Something for the fans of letterpress (1 Viewer)

Posted a process thread on my blog for my latest project. This is the first print we've done completely in house, so wanted to document it from beginning to end. I snapped the pics, and the shop owner did the actual work. I was "apprenticing" at the shop for awhile, but because of the economy and having to watch my daughter three days out of the week I haven't run a press in over a year.
Anyway, here it is:

http://letterpressed.blogspot.com/search/label/Ledbetter Process
 
While no one would disrespect the manualities of REAL printing, I Scribbler, am hoping for something more pertinent than that thing you are showing us. I admire the workshop though...and hope to hell that you tear it up and do something that this world doesnt deserve.
 
I Scribbler, am hoping for something more pertinent than that thing you are showing us.
Then go make something "more pertinent" yourself and show it to us, Sir Douchebag. Until then - with your continued blessings, of course - we'll let the majority decide what's pertinent in these parts.

With all due respect and deference, m'lord.
 
It's pertinent to me because it's my business and the sales of that thing will be paying my bills this month. Whether it's pertinent to anyone else I couldn't care less. There are a few letterpress folks on this board that I thought might be "interested," but nothing beyond that.
 
That is very cool Lttr Prssd, And pertinent to me as well since I'm learning more about the art of Letterpress. Thank you for sharing, I appreciate this very much indeed. Please post more when you can. I do know that there are others on this forum who do appreciate this art form.

Just learned how to make the Polymer Plates this week as a matter of fact.:D
 
That is very cool Lttr Prssd, And pertinent to me as well since I'm learning more about the art of Letterpress. Thank you for sharing, I appreciate this very much indeed. Please post more when you can. I do know that there are others on this forum who do appreciate this art form.

Just learned how to make the Polymer Plates this week as a matter of fact.:D

All I can say about photopolymer is you need to follow the manufacturers guidelines for processing. It makes things waaaaay easier. It took us awhile to get the plates right. And thanks for your nice comments. I'll try and do more process threads when I have the chance.
 
Ha, you guys kill me...c'mon...turning a buck is easy...isnt it? arent we all special, here?
Real renegades?
Hey I LOVE big machines and lots of old-school process. I cant imagine too many more satisfying pieces of gear than a printing press. Thank god its still getting done. Because it DOES actually make the paper product at the end a MUCH better piece of handiwork.

Sir Douchebag Arthur of Willendorf
 
Ha, you guys kill me...c'mon...turning a buck is easy...isnt it? arent we all special, here?
Real renegades?
Hey I LOVE big machines and lots of old-school process. I cant imagine too many more satisfying pieces of gear than a printing press. Thank god its still getting done. Because it DOES actually make the paper product at the end a MUCH better piece of handiwork.

Sir Douchebag Arthur of Willendorf

great, another troll... he insults someone and then pulls the "who me?" act when he gets called out. is there a guidebook for this predictable shit that these idiots have all read?

the ledbetter print looks great, though. i like the step by step documentation of the printing process... that's as nice as the stuff they're doing at pressure printing, which to me is pretty much the gold standard of handmade art prints.
 
Thanks for your kind words jordan, I appreciate it.
Pressure Printing is probably the platinum standard if you ask me. I try to keep things affordable for the average shmo (like myself) and use nice but not super expensive handmade paper, magnesium or photopolymer plates instead of copper, run pieces on an automated press instead of hand-pulling them, and not make custom frames or mattes for the prints. :) I don't have the patience or know-it-all for all that anyway. But with the right artist, I might be convinced to go all out.
 
i like your MO, man. it bums me out that i will never afford most pressure printing stuff. i'm lucky that my favorite artist - jim woodring - has some relatively inexpensive pieces with them that i own (well, one was a gift, so that was even better). there's a nice kim dietch one too, for the modest price of $200. but yeah, i can live with rives bfk instead of twinrocker or the imperceptibly less high-quality impression you get with polymer plates, etc. if it means that an average person can actually buy it.
 
Thanks, Bill. Wish I could take more credit for it, although I was there every step of the way to proof the whole deal. :)

Jordan--Yes, some of the earlier PP stuff was a lot more reasonably priced. Simple, one-color stuff in similarly simpler packaging. I almost bought the Gary Baseman pieces they had quite some time ago. The Jim Woodring prints are beautiful! His line work is perfect for letterpress.
 
nice work. thanks for showing the process.

fuck pertinence. and Prudence. fuck pretense.

sorry for dragging Prudence into it. it must have been the alliteration that made me do it. she's a good girl, really. kind to her elders, never late for class. always sits with her ankles crossed. knows how to do the box step, but finds the tango vulgar.

but really, tear this post up and toss it to the wind and hopefully the words will land in sentences the world doesn't deserve.

methinks.
 
As someone who is very interested and has yet to be able to afford any kind of press... this is very interesting. Thanks for the link! I've often wondered how these things were done on a larger press (I've only seen one of those tabletop ones in action thus far).
 
great, another troll... he insults someone and then pulls the "who me?" act when he gets called out. is there a guidebook for this predictable shit that these idiots have all read?
Read? They all got together one afternoon and wrote it. On a napkin at Arby's. They laughed so hard that beef n' cheddar came out their noses. That kind of pissed them off though, wasting all that good beef n' cheddar. So they went straight to their computers and gave AOL what-for! "I SCRIBBLER" was there, wearing a cape and an orthopedic brace. Poor fucker. But in the end, he sure showed us.
 
i'll chime in on congratulating you on the nice work.

i have an off-topic question: what kind of camera do you use to photograph your work? it's something i've been thinking about, now that we're getting close to wanting to advertise our stuff online.
 
Up until the beef n' cheddar, this has been a great thread. Thank you Lttr Prssd for the link. I for one love the education we get here on Bukowski dot net, it has surpassed Mr Rogers. I've always loved the fine little things that can be done with paper and that is right there. Scribbler I know you might consider cutting back on the beer for a spell. We don't need to do an intervention, do we?
 
i'll chime in on congratulating you on the nice work.

i have an off-topic question: what kind of camera do you use to photograph your work? it's something i've been thinking about, now that we're getting close to wanting to advertise our stuff online.

It's just a little digital Canon PowerShot A610. I think it was a couple hundred bucks and is plenty enough camera for me as I don't really even know how to make it do all the things it can.
 
Here's another recent "thing." This was outsourced to a great printer in Rhode Island. Little guy, 5x7 inches.

DM_F.jpg


DM_CU.jpg


EDIT:
Lttr Prssd said:
Oops, should have put the artist's name in that post, Drew Millward.
 
That's dad-gum fascinating. I'm currently working on a project right now with a different type of press, alien to me "” and this gave me some insight. The work looks incredible, thanks for sharing.

Did I miss where we can purchase one of these bad boys?
<edit: just checked your links, cool>

Much success.

Pax,

homeless mind
 
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Listen, I'm not calling foul or anything on Mr. Millward, but that little guy behind the head and reflected in the eye looks an awful lot like CREEM magazine's mascot, Boy Howdy!

boyhowdy.jpg


Who was, as you might have gathered, drawn by R. Crumb.

Perhaps it is an homage.
 
While no one would disrespect the manualities of REAL printing, I Scribbler, am hoping for something more pertinent than that thing you are showing us. I admire the workshop though...and hope to hell that you tear it up and do something that this world doesnt deserve.

"I Scribbler"?!? wow, just when it seemed you couldn't get more arrogant and pretentious...well, at least you're great at something...
 
That one too is really nice Lttr Prssd. I look at that photo and I know that if I were to run my hand across it, I would be able to feel it. I love being able to feel the impression. I know as I do more of this i will be printing deeper because to me, feeling the words across the paper is such a cool part of the letterpress process.

I can see the Crumb similarities.
Very Cool.
 
Hi Lttr Prssd!

I really enjoy what you're doing, the artwork is 100% cool.
I took a look at the greeting cards you did in several languages and they are very charming. I don't want to be a smart ass and perhaps it's just the perfectionist in me speaking but you mistranslated " HAPPY BIRTHDAY " and " MANY THANKS " in German. We don't say many thanks here in plural, but in singular, so it is " VIELEN DANK " instead of " VIELEN DANKE ".
And we don't say " GLÜCKLICHER GEBURTSTAG " like you do in English, but it is either: " HERZLICHEN GLÜCKWUNSCH ZUM GEBURTSTAG " ( which is like " wishes of luck from the heart to your birthday " , yeah we are a complicated crowd/kraut... ) or " ALLES GUTE ZUM GEBURTSTAG " ( which is like " everything good to your birthday " ).
The stuff you're doing is just great, I only wanted to inform you about the two greetings. :)
 
I have been told about these errors a number of times. That's what you get for using the translator on your computer. :) Because of this I don't plan on reprinting those cards again.
 

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