Step Ten ...

Background colour ... That makes a big difference! This 'dirty brown' colour is what we most commonly see in the background of scroll paintings of this type. The figure just stands 'free' of everything - no background is the best background in this case.

This impression is hard work - because the centre area of the woodblock is carved away, leaving just the outer area of the wood in place, it is easy for the paper to become distorted during the rubbing of the baren. And again, this is a 'double impression', to ensure smoothness and depth.