Author Topic: What is Letterpress Art?  (Read 4067 times)

Offline AndyT

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What is Letterpress Art?
« on: April 07, 2016, 08:48:02 AM »
Can't say I'm much the wiser after watching this short video, but it's a nice enough way to spend two and a half minutes:

Alan Kitching, letterpress artist

Offline Scarlet Blue

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Re: What is Letterpress Art?
« Reply #1 on: April 07, 2016, 09:16:46 AM »
The lettering is usually pressed into the paper and thus creates a luxurious texture. I think you can layer the lettering and colour. Soz... am being vague. If we were up the pub I would just say: printing stuff :-)

Offline Bianca M

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Re: What is Letterpress Art?
« Reply #2 on: April 07, 2016, 01:50:51 PM »
I used to be part of a letterpress printing forum, which shall remain unnamed, and the old-timers in there raged about the term "letterpress artist." "It's not art!  It's printing!!"  They also loathed that we new age letterpress printers actually TRIED to create that impression in the paper. "It's hideous!  And you're killing your metal type!"  It's okay, I use disposable plates, please don't worry about my metal type.  In fact, do you want it?

Anyway, seeing that term just brought me back to the heated arguments that would occur on that forum (there were some pretty mean guys on there!), and I had to laugh.  However, I can see how the term "artist" would get wrapped up in what Alan Kitching is doing here.  He is creating the art THROUGH printing, vs. creating the art and then printing it.  Much unlike when I print things - even an illustration or my calligraphy - it's just printing at that point.  Nothing glamorous.  Nothing romantic.  Just more ink under the fingernails.

But, ooh... that impression combined with calligraphy... maybe I'll post a photo.

Offline valerie a.

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Re: What is Letterpress Art?
« Reply #3 on: April 07, 2016, 02:12:33 PM »
My dear Bianca, i hope you remove "maybe" from your last sentence so that'll leave us with "I'll post a photo"  :D
My other IG account: @lune_hiver
Twitter/Periscope: @ferrogallique

Offline Bianca M

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Re: What is Letterpress Art?
« Reply #4 on: April 07, 2016, 02:40:23 PM »
Valerie, I cannot say no to you after you posted photos of your exquisite wedding invitation.   ;D

The first photo is of a photopolymer letterpress plate.  This one has grey ink on it, and I'd just finished printing with it and had removed it from the press.  They are sticky on the back and stick to a large metal base to bring it to letter height (the height/thickness of the blocks we saw in the video).  You can actually cut them with scissors, but not through the raised parts.

The second photo is the impression from the plate - same invitation. The third is an example I did with a blind hit/inkless impression, which I love in the right circumstances.  Both have more modern script styles... couldn't find anything else!
« Last Edit: April 07, 2016, 02:48:17 PM by Bianca M »

Offline ericp

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Re: What is Letterpress Art?
« Reply #5 on: April 08, 2016, 01:37:01 PM »
Valerie, I cannot say no to you after you posted photos of your exquisite wedding invitation.   ;D

The first photo is of a photopolymer letterpress plate.  This one has grey ink on it, and I'd just finished printing with it and had removed it from the press.  They are sticky on the back and stick to a large metal base to bring it to letter height (the height/thickness of the blocks we saw in the video).  You can actually cut them with scissors, but not through the raised parts.

The second photo is the impression from the plate - same invitation. The third is an example I did with a blind hit/inkless impression, which I love in the right circumstances.  Both have more modern script styles... couldn't find anything else!
Wow!  Bianca, this is really EXQUISITE!    (in all-caps, not be rude, but superlative!)
Thanks for sharing!


Offline randy2

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Re: What is Letterpress Art?
« Reply #6 on: April 09, 2016, 02:01:47 AM »
I love letterpress and I'm impressed. I'd love to be able to do it....your work is shweet!

Offline Natalie

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Re: What is Letterpress Art?
« Reply #7 on: April 09, 2016, 08:21:44 AM »
Such beautiful work!  I too love letterpress.  I agree with you Bianca, letterpress and calligraphy combined.......  so lovely.  I am curious though (and hopefully it is not inappropriate to ask), how do you create this work with your own original writing/calligraphy?  Originally letterpress was all individual letters, do you have these specially made somehow?

Offline JanisTX

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Re: What is Letterpress Art?
« Reply #8 on: April 09, 2016, 03:59:32 PM »
I have a "crafty" version of letterpress & make invitations with it.  I stalk antique letterpresses online.  I want a "real" one so bad!!  I don't know where I'd put it & it's not something that I could sneak into the house & have the hubs not notice! :-)  I had a metal letterpress plate made out of my calligraphed wedding invitation for a friend & was very pleased with the results!   ;D  I wish someone around here had a letterpress & could train me.  (I've called every print shop in the area & they got rid of their letterpresses in the 1970s!)

Janis

Offline AndyT

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Re: What is Letterpress Art?
« Reply #9 on: April 09, 2016, 05:28:09 PM »
If we were up the pub I would just say: printing stuff :-)

Well, I do have a fair idea of what the printing stuff involves.  :)  It was the art bit which interested me - not that the video gave more than a fleeting glimpse of Kitching's work.  However, having chased him up, there are striking similarities to things some calligraphers are doing on the wilder fringes: obscuring, superimposing and fragmenting the text and so forth.  All of which is very much my cup of orange pekoe.  Sigh: another obsession to feed, more books to investigate ...  ;)

Offline Bianca M

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Re: What is Letterpress Art?
« Reply #10 on: April 11, 2016, 12:54:11 PM »
Thank you, Eric, Randy and Natalie!  Natalie, to answer your question, I scan in my calligraphy, join it up with text on my computer, arrange as necessary, and send the file off to get a plate made.  One printing plate per color.  So, much different than what you see by Kitching - I use a much different press, too. 

Andy, thanks for posting the additional work!  I love it. I love the bold letters and how he uses multiple ink colors on one letter alone sometimes.

Janis, this link has presses for sale, and also some listings for classes in Austin:  http://briarpress.org/classifieds/browse?c=&s=TX&t=

Offline Estrella

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Re: What is Letterpress Art?
« Reply #11 on: April 11, 2016, 01:49:38 PM »

I simply love letterpress. And Bianca, your work is amazing!! (heart eyes emoji!)  ;)

... it's not something that I could sneak into the house & have the hubs not notice! :-)

Janis

Phew! I'm glad I'm not the only one that does this!  ;)
Smaller items such as nibs, ink and penholders are no problem "sneaking in". Oh, you know, I've had this for a while already!
But a letterpress... good luck with that!  ;D

Offline Moya

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Re: What is Letterpress Art?
« Reply #12 on: April 14, 2016, 07:50:40 PM »
Letterpress is magical!  And it's so funny that now it's the deep impression that gives that "luxury" effect - I regularly handle legal books from the 1700s and 1800s that were clearly letterpress printed, but there is no impression at all - the pages were just kissed with ink, no deboss.

I work with a letterpress printer interstate a LOT - they send me bridal names, I do several variations and send them a scan, and then in a few weeks they'll send me gorgeous letterpressed invitations with my work on them for addressing. It's magic to see my letters come to life.

But they recently did this card with my lettering and sent me some samples, and I can't stop looking at it. Such a thrill that they'll be selling this all around the world with my little letters! 

Of course ... it makes me think "hmm, if I was printing it, I'd have kept the thins a bit thinner, and I'd have preferred more flourish ..."

I really want one of those crafty at-home letterpress kits ... but I have to stop spending money on art supplies this year!



Offline JanisTX

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Re: What is Letterpress Art?
« Reply #13 on: April 15, 2016, 06:52:57 AM »
Oh, Moya!  That's gorgeous!  Love your lettering & that ink/card combination is beautiful!  Love, love, love that!!

Offline Bianca M

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Re: What is Letterpress Art?
« Reply #14 on: April 15, 2016, 12:27:14 PM »
That really is gorgeous, Moya.  Did you do the illustrations, too?  Is that foil stamp? It seems to me that the lines tend to come out thicker with foil stamp when an actual impression is made (in response to your comment about the line width).  The foil tends to stick to the "wall" of the impression, or not break completely where the plate hits the paper (so, leaving a slight border of foil around the lines of the art), whereas letterpress has the capability of only leaving ink where the plate contacts the paper.  This leaves a much truer impression... but, no pretty shimmer with letterpress, like you get with foil!!    (PS, the lines of my work tend to get fattened up on my card designs, too, when foiled - my guess is they also do it for shelf visibility).