This is the second year that we've taken part in the
Dogs with Blogs Christmas card exchange whereby participants send Christmas cards to pals all around the world. Most people use straightforward photos of their dogs on the cards but we wanted to do something a little different.
I thought I might experiment with my gocco printer and print a photo of our dog Jackson with a difference. I decided to use this photo as I like the way he's looking directly at the camera.
Firstly I edited out the background and then superimposed a cartoony big nose and added the antlers. When trying to print a photo using a gocco it's best to add dots to the image so that it comes out like a newspaper photo. I could have done it in Photoshop, but I like the lo-fi photo screens that the gocco manufacturer Riso produce for this so I used one of them instead. It's placed directly on the photocopier screen and the image is put on top and copied. All images for gocco have to be photocopied or drawn using a special pen to get the right amount of carbon to work properly. It's all a bit technical for me, I'm afraid.
I then added the message using Lionel Text Diesel in red and silver ink.
I like the way it looks sort of faded, although the photo doesn't really do it justice and the writing is actually straight on the original cards, not slightly skew-whiff as seen here!
I am very excited by my new toy, an Adana 8x5 Letterpress which I recently bought on eBay. My press dates from around the early 1950s and is showing a few signs of neglect, but nothing that a bit of tender loving care can't sort out. A few parts were missing but I'm hoping to pick up some bits and pieces shortly before I begin work on my first card designs. I've also just joined the British Printing Society which has some useful information and links on Letterpress.
