So, through various web shenanigans, I discovered a print studio right on my doorstep (note: out here in the sticks, a 30 minute drive absolutely qualifies as ‘my doorstep’) - The Leinster Print Studio.

Yesterday, I went down to the studio to meet Margaret Becker, the founder, and take my first class in carborundum and drypoint. I’ve never done intaglio printing and I’ve never actually used a press, so I was really excited! It’s a lovely place - much larger than I’d imagined - and they have a fantastic set-up: five presses, a large exposure unit, a guillotine room, an etching/aquatint room, a dark-room, and even a wee kitchen. Margaret tells me that they’re also getting a screenprinting set-up some time in the near future.

Intaglio vs. Relief

Up to this point I’ve only ever done relief printing: an image is carved into the plate (be it wood or lino or whatever), ink sits on the top of the plate avoiding the cut away areas, and is directly transferred to the paper. Intaglio, however, is sort of the reverse of relief printing - ink is pushed into the marks on the plate, the surface is wiped clean, and then the force of the press pushes dampened paper into the lines/marks on the plate, thus transferring the ink. In relief printing, your cut-away areas won’t be printed, so you have to visualise your plate as a negative, but in intaglio, your cut away areas will be printed, so it’s more like a straight drawing process. It’s hard to do intaglio without a press, because of the sheer force needed to push the paper into the indents on the plate, which is why I’ve never done it before. I was once tempted to try driving the car over a plate, but that’s another story!

Carborundum

We started with carborundum, which is a more painterly printmaking process in which you mix fine mineral particles into a strong glue (we were using strong wood adhesive), and paint the resulting mixture directly onto the plate; the more carborundum in the mixture, the darker the resulting print tone.

Drypoint

Whilst waiting for the carborundum plates to dry, I started on a drypoint piece. With drypoint, you scrape/scratch your image into your plate (I was using metal here - I’m not sure what type), so it’s very like normal drawing, which appeals to me. I used to do a lot of pen and ink drawings with crosshatched shading, so hopefully I can transfer that technique to drypoint.

The time flew, and we only had a chance to take a proof of my first carborundum plate:

I know, I know - it’s totally feeble, but I was just playing with the carborundum and trying out a few brush-stroke styles to see what sort of results I could get. The squares at the top are swatches of different glue-to-carborundum ratios - the darkest tone having quite a lot of carborundum in the mixture and the lightest being mostly glue. Margaret gave me some carborundum, perspex and metal off-cuts to take home and practice on, so I’m going to take a bit more time with both processes and see what I can come up with.

I had a really great time - I spend far too long staring at the computer screen, so it’s lovely to get my hands inky and see actual, physical results rather than pixels on a screen. I’m also thrilled that I can have access to print facilities without trekking into Dublin. The studio is going to be running a few different workshops in various techniques over the autumn - woodblock, photoetch, etc. - so I’m looking forward to trying my hand at lots of different processes.

I’ve also applied to one of the NCAD CEAD courses for studio skills and notebook research in October, so hopefully I’ll get in. I’m tentatively thinking about doing an MA at some point, so I want to start dipping my toe into the educational waters again.

I haven’t finished a sketchbook in…well, ever! I’m such an art materials addict (is there anything as satisfying as an art shop and money to burn?) that I always grab a shiny new sketchbook before I’ve quite finished my old one. Not this time! Nope, this time I actually managed to scrawl my way right to the last page. Now I’m working in a lovely new Moleskine sketchbook - that notebook of kings, propounded by such luminaries as Van Gogh and Neil Gaiman. I’m wondering why I ever used those rubbishy old spiral-bound student things because, in the Moleskine, my red Col-Erase just glides onto the page. Mmm.

I haven’t posted any sketches for an age - due to me not actually sketching for an age - so I’ve scanned the last couple of pages of my sketchbook. The top image is thanks to the current Illustration Friday topic, ‘Moon’, and I’m vectorifing ™ it as I write (well, not as I write, because that would be a feat worth boasting of, but you know what I mean.)

Outdated Flash 8 Tip Probably of Use to Nobody but Me:

I’ve been using Flash 8 for client interface design work recently and, as I’m used to MX 2004, I was completely confuzzled by the new drawing modes. I’d draw a line, and it would automatically be grouped on-stage. This meant that my drawing process in Flash - 1. draw a line, 2. curve it - had two additonal steps to it - 1. draw a line, 2. break it down, 3. click off it to deslect, then 4. curve it. Argh! I knew there must be something in the preferences to stop objects automatically grouping and, after some rummaging, I discovered the new drawing modes - well, new if you’re a couple of years behind in software updates like me! Just clicking on this little button:

…in the tools palette enables you to switch between ‘merge’ drawing mode (the Flash we know and love) and ‘object’ drawing mode (scary, Illustrator-like Flash).

I’ve been horribly busy with design work this week, so the only thing I’ve had time to do is a Valentine modification of my box tree illustration.

I hope to get some more actual drawing done this weekend and next week - like, y’know, on paper. I’ve never been too fabulous at human characters, so I’d like to try to develop my own character style - a quick illustrative shorthand that will enable me to draw people in any pose. That’s my project for the weekend, anyway - barring any unforeseen client work landing in the in-box. We shall see if I come up with anything worth posting! The Illustration Friday topic this week is ‘Discovery’ which also brings to mind some nice little ideas…

I haven’t written an inspiration post for a while so, this month, I want to give a shout-out to one of my favourite artists, Bill Tiller.

One of the first games I played on Ye Olde Amiga was LucasArt’s Monkey Island, and it’s a game series entirely responsible for my addiction to point-and-click style adventures - and pirates! Bill was responsible for the layout art and look and feel of the third game, which moved away from the pixelated computer graphics to fully hand-drawn backgrounds and animation. The visuals in The Curse of Monkey Island are stunning, and it’s one of the few games I’ve ever replayed just to take screen-shots of the artwork.

I still call those swirly, stylised clouds ‘Monkey Island Clouds’ whenever I see anything akin to them in artwork.

I’m really excited to see that he’s founded a games company and is currently working on an adventure game called A Vampyre Story. The only thing better than pirates? Vampires! The initial concept art looks fantastic, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the completed game.

Bill Tiller Links:

Autumn Moon Entertainment
Interview at World of Monkey island
Interview at the SCUMM Bar