Yesterday afternoon I got a very exciting package in the post from the lovely people at G.F. Smith and it was probably the best presented package I've had since I got a Seb Lester print for Christmas! It may only have been a handful of paper samples, but I'm a little nerdy (unashamedly so) when it comes to this kind of thing! Most of the colours I ordered are just as stunning as I'd hoped and while some are slightly paler than I thought, it means I can now see more clearly what I'm dealing with.
I'm a firm believer in seeing and feeling any paper stock you're considering using before you use it, especially if you're buying paper online. The kind of stock you use has the potential to make or break a piece of work. For a while now I've been in love with the collections that G.F. Smith produce, from the gorgeous and rich tones of Colorplan to the elegantly patterned Marlmarque.
So, because I've got a few little projects on the go (mostly my Christmas card designs, and some business cards too) I wanted to start thinking about the kinds of colours and paper weights I wanted to work with. Some of the projects I'm working on I pretty much knew what weight I wanted to work with, the Amethyst purple paper for example is a lovely 350gsm so it'll be perfect for one of my business card jobs. I also got a few sheets of the Citrine yellow (my personal favourite) in 275gsm and 350gsm for when I rework my own business cards.
While I can now feel the weight of the paper, it also means I can now work more confidently on matching ink colours to the real-world colours of the stock. For me this is probably the most important part, after all I need to live up to the "chromatic" name!
For some of these papers, I've already worked out which coloured inks I want to use, for example the Amethyst is going to have metallic gold lettering with white detailing, while the Forest and Vermillion papers (which I've decided will definitely be used for my Christmas cards) will be paired with metallic silver and white.
Left to right, top to bottom: Scarlet, Amethyst, Marlmarque Marble White and Vermillion.
Left to right, top to bottom: Citrine, Emerald, Cool Grey and Forest
I've still got a lot of decisions to make, and I've still yet to draw up my thoughts for the lettering! At least I'm making a start on it though. I've also enquired about taking part in local craft markets and print fairs in order to sell some of my work, PrintHaus have also hinted at the potential to sell through one of their biannual Snapped Up markets in December!
Everything is coming up Milhouse!