Pressure printing

My good friend Dave was nice enough to spend a Sunday afternoon with me working on a type project. He is such a generous guy and loves him some letterpress. So we went to work and had a collaboration.


My Grandpa kept a type cabinet in his basement as a sentimental reminder of his days at the publisher. He passed away around 7 years ago, and I recently discovered the type collection while visiting my grandma in Colorado. She loves butterflies, so as a thank you for willing me the cabinet, I combined his fascination for art and letterpress type with her butterflies. *sniff* sappy, but feels great to do.


Rust and Yellow


My Grandpa's type, arranged on the plate.




I drew an outline of a butterfly on yupo paper and cut out shapes for two runs of color. We took the paper cut out and stuck it with adhesive to the roller on the press. When the paper was sent through, only the shape of the butterfly and a little static around the edges appears. Dave printed two runs to show two colors in different sections.


Final Print


Dave, thank you thank you thank you th....