Rope of Words 11 - the text 4

My lower case is complete - Here is Elva...

and here is the text as a proper text block.

I feel that for poetry or prose that is written with musicality, a font that requires a little concentration is good. It helps you read slowly and enjoy the fine writing.
Elva's father said he thought I need to have a few more characters if I'm to name the font Elva, with umlauts

because after all, Elva is Swedish.
Cheeekeee!

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Rope of Words 7 - Collograph 4

So, Horatio? Into the Gap!
This is my Artist's Book year and I am determined to research it thoroughly. I have now investigated collograph, spent many days on it, been disappointed and guess what?
While I was screenprinting my family surname document, I was waiting for the screen to dry and started chatting to the technician. I said I thought running an un-inked plate to emboss might be better, so we tried it.

te Dummmm...
this has possibilities!
(I will need to increase the depth and sort out the centre confusion.) 

Also I still really, really love the plates, especially after they have been inked up a few times and this may yet make fantastic covers as long as they are not mirror-imaged (with letters back to front) Also, they'll have to harmonise with the final artwork.

b.t.w. Last week, while I was waiting for my screen to dry last week it was in perfect timing to the Olympic torch passing along Iffley Road, so I dashed out, waited 10 minutes, witnessed the historic moment, waved and went back in to carry on printing. As Eyeore would have said "Unexpected and Gratifying"

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Rope of Words 6 - Collograph 3

Just as in the story, Rope of Words, I have to persist to achieve my goals.
I have printed my plates and quite frankly, I am disappointed. Please ignore the awful design - it was an experiment!

• It's too monochromatic for the story.
• It is not suitable for fine detail or crisp letterforms
• It is very hit and miss with inking up and printing. 

By the time I am ready to collograph, each folio will have been screen printed on two sides and could easily have undergone 8 screenings per folio on both sides. So to mess it up by getting a bit weary or inattentive during inking and burnishing is very real. My teacher agreed that it was risky to collograph after screening. I wondered about screening over the embossing.

See what I mean about the plate being more exciting! Being inked up often gives it patina as well.

So to be positive, there are some interesting textures for another day:

PVA dribbled over mount board in wavy lines

Letters peeled away from mount board - no PVA

Sandpaper cut out and glued on with gesso

Masking tape stuck on mount board and letters cut away from masking tape
The r has been PVA'd to add ink-resist

Scrim glued on using gesso

Carborundum glued on with gesso with spaces between 

Bits of torn overlapped masking tape

Plastic parcel tape stuck on mount board and letters cut away from parcel tape
No PVA to add ink-resist

Soft hemp cord glued to mount board.

As I said, I'd try to be transparent about what does and doesn't work for me.

Back to the drawing board! 

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Rope of Words 3 - thumbnails

My script has 10 chapters and is an adult fantasy story, so I thought an intro. illustration + 10 + cover is ambitious enough (although 22 illustrations would be nicer).
If I use heavy paper such as Somerset Satin 300gsm, I think I could have one folio per "section" of the book. Each page would be between A4 and A3 in size.

Here is the first thumbnail of a possible layout of a typical folio
Page size: 28cm X 34.5cm.
margins: 3cm on sides, 2cm at top, 5cm at base.
I don't think I'll go for the 15mm on the inner margins to make up 3cm, but might do 2.25cm to make up 4.5cm combined inner margins. Something to think about.
3
Page 1 and 4: Title and a line of words running along the bottom of the pages (the rope of words) 
page 2 and 3: Illustration on page 2, text with Illuminated cap. on page 3
If I did Collograph I could use a typewriter text which has a natural feel about it and could be screened nicely. I've just used Head in the meantime for the thumbnail.

But then I started thinking a bit more creatively. What about a cut-out so that the "chapter heading" is arbitrarily placed and the rope of words running all over page 1 & 4. In this case, the illustration would have to be on page 3.
Here is the second thumbnail of a possible layout of a typical folio

I'll keep mulling over this.

And the latest news:
In the meantime I have visited two galleries, one local and one in Hampshire with my orchid giclées and both have offered me space and taken the cards. Dolphin Art would like to have an exhibition with one or two other flower artists and demonstrations and the other gallery would like to put me in with a group exhibition to mark the Christmas / Autumn season. I'm going to have to produce a few more water colour pieces to have some originals. I have just stretched two sheets of paper 50cm square and will pop out to the farm shop to get some Sea Thistles to paint. I'm very happy about this. Don't worry calligraphers, there will still be lettering happening!

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Rope of Words 2

My first thought for illustration of the Artists' book is to use Collograph. My experience has been to try it once on a one-day course which I went to because my computer workshop was cancelled!


So here is "Head"

What is collograph?
Okay, in a nutshell! (more in due course):


It is like etching in that a plate is inked up and off-set prints are made from it.
Etched plates are metal and are engraved using acid, but collograph plates are made of cardboard such as mountboard.

1. The cardboard plate has thin pieces of card, materials, wall paper etc. glued on. The neckpiece is made of wallpaper and the cloche hat is satin brocade. The eyebrows are scratched in and are black from the residue of the first printing. The left side of the face is textured Japanese paper with long threads and the nose, lips and cheek detail is shiny gold card which resists ink.

1. The collograph is then varnished with shellac or similar.
2. It is inked up in a similar way to an etching plate - ink is pushed into every single crevice and layered on quite thickly.
3. The ink is wiped off laboriously and carefully, leaving it in the scratched marks and indentations. It might be wiped over smoother surfaces leaving traces or wipe-marks. 
4. If you are working in more than one colour as above, different areas would be inked up at the same time so that the borders blend. Wiping down is then even more meticulous. Expect to take an hour to wipe down and "burnish" the plate.
5. The plate is laid on the printing press bed and damp paper is put on top. 
6. The printing press is then rolled over the plate forcing the damp paper into the indentations to pick up ink and to emboss slightly

"Head" is a (rather funny) pottery head that I copied. As she has a cavity for flowers, I gave her a headdress.
The template on the left in both photos is the plate which is built up and varnished. I used a peacock feather (which should have been wiped down more skilfully, but you can see how beautifully the textures are reproduced in the print on the right. I cut the head out and gave her a different hat for the image at the top of the post. I also discarded the background.
I really think this way of illustrating has potential and I could even use a real plate for the cover. My only reservation is that the print needs to look as "gorgeous" as the plate.


There is a 2-day collograph course coming up which will be the start of my research.

b.t.w. Here is Head in the garden with some dying daffs!

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Rope of Words 1 - Artist's Book

I have been fascinated by Artist's Books ever since I first heard of them, and I am already a maker of books. But now my vision is to make a limited edition of books "properly bound".
Of course I have all sorts of other commitments but the gift of working at the Oxford Printmakers (OPC) once a week means I can run a new project alongside everything else.
Below are some of the books I've made, as journals.

I think I'd like the Artist's book to have a covered spine.
Anyway, I've decided to record the project on my blog - the inspirations, frustrations, triumphs and set-backs and ultimately the Book - or Not. 
Time scale: a year or so.


So what are the ingredients needed:
Vision: to make a limited edition of an Artist's Book
huge ambition
staying power
Concept of how it will look when complete: needs exploration
Excellent script: enriched with imagery - I have this - Rope of Words written by Megan Kerr, 5000 words. www.megankerr.co.uk
Illustration style: that will relate to the text and is engaging - needs exploration
Illustration - means of printmaking: a means to reproduce illustration style - needs exploration
Text style: A font or handwritten or digitised lettering style?
Text - means of printmaking: Letterpress (I wish!) or screen printing (accessible)
and that is just the start.



Disclaimer: This may never get off the ground, so I'm taking a chance in doing it publicly. But on the other hand, I've started trying ideas, so that may be worthwhile in itself.

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A peek inside Susan Moor's books

Susan Moor developed a modern form of lettering inspired by the Cnut style which was similar to Carolingian. This is what we did at the workshop. Susan does her letterforms using a drawing nib Brause 66EF (extra fine) a flexible, but a strong nib. She has written in a pressure-release style getting slight thicknesses on her lettering where required - much as one does in copperplate.
In her books we see elegant scripts written in gouache over watercolour-washed pages. Susan often does a water colour wash on Arches Hot pressed paper, then works into it with chalk pastels, enriching and texturing the paper surface. It gives the paper a really good "tooth" and is a wonderful surface to write on.

I suppose because I have always grappled with illustration and lettering as a harmonious unit, it was extra special for me. In her research into lettering and images, she has studied the work of William Blake, Tom Phillips, Ben Shahn, David Jones, Burgert , Ann Hechle and Gill.  These are my heroes as well so this really resonated with me. 
(I'm going to return to the topic of illustration and lettering a due course because this is one of the reasons why I have begun printmaking)

And I know you are longing to see inside the massive tomes. 

Oh what amazing books! And what a wonderfully talented person Susan is. I am so inspired.

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