RELEASE THE KRAKEN

This summer I took a Letterpress class at the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle and it was one of the most exciting things I've done in a while! I learned so many cool techniques and it opened my eyes to a whole new world of design. This is the broadside I made for my main project featuring an octopus because they're awesome! I decided from the beginning to do something lighthearted and silly because its a change of pace from my normal work. Here are a few shots of the finished product and my process.

The process of proofing, from left to right. Getting all of the elements positioned correctly takes more work than you imagine. I did two passes on the press with two different colors so getting the first and second passes lined up was important.

 On the left are the two linoleum blocks I carved to make the octopus image. They are super messy because I cleaned the ink off and it gets everywhere! Hand carving linoleum blocks has turned out to be one of my favorite things, you have so much freedom to create and press anything to want with a hand made touch.

My inking station got a little messy...

I didn't plan on not lining up the octopus outline and fill but I decided once I started printing (and lining them up was difficult) that I enjoyed the depth and texture it gave the print.

The finished product! Oh and don't miss the ampersand tentacle :)

see more of my work in my portfolio