I’ve made lots of pictures for my daughter over the years, but not many for my son. My wife asked me to make something special for him.
Then we went for a letterpress jolly with work.
His favourite joke at the time was:
Knock Knock
Who’s there?
Mr Bum Poo!
which, for the record should be the hilarious ditty:
Knock Knock
Who’s there?
Big bump
Big bump who?
HAHHahahAHAHAHAHA! you said big bum poo!!!!
So I made it. At the work do. Yup.
Three entries into the New Visions exhibiton at the Grant Bradley Gallery. Check. Didn’t manage to get the prints framed before the Xmas full stop, so my own personal stash has gone in to the exhibition and my walls are looking pretty bare… but artwork in. Job done.
Picked up a couple of test prints today. Not so sure about the tartan plate. Will have a think about another way of approaching the tone. The other plate is the first etching I made live at life class. I wasn’t going to print from it, but it may be just the image I’m looking for to fill a personal commission.
Click thumbs for full size images, Have a great weekend!
Four prints to collect today. Once again testing the two current types of ink I have at the moment. Charbonnel gives a much more subtle flavour, and the Caligo a less refined but more punchy, cartoony look. Testing will continue! Life drawing starts again tomorrow so a whole new raft of plate making will follow, which reminds me – I must prepare the 20 plates I bought :/
For full size images, click thumbs below
Its a bit frustrating fighting with tone inking up plates so I decided to have a play with using marks to make tone rather than doing it all at the print stage. I didn’t really intend to end up with this tartan type pattern, but that’s what popped out. I’ve no idea what it’ll actually look like printed, I’ve tried to quickly mock it up but the proof of the pudding will be in the pulling…
Click Thumbs for full size images
Excellent! Just took delivery of four framed etchings and one massive snowboarding photo from the lovely guys down at Niche Frames in Stokes Croft. Well chuffed with the results. Can’t wait to see more of my work replete in its Sunday best in the months to come. Its really nice to know that I’ve got the final piece of the puzzle worked out. Happy Dave’s :D
I’ve been working a lot recently on a series of inkings, but I’ve still been trying to put in a day a week down at the print shop. I’ve been experimenting with different inks under the advisement of a few experienced printers that are more than willing to share their knowledge. Turns out though that the technique I’d developed using a certain type of water based ink doesn’t translate across to the more traditional ‘industry standard’ Charbonelle oil based ink. Its fun to have a play though, certainly takes the pressure off… only one useable image out of nine isn’t so good in a production sense though!
I’ve also tried a different smaller size of paper, inspired by the 6×8 charity art competition I’m entering.
Finally got round to choosing prints that make the grade from the few editions I’ve pulled to date. 13 of the prints you see here will be available to buy in the very near future. 4 of the remainder have made it to the framery to get fitted with their Sunday best ready for my walls and galleries. I’ve also been producing a number of new original inkings testing out a smaller format, more on that to follow…
Click thumbs for larger images
It feels like a long while since I’ve been down to the print studio. Picked up these prints today that were pulled on Tues. I’d just got some new fancy Charbonnelle printing ink and had a bit of a play rather than just trying to pull the perfect print each time. Its much more fun this way. Oddly doesn’t feel like you’re producing anything good at the time, but they seem to be growers. Enjoying playing with texture and tone, I’m going to forget about editioning and just get on with it…
Click thumbs for larger images
The prints I made as wedding gifts a few months ago turned out not only to be a run-away success but have also led to my first commission, which is fantastic news all round. I received a really lovely letter asking for a companion piece to one of the prints which also included what I believe to be an absolutely spot on write up of myself and my work:
“The draftsmanship is striking but there are elements of grotesquerie and darkness which seem at odds with the light heartedness he projects on an initial meeting. I’m neither critic nor connoisseur, but his images are haunting and have stayed with me”
Martin Maurice, Manhatten, NYC.
Below is the piece which provoked this response, seen here as it was presented.
I’m very much looking forward to finding the right print to complement this image, but because of the nature of my work, I never know what’s going to come off the point of my etching tool so I can but wait until the right image happens…
Dave Cropley 