Morning tears - Blue background

"Morning tears" belongs to Binnie's body of [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga) prints, in which the contemporary figure inherits the conventions of the Edo-period beauty print while assuming an emotional and sometimes erotic candour foreign to the historical genre. The "Blue background" subtitle indicates that this print is part of a small series printed against contrasting grounds — a working method recalling Utamaro's variant key-block printings against differing tones. The blue field is achieved through [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi), the hand-applied gradation of pigment across the block, executed with brush and [baren](/glossary/baren) by the master printer in Japan with whom Binnie has long collaborated. The intimacy of the subject — a moment of private grief captured at first light — reflects Binnie's wider interest in psychological states rendered through subtle facial drawing and the tonal restraint that mokuhanga on [washi](/glossary/washi) permits.