Cannonball Press

You gotta check out Cannonball Press. Two guys with a down home sense of humor, printing press(s?) and a mess of black ink.

Past, Present & Future

I designed and printed this card as a holiday fundraiser for my favorite place to hang out on Wednesday nights, the fabulous and inspiring 826LA. The non-profit creative writing and tutoring center is supported by a brick-and-mortor and online store, The Time Travel Mart. Past, Present & Future. Cute, right?

Up until this project, I had only printed small editions of art prints and mini-broadsides that incorporate text and linoleum blocks that I cut myself or magnesium engravings of my own design. I really wanted to try a more commercial project and this was perfect. There were so many new experiences--I certainly got the challenge I was looking for! For starters, let me just say, owning a press is very different than going to a class or production studio to print on well maintained equipment (not to mention the encyclopedic knowledge that comes with experience as an owner/teacher). Turns out my adorable (and much loved) (and very very old) C&P Pilot Press is not as spry as she looks. Like any old thing, fixes are not easily (or quickly) come by. Where oh where is the Antique Printing Presses R Us, I want to know!? Just to name a few obstacles, the rails are worn, the roller trucks are not the right size and this particular paper stock was not as happy to meet ink as I had hoped.

Learning the quirks of the press was only one challenge. This was the first time I used the Boxcar system--something the press operator (me) had to get used to. Polymer doesn't ink up in the same way metal type and magnesium plates do. There are other oddities but the system is convenient and inexpensive which makes it a good choice for jobs such as this one. The type is hand set, 36 point Gothic Sans Narrow.

 

At the end of the day, printing this card was a great experience. I learned a lot!! Much more (and faster) than I would have if I had gone about my lazy way printing small editions as I'm want to do. So, thank you 826LA, you've given me a welcome and useful "present" this holiday.

Things that go Bump! in the night

Creepy jack-o-lanterns. Just right for your creepy friends.

I mix my own ink. Orange, being a secondary color, should be pretty easy, right? Step one: take Pantone Warm Red ink and Step two: add Pantone yellow ink. Wrong. wrong. wrong. By the time I had enough yellow in the red to make it orange....let's just say I could easily print a thousand Bwahahah! cards

specs:
Halloween card
size: A-7
card folds to 6.875"x5"
white envelope included
blank on the inside
2-color linoelum block print
paper: Classic Crest cover from Neenah Paper
press: Chandler proofing press
ink: VonSon rubber based inks
open edition

New Business cards

Being free to goof around is one of the joys of having my own letterpress. If you check out the Bloomers series at my Etsy shop you'll recognize the background motifs. I trimmed down make-ready to business card size, locked down several Bloomer lino blocks on the proofing press, inked up and voilà!

The text was printed from a manganese engraving on the pilot press.

I printed a QR with my website address on the back.

Tree 1

If I had to choose one thing to draw for ever more, it would be trees. Movement, pattern, design, texture, it's all there in every tree. Endless inspiration. This image started as a pencil drawing that I scanned and printed on Fabriano Artistico as a giclee print. I cut a linoleum black and printed it it on the proofing press, unevenly inking the block to add texture to the greenery.

Specs: 
experimental print
image size: 5"x5"
printed on Fabriano Artisico
giclee print from pencil drawing
linoleum block print.
edition of 1 (so far)

Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum

Typeface, is a documentary about The Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum's efforts to preserve the art and craft of wood type and graphic design. It's a thrill to know a film like this has been made and is bringing so much positive attention to letterpress--and especially wood type--printing. If you've been to the museum I'd love for you to leave a comment about the experience.

Liar! Liar! Pants On Fire!!

Who you calling a liar?

specs:

from the "Childish Insults" series
4.5"x6.75"
printed on Fabriano

deckle edge on all sides
2 color linoleum block print with hand set type.
Edition of 20. Numbered and signed on the front.

30 Poets / 30 Days

To celebrate Poetry Month, Greg Pincus over at the GottaBook blog, has once again invited 30 of the best writers of childrens poetry to submit an original poem, one for each day of April. How's that for cool? If you haven't been following this yearly event, jump over to Greg's blog and get caught up on the last two years of amazing poetry---they will tide you over until April 1 rolls around. I made this logo to celebrate the event. Spread the word.

Uyike-o inspiration

Ukiyo-e, "pictures of the floating world", is a genre of Japanese woodcuts that attempts to capture the fleeting beauty of nature. I've been enthralled with this style of imagery for years and it is the inspiration for this pair of figures.

The black line is a giclee print on Somerset printmaking paper. The color is a reduction method linoleum block print (often referred to as a suicide print), a multiple color printing technique using only one piece of linoleum.

specs:
paper size 6"x9"
image size: 5"x8"
printed on Somerset
giclee plus 2 color linoleum block print.
Edition of 10. Numbered and signed on the front.

Red Lamp

specs:
paper size: 5"x7"
image size: 4.125"x5.75"
2 color linoleum block print
printed on Somerset
edition of 10, numbered and signed on front

Forest of Trees

Trees are an ongoing theme for me.

specs:

paper size: 6.75"x4.5"
image size: 5.25"x3.25"

2 color plus hand painted backgroud
lino block and magnesium block
printed on Fabriano--deckle on all four edges
Edition of 16, numbered and signed on front  

specs:

paper size: 5.5"x7.5"
image size: 4.4"x6.25"

2 colpr
lino block with engraving
printed on BFKRives
Edition of 18, numbered and signed on front 

Old school + New school = iPad App?

 No, I'm not kidding. Here's an excerpt from The Faster Times review....

Graphic designer and wood type enthusiast John Bonadies has created a “virtual letterpress environment” to be released for the iPad. He calls it LetterMpress, and you can use it to mix colors, set type as you would on a real press—meaning that the letters appear backwards in the press bed—and store your designs in digital galley trays. And yeah, you can even export these “prints” directly to your LaserJet to be copied effortlessly while you sit around admiring your perfectly manicured, ink free, fingernails. Damn you look good!
 

Bird, bird, bird...

Another bit of silliness.

specs:
4"x5.5"
hand set metal type, lino block, hand painted detail
printed on Fabriano Artistico
2-color plus hand painted top-feathers
Edition of 15, numbered and signed on back

Bloomers

specs:
4.75"x4.75
Fabriano--deckle on all four edges
one color linoleum block print
each flower is printed in blue, spring green and coral
open edition

Pick A Little....

specs:
6.75" x 4/5"
BFK Rives
two color linoleum block
hand set metal type
four colors
edition of 20

Orange Trees

Orange trees? Why not? There's probably a pink bunny hiding in the grass.

specs:
image size: 4"x4.75" (except where the tree pokes out)
Fabriano Aristico
3 color
1 Magnesium plate (orange trees)
2 lino blocks

FeFiFoFum

This is one mad dog.

Specs:
linoleum block
hand set wood type
hand painted watercolor background
very old, discolored BFK Rives
4.5"x6.75"
edition of 20

Denise Figueredo

This image was carved and printed by Denise Figuerdo who directs and teaches the letterpress program at The Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, CA. I love the casual, sketchy carving technique which matches the subject matter perfectly. She's a great teacher, too.

specs:
image size: 4"x5"
paper size: 6"x9"
Somerset, soft white
signed AP

It Was A Beautiful Fish...

Sometimes I stumble upon the most poetic language by accident. Picked up off the ground, overheard in a cafe, spoken by a child. I've been saving these snippets for years and will illustrate this "found poetry" from time to time. This is my first go, thanks to Petra's (age two) keen observation.

My printing skills are finally beginning to improve! I'm proud to say the colors actually register.

specs:
images size: 4" x 5.5"
paper size: 4.5" x 6.75"
paper: BFK Rives
2 color
magnesium plates
printed on a Vandercook Press
edition of 28. SOLD OUT

Yee Haw

Finally! A letterpress print of a squirrel roasting acorns over a camp fire. It doesn't get better than that. From Yee-Haw Industries. You can see (and buy) all four in this series at their Etsy Shop.

Specs:
The hand printed letterpress images are in assorted colors and brown ink on cream paper & matted inside my kraft letterpress mats. Image area is 4.25"x6"and the full matted print is ready to go into an 8"x10" frame.
Illustration by Bjorn Lie

Ladybug! Ladybug!

specs:
scrap magnesium plates
hand painted watercolor sky
linoleum block flames
hand set type
very old, discolored BFK Rives
6" x 5"
edition of 20

Lotus Flower

specs:
image size: 3"x3"
paper size: 6"x6"
Fabriano
linoleum block print
multiple colors: goldenrod (shown), sage green, sky blue, lime green, red, brown, purple
each color in an edition of 12

Love Song...new colors

These are the color palettes I'm considering for the new Love Song series (see previous post). If you have a preference, leave me a note.

Love Song

I started making letterpress prints one year ago. This series was one of the first projects I designed. As an illustration project, it was a dream. I'm a huge fan of hand separated printing of all kinds, especially children's books. Sadly, my beginner printing skills were no match for the challenge of printing 4 colors. I couldn't feed the paper straight (note to self: use good paper trimmer, measure) so by the time the dark blue was laid down it was an impossible mess. This is especially noticeable on the last image. Oh well, it was a great learning experience. Now I'm back printing this series a second time in new colors, hopefully with a bit more skill. I'll let you know how that goes.

specs:
designed in Adobe Illustrator
manganese plates made at Owosso Graphics.
printed on Rives BFK
image size: 4"x5.5"
paper size: varies
edition of 19 bad ones and one good one.

Hatch Show Prints

If you're a fan of letterpress, you gotta own this book