Here is a snapshot of the work done on day one. (I lost the name tags! oops - sorry) You can see how everyone has been diligently mixing colour swatches and painting on either side of white lines 'freehand' Adolf Bernd did not use masking fluid, but he had an advantage over us in that some of these letters are a mere 7cm tall (some are 20cm) but all of Bernd's were between 35 and 45cm in height. Yes! He worked big. As soon as you get a sense of the monumentality of his lettering, you realise … [Read more...]
Screen printing at Cinque Port Scribes
This was the sixth and final printing technique we had on offer at the Cinque Port Scribes Summer school. Sue Smith and Meg Chapman started their screen printing as a first choice and had their stencils cut by the end of the first day. On day one, Sue had already done her first colour which was lime green. The next day she had two more very complex and carefully cut designs to do in in different shades of grey. Sue has shown how complex a design can be without resorting to the much quicker … [Read more...]
Collograph at Cinque Port Scribes
Of the 6 printing techniques that we explored at the Cinque Port Scribes Summer School, collograph is undoubtedly the most challenging. This is because there are so many materials involved and therefore a number of variables. I think its like making bread - firstly you need to be immersed in the technique to understand the nuances, secondly you develop your skill through experience and time at the workbench and thirdly there are no shortcuts. Whew! What a prelude. An excellent start by Helen … [Read more...]
Embossing at Cinque Port Scribes
Embossing can be done beautifully by hand using an agate burnisher and a hand cut stencil. However, a printing press can increase the production of embossed images using hand cut stencils for something like wedding invitations, like this image by Tony Woodhams. Rowena Dallas-Mayer made her template for this lovely B by cutting out the B from Saunders Waterford HP 300gsm and then sticking the background onto some archival mountboard. She then took it one step further by peeling away the B by … [Read more...]