'Behind the Hannya Mask'
Note that hand-colouring on the tattoo and gold mica on the background. This print is made with and without 'fundoshi' (traditional underwear) in appliqué.

The cherry-blossom tattoo in this print is a standard motif in all Japanese culture, symbolizing transience of the world, especially of youth.

This print was originally conceived as a tattoo print, but in the end, this print focused instead on the light effect on the male torso.

The blue-hued version Kemuri ('Smoke').

The model wears a 'yukata' directly inspired by one in a print by Shinsui. The background is printed in a 'goma-zuri' (sesame-seed printing) or lightly pressed method, reminiscent of Watanabe's pre-1923 prints.

This is a new state of the 2006 commissioned design, 'Ho-o no Yume' (Phoenix Dream). It is the tattoo version of 'Yume no Ato'.

Some might feel an Utamaro influence on this version, in the diamond-shaped 'shobori' and the pale grey ground, and indeed there is a famous self-portrait of that great master painting a phoenix mural in Seiro Ehon Nenju Gyoji (A Picture-book of the Annual Events in the Yoshiwara) of 1804.

This is a new state of the 2006 commissioned design, 'Ho-o no Yume' (Phoenix Dream). It is the non-tattoo version of 'Ho-o no Yume'.

This is the non-tattoo version of 'Hokusai no taki' (Hokusai's Waterfalls).

The figure appears to escape the margins of the picture plane completely. This is a tendency in many of Paul Binnie's prints.

On the model's back is a Kunisada design.

This print is bsaed on Hokusai's famous 'Waterfalls' set, and thus the model stands beneath a flow of water, splashes of which are indicated by hand-applied 'gofun'.

For this non-tattoo version of 'Kunisada's Danjuro', the artist presents a more visceral design.

This is Kuniyoshi's pupil, Yoshitoshi, who often made prints of ghosts, and here they are adapted to the tattoos and the smoke from the cense and his seal. The smoke-spirit is printed in white lacquer and a hideous skull-head is formed by the letters of his name.

This is the non-tattoo version of the print 'Yoshitoshi's Ghosts'. Replacing the ghostly smoke for a plume of 'gofun' printed in 'bokashi', the feel of this version is quite different.

From the Edo Sumi Hyaku Shoku ('A Hundred Shades of Ink of Edo') series. The tattoo is a reference to Utamaro's 'shunga' ('spring pictures' or erotica).

The cat tattoos on the model derive from a Kuniyoshi triptych of cats as stages of the Tokaido.

Binnie usually creates the tattoo designs on his models, drawing from Ukiyo-e influences, as seen in his Edo zumi hyaku shoku series. In this particular case, the 'Dragon and Demon' tattoo is a real one.

In this tattoo print, the red maple leaves, stylised thunderbolts and gusts of wind all suggest autumn.

The fourth and latest design in this series, this addition is a dramatic and emotive female portrait.

An unusual printing technique is used for the shibori (tie-dyed) pattern on the red kimono, which imbues a realistic feel to the dyed silk. This involves deeply embossing the plain paper with the white pattern; then the red colour is gently printed over the surface of the flat block. In addition, hand-applied ‘teardrops’ of nikawa (glue-size) in the mica represents her fallen tears, which are unique to the piece.

This print is made is on a heavier paper from Iwate prefecture to facilitate the very deep embossing.