New Prints in the Shop

Well this is exciting: new prints in the shop! Halloween weekend was spent in an exhausting marathon of type-setting, ink-mixing, block-carving, print-making, paper-trimming and podcast-listening. The impetus for studio time was a dwindling supply of CTA Announcement Series prints, but we here at Monkey-Rope Press have a hard time doing things by halves. Why only print 6 two-color prints when I could print 14? Check out our new stock:

Twas Brillig, a typographic tip of the hat to Lewis Carroll;

 

Cheery and fun Good Morning, Sunshine and Good Morning, Glory;

 

Reprints of ALL the CTA Announcement Series, including brand-new black-and-silver "Inbound Train" (previously only available in blue and brown), and prints of the linocut train design in black, silver and blue;

 

Three brand-new bibliophilic prints;

 

And finally, some holiday cheer: Jolliest of Jollies and Merriest of Merries!

I also took the opportunity while taking pictures of the new prints to re-shoot old favorites. Be sure to stop by the shop to see old prints in a new light!

Friends of Transit Print Invitational

Marnie Galloway of Monkey-Rope Press

What a show! Last night was the opening reception of Transit Residency's Print Invitational at the I Am Logan Square gallery as part of Chicago Artists Month.  I was proud to contribute three prints from the CTA Announcements series and the first of the bicycle subculture pugilists prints. This sneak-peak picture was shared by Transit before the opening...

...but the gallery was so packed last night, I couldn't get a photograph of the work myself!

The crowd spilled out onto the sidewalk in front of the gallery, amiable and full of delicious treats from Paper Moon Bakery and locally brewed craft beer by Revolution Brewing.

Congratulations again to Transit Residency for organizing such a wonderful show!

New Prints in the Shop

Four new prints in the shop! We've got a deep sea, shiny metalic "bioluminescent" jellyfish; its warm-water cousin; a cicada-killer wasp chasing a cicada; and, our personal favorite, a tea-time Jolly Roger flag. 

**3 cheers to Evanston Print and Paper for studio time, coffee delivery and light-hearted camaraderie.

Summer Round-Up

It has finally happened: the high temperatures later this week will dip in to the upper 50s, pumpkin-flavored everythings are available with irritating regularity at coffee shops and bakeries city wide, and citizens everywhere are discovering orphaned gloves and single cough losenges in newly aired-out jackets. Summer is over and fall is settling in!

We here at Monkey-Rope Press are settling back into a long-overdue work flow after a heartily enjoyed summer hiaitus, but that's not to say that we've been without news:

• Earlier this month, Chicagoist and Gapers Block picked up on our CTA Announcement print series. Any and all publicity that hilariously modulated voice acting can get, the happier we are! 
• The first chapter of Monkey-Rope Press's first graphic novel, In the Sounds and Seas, is now available at both Quimby's here in Chicago and at Comix Revolution in Evanston. If those are too local for you, the book is also available on our etsy store.
• Last but by no means least, we printed wedding invitations for beloved pals, fellow nerds and sociology PhD candidates this summer. I offered to print their invitation before I knew what they wanted, and couldn't have been more tickled or excited by their idea. Who needs cherry blossoms and cursive script when you can have gigantic robots destroying the Las Vegas strip?

This brown, cream and metalic-bronze linoleum block print was printed on Cream Cordtone Speckletone French Paper on a Vandercook 4 proof press at Evanston Print and Paper Shop. Unfortunately, Las Vegas was not damaged in the production of this print.

Looking forward into the coming layering seasons, we look forward to adding new prints to our shop page, publishing small experimental comics and settling into Chapter 2 of In the Sounds and Seas. Now it's time to put on a kettle for tea and settle in to business. Happy autumn, one and all!

Printing the Cover

Linoleum block relief carvings for both the cover pattern and text

The first color: half and half black and sliver ink for a muted-metalic grey, on French's Dur-o-tone Steel Grey paper

First color printed...and look at what's on the wall! Way to go!

(Many thanks to Evanston Print & Paper for accomodating our last-minute press needs.)

Metalic silver ink for a popping title

The first trimmed-down mock-up of the cover of In the Sounds and Seas (vol. 1 of 6).

This afternoon I drop off the cover stock to Salsedo Press, who is offset printing the text block of the book and folding/coallating the press pages. For the first time in 6 months, this project will be out of my hands. I reckon that means it's time to get started on volume 2 this weekend!

Printing Process

After a festive day at Renegade yesterday, I spent an early snowy morning at the studio finishing the first half of the Christine Jorgensen diptych. 

First I trimmed the block on the studio's table saw. This is a wonderfully lazy method: without a saw I could have carved out the extra several square inches on the block, but why put my finger joints through that when better tools are available? 

Next, I locked the block into the bed of the press. A few pieces of chipboard are cut to match the dimensions of the linoleum block and packed in underneath, to bring the surface of the linoleum to type high (that is, the height where the rollers will hit the block). The carved block is kept in place with long blocks of wood (called furniture) and a quoin, which can be expanded to snugly lock in the furniture and the block by rotating the quoin key.

Then I mixed the ink. For consistency throughout the full run of this project, I kept the ink mixture as simple as possible so I can closely match it again in the future. I bought a can of purple ink and mixed it half and half with opaque white. 

After inking up the press, I pulled a first proof on scrap paper. This is always an exciting moment for me as a printer, to finally see the result of all the hours of carving labor hunched over at my desk.

But that isn't to say that the carving is done, or that the block is ready to print! The first proof is on the left, and the final print is on the right. I saw from the spotty, lightly textured first proof that I needed to add more chipboard under the block to raise it up high enough for even contact with the inked rollers. I also err on the side of leaving too much not carved, so that I can cut more away once I see how the block prints. Looking at the proof I decided that I did not like the wimpy-looking "electric" movement out of the microphone, so I improvised some more cuts for a more balanced & bold look.

Then all that was left was to print the full edition. I printed 60 for a final edited edition of 50, giving room for me to take out of the run any prints that were under-inked, gunky or imbalanced in some way.

And there she is!