August 2011
1 post
They're Alive!
I’ve finally printed the completed set of blocks. Dan from The Arm graciously assisted me in setting up and printing. The experience overall was absolutely amazing and I’d highly recommend taking a class at The Arm because they are super nerds about everything from printing to making actual lead type at their type foundry. On top of that, they are solid dudes!
So, I have a few...
April 2011
3 posts
Trim the blocks: check.
This past Saturday night I had the enlightening experience of using a Hammond Glider saw to trim my blocks. Dan from The Arm letterpress studio suggested Bryan Baker could possibly help me out since he so conveniently has a saw made specifically for trimming wood type. Lucky for me, Bryan agreed and taught me how to use the beautiful machine in the basement of his studio. It was a complete success...
Watch(If you are a fan of metal type, click here.)
March is over. What's next?
Now that A-Z is completed, I’ve decided that my set is complete. This weekend is about finishing test prints. Next comes the tedious task of trimming each block down to reflect the most accurate measurements of side bearings, head, and foot height. Figuring out a way to print the specimen set will follow that. In short, I don’t expect the prints to be complete for a few weeks at least....
March 2011
30 posts
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I decided to make a time lapse video of Z. Hope you enjoy it.
Letter March, Z from aymiespitzer on Vimeo.
Thanks to Skylar for photographing Z and to Myungsun Jang for filming.
(Also, mega thanks to Caribou for not suing me for using Sundailing)
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X means I'm nearing the end!
Can you tell I have other things on my mind? There are some deep chunks around this guy but the lines themselves are pretty straight for the most part. It’s all about what it will look like printed. Oh, the next couple weeks will be such fun!
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Today I took W for an outing in the March rain.
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Sweet Saturday.
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Workshop turned into Woodshop today!
Josh Stewart had a sweet tip for me today. Using a bench hook! How obvious. This morning we scavenged through the building’s palettes of trash, collecting wood scraps (note the left over glue marks) which we recycled into the perfect little device! What a difference it made!
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Upon starting this project, I admit that I have made a *few errors. Learning is why I approach most projects, especially those which require skills that are somewhat previously nonexistent. That being said, Q is a perfect example of learning by doing things backwards.
Adding to the newbie-carving-letters mistake pile, I failed to notice that Q’s tail hung below my baseline and actually...
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Test prints
How entertaining! The improvements from where I started March 1st are galactic. Learning technique and functions of nibs, lighting conditions, and music selection all harvest variants of quality. It truly has been an experience in learning what works and what does not. When slicing long, straight lines, “Steady As She Goes” by Raconteurs often repeats in my head. Little...
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Pangram contest!
After completing all letters, my idea was to print a specimen poster. That’s an obvious conclusion to a project like this and I still plan to print them. However, the ever awesome Skylar presented an even more marvelous idea; print fun and wacky pangrams! Further into discussion, we decided it would interesting to open the research to all of you as well! While there are silly pangrams in...
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Pangram party awaits!
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O goodness!
Only 16 left!
I have had such a blast with this project so far. I cannot believe there are only about 16 left! Currently, I’m working on test prints and will post them very soon!
Thank you for the support, comments, and emails! Glad to hear I’ve inspired a few fellow nerds.
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N was absolutely my favorite so far, even though I carved it twice because two of the corners chipped off. I think it’s the nice angles formed between the strokes and the diagonal stroke.
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Lovely little Saturday.
Printing a few letters tonight. Trying to figure out why the ink is not printing evenly.
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Today's letter was carved in honor of Japan.
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I may also recarve this one.
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I will most definitely carve this one again. Not happy.
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The counters on this gem were tricky. I spent more time with them than any letter previously. While I’ll probably never cut a perfect letter in my lifetime, trying to accomplish this is a bit nutty. Often I find myself thinking, “if I could only get this curve smoother” or “this line straighter” but in reality these imperfections are what make this project...
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Today I tried out a little trick. Before cutting, I used a blow dryer to warm the block. This completely changed the texture beneath the surface. It definitely accelerated the process of cutting out the large chunks before changing to a smaller nib. Also, the straight cuts were more crisp and pretty close to perfect. Overall I’d say warming is a smart (and safer!) move. Thanks to Joana...
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Eek.
Thank goodness my roommate Huan from China had a Band-Aid.
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Dinner, or so Pinky thinks!
Thanks to my special guest models Jesse Ragan and French Pinky.
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Carve calmly and gently.
Thanks to my special guest model Cameron Koczon aka Fictive Cameron.
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B is for Brooklyn.
B took a bit longer than A. I can see that my attention to detail is kicking in. I spent a good amount of time inspecting the perpendicular angles from the base to the letter wall. Still not perfect, but I can tell my eyes are starting to adjust to the color differences which may help seeing depth as I progress. I am also starting to feel more comfortable with the knives and their individual...
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Photos of A have been recovered!
It is with mondo, tremendous, abundant gratitude to Raul Gutierrez that I present these photos of my first letter. I thought I had lost them while uploading, but in fact nothing is ever erased in this digital world, and Raul recovered them from my camera. Not to mention he is also teaching me how to use my Grandpa’s vintage Canon for my other current project! How lucky I truly am to have...
A couple misfortunes will not keep me down!
“A” turned out okay for my first linocut ever. No one will ever see the process because after uploading the totally awesome photos, my computer crashed and the photos were deleted off my camera. MAJOR BUMMER and mildly discouraging on my first letter! I must say that linoleum is tougher to slice than I had envisioned. Definitely fun though. Until I sliced my finger? Yeah, that happened...
February 2011
1 post
It started with this little guy.
One day I decided that I wanted to learn how to carve wooden letters. After realizing that I lack absolutely all skills in carving, especially wood, I was advised to start with linoleum. Let’s take a moment to understand what level carver I am. Tree branch skewers for campfire marshmallow roasting, potato stamps and soap stamps back in elementary school. That’s it. I’ve never...