Blog — "shop"

The summer months in the greeting card industry tend to be slower. No major card giving holidays, and less online shopping as people spend more time outside. I'm ok with that. It gives me time to finally work on concepts that have been stirring for a while.

I've recently been experimenting with gold foil printing, a process that has been time consuming, frustrating, and rewarding all in the same moment. I feel as though I've finally reached a point in which I've perfected the process-- I know what works best and what certainly didn't work at all. While I still have room to grow and more to learn, I feel comfortable offering more items in my shop that use this process.

My most recent is a landscape series, in which I've illustrated four different landscapes.

I digitized my illustrations, colored them, and printed the color with archival ink. I then ran the colored print through a second process of gold foil printing the elements that were left uncolored. Each is printed on 100% recycled paper, which really lends to the natural aspect of each illustration.

I'm thrilled with how the series has turned out-- just as I had envisioned when I began the first pen and ink illustrations. No two of these prints are alike, as I hand print each one, leaving them with their small nuances and originality that comes with the process of the gold foil printing. And above all, these illustrations have been a catalyst for a new creative energy that has forced me out of a rut that I'd been previously had a hard time of overcoming.

What new projects have you been working on lately?