There’s only 3-ish weeks until the release of the Cheltenham Illustration Awards theme and the start of the Call for Entries, so I’m coming back to the lovely process of risograph printing for a short and sweet 4 week project to fill my time until then~
This time around I already have a good knowledge of the process and what it entails, as well as what types of artwork are best suited to the unique qualities of the risograph printer.
Since it’s quite an uncommon facility, I really want to make the most of my access to the riso this year while at college- there are other companies who print risographs to order (e.g. Risotto Studio, more on this later in my research) but these are few and far between and there’s nothing better than going through and learning the process yourself!
Armed with this prior experience, I’ll be able to produce much more refined prints that make better use of colour (including the new inks!!), as well as transparency/opacity levels and layout (e.g. line trapping, negative space, etc).
As always, I’ve begun the project with a mind map encompassing all of my ideas, areas for research and outcomes, as well as a rough workflow outline:
Before mapping out my ideas, I also wrote a little synopsis of the project and what the aims are- might as well post below!~
Project Synopsis
- For this project, I want to directly follow on from my initial risography experimentation in Semester 1, utilising my newfound skills, prior experience and increased colour availability to create a complementary pair of two prints. I will produce approx. 10 completed prints per image in a variety of finishes.
- This pair of prints will be a continuation of the theme ‘Natural Pattern’, which I first explored in the experimental Printmaking project during Semester 1. I want to explore further natural subjects in these prints, merging together figure and flora/other naturally occurring elements, grouping these assets into themed outcomes that work well both individually and as a pair of complementary pieces.
- I will be producing the imagery using Procreate, with additional hand applied processes such as metallic embellishment (e.g. hand-painted or screen printed, gold/silver leaf application) on select prints to add interest and unique elements.
- Ultimately, I’ll be aiming for the final prints to be of a good enough quality to be sold at my final show, in addition to being included in my portfolio as part of Personal Project 3 (PP3).
- I will also conduct thorough research before starting on my project as well as throughout the design process. This will include primary references, existing example research, risograph colour methods and printing applications, with additional visual development presented in an A4 sketchbook.
As mentioned, I really want to make some nice prints to sell at final show- so this run of prints will be pretty commercial based rather than conceptual in order to meet the needs of the brief.
Targets for the coming week include starting to draw out some concepts (and finding/photographing references to go with these), as well as artist and existing imagery research. More next week! ♥
References
Risotto Studio (2019). Risotto Riso Room [online]. Available at: https://www.risottostudio.com/print [Accessed 3 Feb 2019].
chalon joy collingwood 