received an e-mail from the artist.

‘I decided to add one more color in my new composition on the first piece. On the second piece, I chose to focus more on lines.’ The followings were the new designs.

This time the clients were very happy and decided on the simple black and red design… however, three weeks later, the clients received another e-mail from the artist.

‘As I was staring at the draft that I sent you and you liked, I decided to make an alternation as I felt the design wasn’t strong enough. For the lines on the upper side, I added one more line on the right end. Looking at the design on the side of the work, I thought it looked cheap and decided to change the width of the panel to make it sharper’.

The cool and sophisticated design highlights not only his Toshihiko’s talent as a designer but brilliant eye for detail. After all, it took more than two months from the first to the final draft. We hope you understand why we wrote that commissioned work is ‘collaboration’ between the artist and the client.

先日A氏から一文字三星をモチーフにフラットパネルのコミッションを頂きました。「下地の色は漆特有のクリーム色、ちょっと華やいだ色を混ぜて欲しい。価格の上限はあり、サイズはお任せ」というご注文でした。

数週間後、岩田さんの方から、「価格、45度回した正方形（縦横92cm、一辺が65cm）、所要時間（約１年）、コストを抑えるために基調の漆は中国製、所々日本製の漆を使用する」等の案を提示し、作品の主要な事を大まかに話し合いました。

その他、様々な事を合意の上、進めて行きます。例えば、まず、手付け金として50％を支払う事、その後、デザインを協議の上、製作段階に移り、完成後に残額50%を支払う事を合意します。又、万が一支払いが滞った場合、病気等の理由で作家が期間内に完成できなくなった場合、あるいは著作権等についても覚書を作成します。完成後の箱の作成の必要の有無や、具体的な配達の方法、その他のコストも双方が納得し、記録したところで振り込みをお願いしました。

次回はいよいよデザインを選びます。

‘I love this work, but somebody bought it already’, ‘I want to have a similar work in different color and in smaller size’

Have you ever thought that way? It’s always terrifying to ask the artist for commission work especially if you haven’t done it before. Actually, many artists are happy to be asked because 1) they are excited to know that there are people who want their work, and 2) they are pleased to have the warranty that their time and labor will be compensated.

Commission work is collaboration between artist who cherishes their creative freedom and client who has a certain idea of what the finished work should look like – that’s why it can be tricky. The key for successful commission artwork lies on preliminary discussion between the artist and the client.

The discussion will involve anything from the image the client is looking for based on the artist’s past artworks (i.e., color, size), to logistics such as payment method, the shipment, and deadline. To avoid unnecessary trouble, it’s always better to have the agreement stated on a document.

In ARTicle, we will follow each step of the commission work by Toshihiko Iwata, the lacquer artist whom we had shown in our past exhibition.

Recently we were asked by our client for a commission work for Toshihiko’s flat panel series with Ichimonji-sansei motif, an old Japanese family crest. The client wanted the base color to be creamy white, distinctive color used in lacquer work. He also gave us the upper limit on the price. As for the design, he requested at least one bright color featured on the panel but had no preference regarding the size.

A few weeks later, the client and the artist discussed and decided on the price. Toshihiko suggested the followings – the shape will be, a 65 cm square side, rotated 45 degrees; both width and height will be 92 cm; the completion will take about a year; less expensive Chinese lacquer will be used extensively especially for the base.

We also agreed on other various matters. For instance, we agreed that the client will pay 50% as the initial payment before discussing the design and creative process in details. After the artwork is completed, the client will pay the remaining 50%. We provided some contingency plans in case the client fails to pay, or the artist fails to finish in time due to unexpected incidents such as illness. We also discussed the ownership of copyright of the work. Finally, we covered the miscellaneous costs such as a box for the work, shipment and handling fees. Upon obtaining mutual agreement, the document was signed, and the payment was made.