Hikime

New modeling material on my workbench - Mitsuro Hikime - 蜜蝋引き目 - an old Japanese technique that has been around for centuries and is hardly practiced today.

In my workshop, I prepare the Mitsuro Hikime wax according to a special recipe. 
The beautiful striated texture is created by hand pulling, stretching and folding the wax back onto itself. The result is totally unique, reminding brush strokes, similar to Japanese calligraphy.
Only those with sufficient patience and time can create the characteristic grooved surface texture. Although the result may look effortless, only a few of the trials make it to production. 

I am still in the "in negotiations" phase with Mitsuro, seeing if I can make it mine 😊.