Last winter during my trip to Bucharest and my weekly visit to the local street fair I was lucky to find a letterpress printing plate. I have no typographic skills or knowledge except for a few printing trials made during my graphic classes in university, but I instantly figured out a use for it with my books. And it was fun!
I did not want to simply print onto the leather. I was looking for something a bit more abstract than that, so what I did was to press the clean plate until it formed an imprint into the leather. The leather I used was natural soft caw hide, without previous dyeing or any other treatment. After obtaining the imprint, I went on and applied leather colors onto the surface with a hand roll. I mixed several colors in layers and voila, the final result.
I’m still planning the best way to use these for book covers. Steampunk journal? Hard cover book? Not sure yet, but will post soon!
Wow, I love it. I think these old letterpress pieces are just great but I don't have any equipment to use them and haven't figured out what would work. Your idea is amazing. I'm looking forward to the result.
ReplyDeleteoh Teo, this is incredible!! What better combination than letterpresses and leather! Two of my favorite things, I love this creative idea :) Can't wait to see the finished piece!
ReplyDeleteFascinating Teo, looking forward to seeing your creations. You must be thrilled at how this turned out!
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