Japanese Mezzotint Print, 1990s, first edition, pencil signed, numbered 195/300, and titled in Japanese by Norikane Hiroto

SIZE IN INCHES: 8.25 x 9.5

NORIKANE HIROTO (b. 1949) is a contemporaty Japanese printmaker specializing in mezzotints. He is known for his renderings of cats and other animals. Norikane was educated at the Sokei Academy of Fine Arts. Collections of his works are displayed at: Portland Art Museum, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Oregon City Museum, and The White House.

Mezzotint is among the most physically demanding mediums in art, one tried and quickly abandoned as "too difficult", for example, by the great printmaker M.C. Escher. A copper plate is "rocked" with a curved, notched blade until the surface is entirely pitted. At this stage, an inked plate would print a rich, uniform black. The artist then uses a scraper or burnisher to flatten the raised parts, a little for dark grays, a lot for light grays, completely for white (after inking and wiping, the plate holds no ink where it is smooth). Colors are achieved by similarly working one or more supplementary plates.

Fine, no flaws