It is almost over. My letterpress class has almost ended and I am sad.
I have become close friends with an old Vandercook machine.
I learned how to set the type, register my image, and clean up all that ink.
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| The scissors are printed using a linoleum block that I carved and have used when printing fabric. The lettering is set in metal type. |
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| Metal Type |
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| Wood Block Letters - notice the imperfections (which I like) |
I have a new appreciation for letterpress printing, as it takes at least 30 minutes to get everything set up before you even start the machine. All the machines are at least 50 years old. They don't always run smoothly, they get wonky, and you have to do lots of fiddling and finagling. For some reason this really appealed to me. Perhaps it is refreshing in this age of software to have to face problems relating to moving parts, gears, and true grease. It must be the farmer in my blood.
