Video Games Meet Woodblock Art: Ukiyo-e Heroes Kicking Ass on Kickstarter

Our readers may remember a few months back when we wrote about artist Jed Henry, who creates amazing digital pictures of iconic Nintendo game characters using traditional Japanese ukiyo-e (traditional wood block) art style of painting (see right, Super Mario example). At the time, I mentioned that Jed might have a Kickstarter campaign in the works to turn his pictures into actual Japanese woodblock prints, with the help of woodblock printmaker David Bull.

That campaign – entitled Ukiyo-e Heroes – launched on August 1, and support from the public has been amazing. With an original goal of over $10,000, the project reached $45,000 on its first day and since then has over $230,000 with only three days left to go.

A few days back the pair of artists announced that Jed will be coming to Tokyo to work with Dave in his workshop, recreating an old designer/printer relationship which Dave says is in keeping with old tradition. They also “want to share [their] journey through art and history” and are considering producing a series of short films about their experience, and plan share it for free on YouTube, Vimeo, and on their websites [1]. Part of the goal here, says Jed, is to let people fully understand the process.

There are a lot of things that I really like about this project, but perhaps most of all is the way that it blends old and new – taking an ancient art form and using modern ideas and characters that give it relevance in today’s society. Check out Dave’s video below where he explains a little more about this.

If you’d like to support the project on Kickstarter, there are still a few days left. And the rewards, as you might expect, are pretty damn sweet. [h/t to Gen on Facebook]