Takuji Kubo  

Doumo di Milano Ⅰ_trial proof

 Scroll down to see all trial proof images.

NEWS!　★

Kubo and his sailing boat, Lily has finally arrived to old Genova (Genoa) harbour, Italy!  He come to Milano and  climed up to the roof of the holy Doumo di Milano.This magnificent and unprecedented project took him 1152 hours for 194 days.

Enjoy the completed image of the work and his final essay! (The essay is below the image) 

Bon a' tirer proof
engraving 2013
plate size 427 x 311mm
image size 393 x 275mm

Bon a' tirer proof

My voyage on the Arabian Sea was a smooth sail.  After passing through the Suez Canal,  Lily's hull floated on the emerald green waters of the Mediterranean Sea and we set the number 3 jib sail into the strong head wind.  It became a most exciting experience. 

In the history of art since the time of the Renaissance, many artists have included the human figure in their landscapes.  Their main purpose was to represent the proportion of the figure in relation to the scale of the surrounding subject. I engraved a female figure into the left edge of the composition to help the viewer understand the real scale of the world biggest Gothic architecture.

Lily passed Sicily and we headed north. When the head wind weakened, I changed the genoa's jib sail and arrived into harbor of Genova in the evening on July 8th.  Buon giorno Italia! I moored Lily next to a local sail  boat and we stayed the night.   The next morning I came to Milano and saw the Doumo di Milano beautifully lit by the early summer sunlight.  I gave thanks in prayer in appreciation for the safe voyage and arrival at the Cathedral of my dream.  I immediately climbed to the roof, where the fullness of my heart became the dream come true.   I spent hours observing, searching and admiring all the details I engraved. I feel happy to create this monumental work as a contribution to the history of print art world. Perhaps  I could be the first artist to engrave view of this world wonder in this  sacred sight.

On July 8th, Yoshio pulled bon a' tirer proof.   All the fine details linked with one another and the entire structure was transformed into a beautiful space.   I have been patiently working for 8 months, eagerly waiting for the final stage.  Yoshio was just smiling at me with a special "thank you"  for a splendid proofing session!   The project took me 194 days, totaling 1152 hours.  All the hard physical work and the nightmares ended as the print was unveiled through the press.   

I returned to Genova and meditated in Lily's cabin about her future.   I may part with Lily to someone who would enjoy her beauty and function as I did and fly back to my home in Japan.  No! I cannot leave Lily in Italy in someone else's hands.  Its is our fate that we belong together and go to Yokohama together.   I shall return for a second engraving of Doumo di Milano. Encolre un bon voyage de retour!

July 15th 2013 Takuji Kubo

4th trial proof

May 27, 2013

Plate size 427x311mm, Image size 390x275mm

"During the hottest days of my voyage, Lily floated silently through the waters with a gentle summer breeze. I presupposed strong wind would not blow in this season, I decided dropping in Sri Lanka, the meaning of the sacred  island. I  had just wanted to replenish my supply of fresh water and food. I moored Lily at the berth in the yacht harbor of Colombo.  Since I had not on land in five months, my sea legs and knees were shocked when I went ashore. I was thankful to be in such a splendid place after being in winds and waves and confined to my small ships quarters.

I stayed at the Grand Oriental Hotel where they conveniently had cold lager beer with delicious spicy dishes with a grand view from the top floor. Sri Lanka is a paradise, I thought it might delay arriving at harbor of Genova, and spent lazy days for two weeks.

I departed Colombo on May 14th with a powerful tail wind, I set mainsail to quarter lee, and hoisted colorful spinnaker against the clear azure blue sky. Lily sliced and forced her path through ocean's waters towards to the Italian coast.

I started developing the image of the structure in middle bright tone values for two month and half. The engraver's burin was comfortable in my hands as it slid through the copper plate like a sailing ship on the waters, and paid great attention to the elaborate details of the architecture. I occurred to change format slightly to accommodate an additional 3 millimeters on the lower margin of the copper plate. This seemed to help me make the entire composition a much freer open space with less restrictions.

Yoshio inked the plate with skillful hand wiping and pulled the fourth trial proof on May 27th. My enthusiasm appeared passing through rollers. The wet jet black ink swelled on the fine paper, standing above the surface with a beautiful dimensionality. The line echoed the Gothic beauty of the building in a stoic manner and certainly existed on the paper. My commitment to challenge of this subject was confirmed in my mind, and was on my way for the next 44days, 208 hours of making hundreds thousands of minute lines. Then I pointed bow of Lily towards the Arabian Sea. Bon voyage encore!"

May  31st Takuji Kubo

Doumo di Milano engraved copper plate.                       

 May 30th, 2013

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The image of 3nd trial proof engraving and Kubo's essay are posted. The artist is cruising on his imaginary sailing boat, Lily, to Milan, his final destination. You will enjoy his essay below the proof image.

3rd trial proof

April 12, 2013

Plate size 427x311mm, Image size 390x275mm

"When I was sailing near Borneo Island, the strong window blew with heavy rain for whole three days. I sat off all sails down, and let automatic rudder navigation. I stayed in the cabin, and prayed for spring storm passed by. Lily was so small and weak against huge waves like a mountain high, I couldn't eat anything due to heavy rolling and pitching, got heavy seasick. In the afternoon of March 11th, I saw faint sunshine behind fast moving dark clouds, and then I navigated Lily towards to Streamer of Malacca. The sea water was flowing so first with against Lily, and large number of huge tankers and ships were passing by on the narrow channel, I had to take great care of her navigation.

For nearly three months, I engraved the medium dark tone, and built up the spires with the Saints on top. During engraving on the copper plate, my eyes occasionally lost the ability and concentration finding out form and structure. My sensation also lapsed the relationship in between small details and whole structure, hope the trial proof came out clearly.

On April 10th, Yoshio Shirai pulled out 3rd trial proof, my passion gushed out through the rollers with moderately pressure. The proof looked fresh and fine, I'm satisfied with my isolated and blind work, it took for 73 days, total 401 hours. However, she hasn't gotten just half way reaching to Genova harbor yet. Lily started sail on extensive Indian Ocean, hope to blow a nice following wind for her running."

April 12th  Takuji Kubo

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  2nd trial poof 

Jan. 16, 2013

Plate size 427x311mm, Image size 390x275mm

" I set up the sail of my sailing boat, Lily, and sailed out the harbor of Yokohama on November 28th, 2012. My final destination was the harbor of old Genova, to come up to Holy Doumo di Milano, Italy. Lily sailed across the East China Sea and then headed toward the South. The sea was unbelievably mild, so that I started tacking and jaiving from many angles. Lily was incredibly running so fast against the wind, made it hard to control the sails and the radder nights and days. Especially it was not easy to find the right direction in the dark. As you can imagine, making navigation error consumed my valuable time. That's why I desperately wanted to reach the harbor of Genova by the end of June, 2013. I had so many sleepless nights, well, you could say half-awaken nights.

My printer, Yoshio Shirai pulled out the 2nd trial proof on January 16th. It was excellent, the dark part is real jet black as I expected. I am happy about the result of a month work. I first built up basic foundation and construction of the architecture for a month, which was quite a high speed to do such a work. I worked for 28 days, and if you do the math, that equals to 195 hours.
I will be controlling my sailing boat more carefully towards the South China Sea. Bon voyage!  "

January 19. 2013 Takuji Kubo

The engraved  copper plate at  Kubo's studio, Feb, 5th 2013

 

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1st trial poof 

drypoint, Dec18.2012

Plate size 427x311mm, Image size 390x275mm

Tracing 47hours, guideline 79hours



Kubo took a short journey to Milano from Florence in the summer of 2005 because he wanted to go up to the roof of Doumo di Milano. When he reached the roof, the sight was incredibly beautiful and peaceful. He felt that he was close to heaven, immediately he started shooting the sight of the roof from many angles. Once he developed the films, the memory inspired such passion, therefore he naturally decided to make an engraving of the holy sight.

He doesn't know how long it takes to complete the engraving, it may take approximately ten months or one year, however, he is happy to engrave the intricate and brilliant Gothic architecture. It took forty - six hour for tracing from the photograph, and seventy - nine hour for drypoint the guidelines with metal needle on the copper plate. The first trial proof was pulled out on December 18th, 2012 at Shirai print workshop, Tokyo. He started engraving the 19th of December with the dark part of the work and he is planning to pull out about seven trial proofs. We will show each proof on this website. 

December 2012

The copper plate at  Kubo's studio in Japan.