Our Letterpress Cards class that was to start tonight has been rescheduled to accommodate student requests, so you still have some time to join! It’s two sessions, which will take place two weeks apart on Wednesday evenings, August 19 and September 2. See the updated class listing for more details: LETTERPRESS CARDS link
On Monday night we got this student print finished with a whirlwind printing session of three colours, including carving the block in between. The student had careful plans drawn out in her sketchbook and a good sense of the colours she wanted to use, so she was able to work efficiently to get the last three colour reductions finished in just two and a half hours. Here’s the final six colour print:
And below is how we got there. At the beginning of the session the block was all carved and ready for colour #4, a 50-50 mix of process magenta and transparent base:
Then after some more carving, colour #5, a semi-opaque teal:
After this layer was printed was when I noticed that the baldric-type strap over Frida’s shoulder was green, white, red, like the Mexican flag. A fluke, as it turned out, but perfect.
Finally, all but the lines on the face were carved away, and what was left was printed in black. The student did some selective inking here in order to preserve the colourful wood chatter elsewhere in the print.
There was great consistency across the edition too. We’re so pleased with the final result!
Two new layers on this student woodcut from last night’s class! First, an orange-peach tone to darken the skin in the face a bit, then a bright orange (it’s our shop favourite Day-Glo orange ink again, with a bit of Gamblin block printing ink in Napthol Scarlet mixed in just to tone down the neon glowiness a little).
Here’s colour number two in the drying rack:
And the block:
Here’s the pull for colour number three:
Three colours finished and drying:
In next week’s session we’re hoping to bang out three more colours in three hours.
Here are the buttons we sewed on in class today! We’ll run this class again in the fall, because it’s an important skill and we know you want to learn it. It covers the basics of sewing a flat button, a discussion of different methods to keep buttons from falling off, and how to make a longer thread shank for thicker fabric.
Here’s a student trimming up the cover paper on her nearly finished drum leaf book in tonight’s class:
And here are the finished books!
We’ve just confirmed that Levigator Press will be hosting master bookbinder Dan Mezza of London, ON, to teach the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild course, Bookbinding 1 in October 2015. This is a 6-day, intensive course that will get you on the road to serious bookbinding and book preservation, and it is a prerequisite for taking further CBBAG courses. We’re delighted to be able to offer this high quality course in Windsor.
More details to come, but for now you can contact us if you’re interested and we’ll put you on a mailing list so you’ll get updates as they happen. The course will run for three consecutive weekends, 9am to 4pm Saturday and Sunday, on the following dates: October 17 & 18, October 24 & 25, and October 31 & November 1. You’ll register for the course through CBBAG rather than through Levigator Press, and will be required to take out a CBBAG membership in order to take the course. We’ll fill you in on more of those details later but in the meantime, mark your calendars!
For more information about the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild, click here–> CBBAG website
This is our third time running the Reductive Woodcut class. Just one student this time, which means she gets private instruction for the (lower) price of a group class. Summer is a slow time for classes, so we really appreciate anyone willing to give up a couple of precious summer porch evenings in order to come in and learn something amazing with us.
Here’s our student’s inked block getting ready to print: it’s a portrait of Frida Kahlo in a style that reminds me of Byzantine icons. Gorgeous, and it gave the student and I a chance to share our love of Kahlo’s work and our excitement about having recently seen the Kahlo and Rivera in Detroit exhibition at the DIA.
No shots of the print this week, because it’s impossible to see or photograph any detail in an all-yellow print. Stay tuned for next week when we print the second colour (and possibly the third, if we work quickly)!
Our friend Leesa dropped in today for an impromptu lesson in the simple one-needle Coptic bookbinding stitch. Now she’s going to go forth and teach it to her own students. Spreading the love!
Ashleigh and Chelsea came in today to finish up their screenprints. They did an amazing job and we had loads of fun!
We had a productive private instruction session in the studio today. A student came in and prepped her artwork, exposed a screen, and made about 30 prints in just two hours!