netsuke rat

Netsuke - Rat Clutching its Tail With Forepaws

While I am waiting for my new tools to arrive I continue to explore some more netsuke on the plywood. I make a test print with sumi ink. I wonder what this rat would like in a different colour. I only have a few old watercolours left over in a box. Most have dried out. There's a Burnt Umber and Yellow Ochre still useable so I mix these together with nori paste creating a slightly sickly brown. I make another test print. A sick rat is right. I'm not sure about the dark eye so cut it out and make another print in black sumi ink. Now a black demon hollow eyed rat peers out from behind its tail and I wish I had left the eye alone. I am finding it a challenge carving such a small design and hoping new tools might help.

Netsuke - Rat Clutching its Tail With Forepaws