Monthly Archive for February, 2011

So, I decided to add 4 more pieces to my Venn by Penn series. You can see them individually here on the Play project page. Looking back on all 8, I thought it would be good to share how the concept that motivated me to make these came about.

I didn’t originally intend to draw Venn diagrams. It just sort of happened when I was trying to make a valentine for my lovely wife, and I couldn’t express as much meaning as I wanted to in just illustrating type. I wanted to produce small scale artwork that was densely layered with symbolism, so I altered and evolved the elements of the Venn. The interlocking shapes (or ‘frames’) were explored in a variety of styles. The type was given subtle diversity. The icon patterns were added to enhance the visual impact and meaning of the words. The outer embellishment around the shapes was added to seal the diagram into a cohesive whole.

In summary, these pieces have a sort of presence to them when held. They might be historic only in appearance, but already feel like a keepsakes.

I love making things by hand, so I decided to hand-craft my business cards for 2011.
Here’s a quick recap of how I made them:

Step 1: The Plan
I decided to use custom stamps for the design on both sides. The front was to be a ‘stage’ for my new logo, and the back was planned to be a place for simple info and a hand-written message.

Step 2: The Trim Down
It’s not easy to trim down 140 lb. double cover with an x-acto knife. I went through 10 blades for 100 cards over 2 hours, so I contacted a printer to help me trim the rest.

Step 3: The Front-Side Stamp (x2)
Each card started with a full-bleed white ink custom pattern stamp, followed by a small 1/2″ black logo stamp placed in a strategic circle within the pattern. Semi-tight hand registration was required for the placement of the logo stamp, and I had varying results.

Step 4: The Back-Side Stamp
The back-side was reserved for simple messaging. I don’t think much info is needed on business cards these days with everyone being on the internet, so I kept it simple: name, website, email. I left an open area at the bottom for special hand-written messages.

Step 5: Time to Relax
I was relieved when I finished my first batch of cards. It was a bit nerve-racking trying to ‘generally’ register 3 different stamps by hand, but in the end I thought it was worth it. See the final photos here.

I decided to turn the original Venn by Pen “You, Me, Forever” illustration into a Valentine Card/Print available for sale on Etsy! I printed a small run of red and black ones on 80 lb. light cream colored Neenah Crest paper.Their for sale on Etsy here: Red or Black.

I’ve always wanted to do this: tea-dye paper. I’ve been wanting new surfaces to draw on other than my moleskine, and decided to experiment with tea-dying which gives paper a nice aged look. So, I decided to wing it without instructions.

I created 3 different baths. The first was a combination of 7 mint green and roobios red teas in 4 cups of boiling water. The second was 8 bags of black and chai tea in 2 cups of boiling water. And the third was the rest of the pot of my medium roast coffee. The first two baths were allowed to steep for about 30 minutes, with occasional stirring.

Next, I decided to use 140 lb. Strathmore white archival watercolor paper for the transformation since it’s made to handle water well, and I was planning on dunking it for 20 minutes. I trimmed down a few small pieces to perform a litmus test, and noticed just how nice the tooth was on the rough sheet.

I dunked the litmus slips for 20 minutes, and got some surprising results when I pulled them out. From left to right, here’s the line-up: white (no bath), light antique brown (coffee bath), soft warm tan (red/green tea bath), and a rich citrine color (chai/black tea bath). That last bath was seriously strong, both in aroma and color.

I started ripping down medium sized pieces of the Strathmore, when I remembered that I had a stash of old acrylic-painted paper from 6 years ago—perfect to add to the experiment. I gathered small pebbles from the backyard to hold down the sheets from the edges.

The results were beautiful. The Strathmore white sheets matched the litmus tests exactly on all 3 accounts. However, I think the acrylic-painted sheets produced some unexpected magic. I didn’t want to spoil the results, so stay tuned as I work my way through some new illustrations on these dyed sheets to share with you here.

If you have any specific paper-dying questions, ask away and I’ll do my best to provide some insight.