Getting back on it...

It's been a while since my last post, but I think I'm finally getting used to the varying shift patterns at work which means I can start to get on with my fun projects! 

At the moment I'm working away on a new print design which might soon make its way into my (currenty barren) Etsy store. This new print is inspired by an old African proverb about strength in relationships and codependency, it's beautiful too:

"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."  

Looking at it now, it feels in the same vein as the Silver Anniversary print I did back in September for my parents. I think this could be a theme for my future works. 

Ruling pen tests with India ink. 

The image above is just a collection of letterform tests for me to get used to the stylised shapes a ruling pen creates, as well as playing around with mark making techniques.

I'm not using a homemade pen this time around, I'm using a brass pen I bought online for smoother lines and more uniform finish, something of which I've been trying to achieve for some time now. I've been using the pen for a few months (if you count the months I haven't really done any lettering at all) and it makes a wonderful sound as you lead it across the page, far more subtle than Coke-can pens.

Anyway, I digress! This is the style I'm going for with this next print; slightly rugged and strong with the raw ink marks and drying patterns. I hope to turn it into a halftone for the print, that way I can get the varied depths of the black on the screen and should also work really well as a subtle detail when printed. 

Silver Anniversary

Finally got my PrintHaus membership at the end of August and even though I was quite impatient, it was definitely worth the wait! The first thing I wanted to print was the lettering design I've been working on for my parents 25th wedding anniversary.
I've had this print in pipeline since June, but only recently have I had the facilities to make it real.

I knew pretty much exactly what I wanted for this print, at least in terms of the ink and paper. Simple black paper with a fine, silvery design to play on the traditional name for twenty five years of marriage in the UK.

Last year, I designed a simple print to celebrate the first year of my relationship with my boyfriend Tristan. My mom saw this and thought it was for her, having discovered shortly after that this wasn't the case, she put in a commission for a print for the following year. The quote she picked reads "A perfect marriage is just two imperfect people who refuse to give up on each other".

The design is meant to go off the page and occupy the entire space, with flourishes acting as a frame for the lettering in the centre. I had originally intended to print onto paper that was larger than the design and crop it down once dry, unfortunately for me I'd bought paper that was the exact size of the print, which made lining up extremely difficult (but not impossible!).

(Clockwise, Left to Right) The design on the screen, the super awesome Silver ink and a glimpse of the resulting print.

I've got a real thing for line weight variation, the transition from heavy to very fine to me looks wonderful, but can cause some trouble when screen printing...
As with the Clive Colledge print I did back in January, the very thinnest lines in the design were the biggest issue, with the ink drying in the screen after just one pull, meaning I had to clean out the screen more frequently.

The silver ink I used here was spectacular. Runny, didn't have to mix it with anything and so opaque. The finish on the final print looks great and I really owe it to my friend at PrintHaus, Alyn Smith, who introduced me to it.

The final print.

I did say that I was going to be more proactive about using this blog but seeing as my last post was in July, I don't think I'm doing too well...
Once I've settled into my shifts at work, I should eventually be posting more about new work, commissions and lecturing topics.

Prints etc.

This is just a quick update because I've been neglecting my blog recently and I've got no real excuse, but then again I have been focusing more on keeping the portfolio content up to date.

In my last post I mentioned The Printhaus and that I was adamant on becoming a member, but I've been rather low on funds since I moved to Cardiff (and I've got a few clients that haven't paid up yet...) so signing up has been put on the back-burner allowing me to focus on using money where it's more urgently needed.

Ideally, I'd like to work on lettering and print projects at weekends with the intention of selling them here, on Etsy and locally with print fairs.
With that in mind I don't really have any designs that I want to sell, only one-offs that I've done for other people (like my Clive College or Anniversary pieces) so I've started on a small piece that I can sell. That print is this:

Hand lettered, of course. My shadows need some work, and these are not the final colours...

Originally, I did have something in mind about creating little prints in Welsh to appeal to the local community, but my initial sketches and workings were based around a gorgeous Italian script I came across in a book (the sketch can be found here: https://goo.gl/2K6Dvx) but having tried to put it in the shadowed style above, I didn't think the script really worked all that well.

The pink-purple design came from an email signature of a friend who signs off all her messages "Peace and Light, Rose" which I think is quite a beautiful sentiment for something mundane as an email, so I decided to make a thing of it.
I'm fairly happy with the way it all looks, but the paper I have for it is a deep Crimson, and I don't think the purples will really show up well it, so I've got a little more decision making before this will be print ready.

While I'm on the subject of prints, I've got some beautiful paper stock that I'm dying to use, but I want to spend some time drawing up something special so it doesn't feel like I'm wasting the paper. 

Printhaus Workshops

Today was the open studio event down at Print Haus (my new local print workshop!) and having only seen bits of it online, it's safe to say I've fallen in love! It was so much bigger than I first expected, with quite a few good-sized studio spaces which artists and designers (and a great silversmith) work from, and with a wide range of disciplines on site too.

Over the coming weeks I'm going to be saving up some money so I can get a membership and be a part of the wonderful community they've got going on down there. This means I can finally start making prints to sell!

While I was there, I got talking to some of the other artists that are based here about the work they make and how they share ideas and techniques, which until now is something I've rarely come across. 

A section of the vast print studio (which isn't warped, that's just my shoddy photo).

Some of the residents work on display in the print studio. 

I've started to think about other applications for my lettering work, such as clothing and accessories for example. I would love to experiment with making a type-based repeat pattern for use on a shirt!

Exciting times are ahead and I can't wait to get started!