Withdrawing Room letterpress cards

After a few sessions tinkering with my Adana press I’m finally getting some decent results. Some research and experimentation led me to the conclusion that dampening the paper gives much better results whether you’re printing with or without ink. Paper quality also made a huge difference, especially to the blind debossing. I used some Fabriano Rosapina 285gsm paper, a cotton-based paper that has a sponginess which gives a nice deep indent, something I wasn’t expecting to manage on such a small hand press. Although it took me some time to get the pressure reasonably even across the print, I’m pleased with how these came out and I’m sure the set up will get quicker now that I’ve got a better grip on how it all works, which papers work etc.

I love how printmaking forces you to slow down which in turn makes you think about what you’re doing more carefully.. and it’s such an immersive and physical experience that it makes it so different to creating images digitally. Plus the end results are so tactile, especially when you get some decent paper stock to work with. I’m planning to dot these around (for example, hidden in library books) as a subtle way of promoting The Withdrawing Room site.. which by the way, has just reached it’s 50th image.