Rain Artists Book

This book was created for my final project in my Printmaking class; it was loosely based on an infographic I saw floating around, and the influence of Iron & Wine, City & Colour, and RainyMood.


Honestly, this book was created mostly just for aesthetics (sometimes that's okay, right? Right.) 


I was working with a new medium - polymer plates - so I didn't want to make things too complicated for myself. Polymer plate is a type of photo-sensitive plastic that is exposed in the darkroom to create hand-drawn elements that would otherwise be impossible on the letterpress.

I don't have photos of the whole process (if you follow me on Instagram - Mirilittlebird - you can see some work in progress shots), but basically, you create your black and white design in Photoshop. Then, you invert the file so that all of your design is white, and the background is black. When the plate is exposed, the light will shine through the "white" or translucent areas and harden them so that they can be printed on the press.

It's a bit of a complicated process: you have to take your inverted file and print it on special film, then take that film (the negative) into the darkroom to expose it. My professor was kind enough to walk me through this process. You lay your negative on the plate in the exposing tray, then expose it. Once it is exposed, you place it in a little bath with funny little bristles. The parts you left translucent have become hard, and the little bristles swish away all the soft parts, leaving you with just your design. Slap that on the letterpress, add some ink, and voila! Amazingness.

So I printed all of the plates onto vellum, using a rainbow of colours on the rollers of the press. The cover is digitally printed (unfortunately), and is designed using some of my watercolour techniques.


The best part was cutting those clouds. Best. Part. 

The second best part was actually binding the books - once you get the hang of the pattern, it is extremely calming to sit there with your ipod and stitch them up. I'm still trying to figure out why my covers got warped, but it's been humid in Atlanta. Never a perfect world, eh? But beautiful nonetheless.

As always, thank you so much for reading!

Are you working on any projects right now? Since I have a break from school until my summer class starts at the end of June, I have been working mainly on shop stock, and getting my inventory together for Otakon this summer! I'm excited! 

{ All photos (c) Erin McManness 2012 - if you repost or repin, please link back! }