ships propeller spitzack woodblock woodcut mokuhanga print printmaking washi seattle art

"Ship's Propeller" turns to industrial subject matter, a marked departure from the landscape and floral imagery that dominates mokuhanga's traditional repertoire. The curved blades of a marine propeller offer strong graphic possibilities for relief carving: hard edges where the metal catches light, deep shadows in the recessed hub, and the radial geometry that organizes the composition around a central axis. Mokuhanga's water-based pigments produce a softer rendering of metallic surfaces than oil-based inks would, leaning toward tonal description rather than hard reflection. Seattle's working waterfront and shipbuilding history give Spitzack direct access to this subject matter — dry docks, salvage yards, and moored vessels are part of the local visual environment. The print extends his practice of bringing Pacific Northwest industrial vernacular into a medium historically associated with Edo-period landscape and figure traditions.