Business Cards & Postcards

Here is a business card I just finished for myself in preparation for next week's craft show. The text was printed using a polymer plate, and the men are from some vintage letterpress items I picked up on eBay. No idea who the men are except that they came from Minnesota, and there were at least fifty of them! I've found it to be a challenge when I have been printing linocuts, and then I switch to printing with the polymer plates or the halftone plates like these. When I print linocuts I am trying to get as much ink as possible on those wide surfaces, and then I have to concentrate on getting just the right amount with the polymer or halftone plates.

Speaking of the contrast between polymer plates and linocuts, I also finished a promotional postcard for the show based on my earlier "resolve" design. Here it is:

Motel Sign Print

I just finished a new two-color print that I will be sending to the Print Exchange Five, an exchange I was invited to on printmakers.info.

I did two versions, one on glossy white card stock and one on rough cardboard-y card stock. At first I liked the one on the brown cardboard better, but the white one grew on me so I have decided to send that one out. Here they are:






I am very happy about these prints, because I have tried several times to make prints from my motel sign photographs with little success. In the past I was trying to get too much detail into the prints. This time I concentrated on stripping out a lot of detail and including very bold outlines, which seemed to work a lot better. I had so much fun with this one I am going to attempt a series!

Blast Off print completed

Here's the completed print from an earlier sketch I posted. This was one of my most successful three color prints. I am encouraged to start doing more of them -- that third color can make a big difference!

Blast Off!

Haven't posted much lately, thought I would show something I'm working on for my next print. This one will be a three color linocut. I think I may enter it in a print exchange I've signed up for, and also print it on some journals.

custom order completed!

Here's a picture of the completed custom sketchbook/notebook order I've been working on for a while! I think this was a really unique commission, and I'm really happy with how the turned out.

Have a happy 4th!

more custom order details & progress

Here is a picture of the first color I've printed for the custom sketchbook order I'm working on. Next will be the light blue color. As I said in my last post, its a two color print made from linoleum blocks. I can't wait for them to be finished!

custom order details!

After some trials and tribulations, the commission I've been working on is finally proceeding! It's a limited edition hand-printed run of 50 signed and numbered sketchbooks. It's a two color print done solely on linoleum blocks. The sketchbooks have been ordered and should be here next week.

Here's a closer look at the sample I produced and more details:

Plaid Sketchbooks Move Forward

Bird card linocut on the vandercook -- printing brown

Thought I would post a little about my press. It's a Vandercook SP15 and this is a picture of the bird card I've been working on. Here the press is inked up in brown and I'm ready to print from the linocuts I completed last week:

And here is the second color being printed. Just a small block for the bird, the wire the bird is sitting on will remain the color of the card:

I'll post a picture of the completed card tomorrow!