Dogwood 3 B

Dogwood 3 B belongs to Namiki's ongoing series devoted to flowering dogwood (hanamizuki), a tree introduced to Japan from North America in the early twentieth century and now widely planted along urban streets. The print likely centers on a single branch or small cluster of four-petaled blossoms set against a softly graduated ground, the [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradation worked across the background to create atmospheric depth without competing with the floral subject. The 'B' designation indicates a variant state within the series, in which Namiki shifts color registration or background tone while retaining the same key-block drawing. Carved and printed by the artist on handmade [washi](/glossary/washi) using water-based pigments and a [baren](/glossary/baren), the sheet exemplifies the [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) principle of the artist as sole maker. Within Namiki's wider body of work — dominated by solitary trees, paths, and seasonal motifs — the dogwood subjects sit closer to traditional [kacho-e](/glossary/kacho-e) (bird and flower picture) conventions, isolating a botanical specimen as a meditative focal point.