Printing, process and proofing

I have had the best weekend! It was a passion of printing over in the shed studio as I got to explore the possibilities of letterpress.

Next year, 2016, is the 50th birthday of the Australian Print Council.  To celebrate there will be a juried exhibition called Regional Marks at the University of the Sunshine Coast Gallery from May- July. Only regional artists are eligible and it is looking to showcase printmaking in it all its wondrous glory.

Entries close in a little while and I had set myself a goal of trying to enter some letterpress printing into it - I thought it was a good opportunity to have a go and see if I can really do something with all the type and machinery I now have at my disposal.

This is simply a photo of the cardboard I used after I popped the paper on the type (I used a lot of light paper, hence the leak thru onto the cardboard) and I just loved the soft layering I had by the end of the weekend.

So many hours go into the set-up. It is a time-consuming and laborious process. All those things we take for granted using fonts on computers - the fact we can change the size, justify things L, R or centre, increase spacing etc etc- all with the tap of a key and a click of a mouse; have to be estimated and tested then done by hand. And often times, then done again.

Or at least that's how it is with me!

I had written a few words about living here on the mountain - and the fact that at different times there are clouds below us, clouds surrounding us, and clouds above us.  It is one of the features of our home I love the most; this close and enduring relationship with clouds.

So I scribbled myself some notes about the design. And then accidentally ripped it, and taped it back together.

I wrote three x 4-line 'poems' and went to a magical place on the inter web that will count how many of each letter you will need in order to print the words.  I went and sat with different sets of type I have to see if I could print the poems with the type I had, and found that I pretty much could, with the odd modification here or there. Lots of counting.

So I gathered some 48pt Placard type and set about 'writing' the poems in type, and found of course that the lines were waaaaaaaay too long for my chase and any of my presses.

Plan B. I turned the four line poem into a six line poem and lo and behold it fitted.

And then I realised I needed Plan C - in order to run the paper through the press the way I wanted to I needed to have the poems reading portrait in the chase not landscape. So the six line poem became a seven line poem.

I have just realised that this post could take three hours to write and just as long to read if I go through things literally blow by blow, so I shall jump ahead to proofing!

Locking the chase into the proofing press.

I love the notion of proofing and it is clear from these photos why one needs to do it.

Here I had forgotten to put a space in after a comma; and was a bit worried about the left hand side of the s not getting inked properly.

Here I had removed an 'i', which wasn't getting enough ink, to build it up and then popped it back in the wrong place...All very entertaining, and luckily the mistakes jump out at you.

Another instance of where I had to remove the n and the t and build them up so they were the right height. Which means unlocking everything, getting out the tweezers and lifting the individual pieces of type out, adjusting them, and then putting them back in place without knocking anything else over, and locking up again.

And then just to make the whole shebang an even better concrete learning process, I discovered what happens if you put the paper on the inked type the wrong side up - very very fluffy type!

I just realised this could sound like a disaster-prone weekend, not one which has left my on a huge high, so please know I am excited beyond words! These were the steps in the process, but my, the outcome was just so wonderful! I'll share that soon I promise.