So yet again I’ve been busy making things and not blogging, shame on me! I have lots to share with my blog, but it’ll have to wait a while, suffice it to say there are lino cuts, reduction prints, and bookbinding items I’ve been working away on.

But for now, you’ll just have to live with these teaser images!

Well I have been a terrible blogger lately. Just rest assured that it means I’ve doing a bit better as a student! My final project is now over, and next is the Degree show, and D&AD exhibits. I’m planning to make quite a batch of things to show at our degree show, so I’ll be posting those, and I should be testing out Spoonflower (a print on demand fabric company) very soon, which is a bit exciting. Even more exciting- I just went to Spoonflower to verify the link, and my very own pattern(below!) is on the front page as a recent favourite. How good is that?! 

Well, it seems as if Spring is finally approaching, and with it the deadline for my last uni project. I’ve been pretty lax with this blog, I know, but there’s so much to do, and time running out. Hopefully I can get back into blogging in May.

Tags: photography

I know this is already halfway round the internet by now, but I’m a little late on the bandwagon with this one- Poladroid. It’s a compact application for mac or pc that mimics the saturated, out of focus look of polaroid film. Of course, yes you could get the same effect by using a few Photoshop curves and a polaroid frame but it’s just a bit more fun this way.

The website has the program for free download with support, and there’s a few flickr groups showcasing the work. Let me know what you make with it!

Tags: poladroid, photography, applications

I recently had an incredibly useful session in the print room with my lecturer and the print technician, who both showed me a lot about lino printing. We used the University’s lovely but neglected Albion press, of which there are two in Europe, both situated in our University. I was immediately told not to use the water based ink I’d been leaning towards, but instead the oil based, which is a very different texture. Padding was another thing I knew nothing of but is very important in getting the correct density of ink in the image. There seems to be two main variables- the ink and pressure, so it should be pretty straightforward to work out what is lacking.

Using the press shows the flaws of a lino more than hand pulling, the pressure forces the paper in to the hollow on the lino and picks up all the recessed ink, so I think I’ll have to re cut most of the daisies image- the pigeons is ok in the main, as the large expanses of black, uncut lino mean the paper can be pushed so low. I love how the grain of the lino shows through, the texture is so much nicer than any flat black of modern printing.