Cat, cat, cat

A new custom pet portrait stamp - now in its new home in Norway :)

The last is the original photo provided by the customer - 

:) 

/Tian

Fun Sale before the Summer

Since I'll be leaving for summer vacation from the middle of July, I thought I'd have a fun sale in the shop and make some nice stamps before the summer.

This is perfect if you want a nice personal stationary item for yourself (the smallest stamp costs $10 including international shipping), a birthday or wedding gift for a friend - the possibilities are endless since you get to choose what the stamp says!

This is how it works: go to my shop and look around at the stamps - this applies to any existing design in the shop and I have A LOT of them - pick the one you like, and check out. You'll see an "additional comment" box - that's where you can leave a name/sentence/phrase, anything less than 10 letters is free :)

If your text is longer than 10 letters, I'll charge $10 every 10 letters (starting at $10, and jumping at $10 marks, e.g. 23 letter -> 13 extra letters -> $20 extra).

I'll pick a font that looks nice with the design, but if you have any stylistic preference you can mention that in the comment too.

Here's an example: my friend's son really likes Batman and his name is Björn, so I go ahead and order the Batman Cutie stamp for him, leaving his name and an exclamation mark - "Björn!" - in the additional comment box at checkout, also saying "a comics-style font". Done!

My current turnaround is about 12 days; shipping takes around a week to non-European countries and about 3 days to Europe. If you have any other questions, you can reach me at tyr [at] thisisjusttosay.co or find me on my Facebook page :)

I also have a couple of new prints in the shop; they are not on sale but they are quite nice to look at.

Enjoy!
/Tian

More Hand-carved Goodies

While I'm working on a new linocut (check out the process on my Instagram), I made a couple of custom stamps -

Elizabeth was inspired by a post on Wedding Chicks and commissioned me to make this stamp for the little muslin favor bags. This stamp measures app. 3" x 3" and took about 3 hours to carve. 

A custom address stamp. The customer requested a stamp with typography "fancy enough for wedding invitations", so here is what I came up with.

You can get persnalized address stamps here - I just added a few variants to the listing and it'll be much easier for you to order :)

If you are interested in making your own stamps, take a look at the tools I use. I've covered them in my previous posts here.

Have a great week! /Tian

New Kid Portrait Stamps

I was commissioned to make two kid portrait stamps - it's fun to study their faces; they are very different from adults :)

Customize your child's first portrait stamp here. 

New Logo & Portfolio Site

If the path to become a successful artist is like climbing a mountain, I feel like I've just built my base camp. I purchased gantian.se a while ago and have been building my portfolio site one brick at a time, and now it's on!

So, take a look - if you see something that looks weird or spots a spelling mistake somewhere, I would love to know - I might have been working on this long enough to develop a blind spot or two :) 

I completed the logo before the website and have grown quite into it since. My Chinese name is 甘甜(ɡān tián, family name and then given name), which also happens to be an adjective meaning sweet. 

I wanted to incorporate my name in the logo without it looking too Chinese. Starting with a few basic pencil sketches, I decided to try out different colors, fonts and layouts in Photoshop instead. 

I did some crowd-sourcing on my personal FB page (thanks, guys!) and finally decided to go with the first one. To my eyes, it's the most interesting design of all four, but why stop there? Or, what's a printmaker without a handmade logo?

I carved out the design with the 甜/tian in two different boldness so I have more to work with digitally.

I scanned the imprint, cleaned it up a little, duplicated the right part and added color in Photoshop - bright red and blue combined with a very dark gray.

I made a vertical and a horizontal logo for different purposes. Right now on my portfolio site I'm using the horizontal design above the top navigation bar. 

Et voilà! You'll find process photos on my portfolio page with some other logos I designed. If you like what I do and would like me to be a part of a project you're working on, get in touch: email me, or use the contact form on the right :) 

Happy Easter!

/Tian

Two New Designs Available

Just listed two custom stamps in the shop -

1. Arrow and heart, a custom monogram stamp. I see this as the bigger version of the heart in this design :)
   
   
   
   
   
2. Tie the knot, custom stamp with names. I've been wanting to make a stamp with this motif for a while, so voilà :)
   
   

   

   
   

Dead Astronaut Ex Libris, stamp

In my last post I wrote and put pictures about how I sketched for the custom dead astronaut Ex Libris stamp; in this one you'll see how I carved it - with my Pfeil gouges fresh from Switzerland, which are probably the best things I've bought in a while.

I transferred the design to a piece of Speedy Carve; the design measures just under 8 x 6 cm. I had to test the new gouges (the ones with mushroom-like handles) on a small piece of rubber (top left) first to get myself a little familiar with them, but their blade is so long, smooth and round to the touch, and they are very nice to hold. They are all wonderfully sharp and leaves perfectly clean cuts in the rubber. I'm pretty sure I'll abandon my old gouges once I save up some money to buy the Pfeil in more sizes/models.

I also color-coded the two small gouges (a V and a U) with marker pens. Look very nice too I think.

I had a woodcut-like effect in my head so I wanted to use the gouges as much as I could. I ended up only carving the name and the UFO (it's just too small) with the scalpel (white one). 

The stamp took me about 2 hours to carve - almost non-stop. Sketching took longer, which usually is the case with custom designs like this. I've not been happy with my new office chair, but I've just ordered a Mabef desk easel so hopefully it'll give my neck and back an easier time 

Here's the completed stamp! (And the Pfeil knives are just so beautiful, aren't they?)

Here's a bigger image with more details. It's one of my favorite works so far, and the whole communication with Franz, the sketching and carving was just so much fun.

If you'd like to order a custom Ex Libris stamp too, feel free to contact me using the form on the right :) I love commissions like this. 

Greetings from a dead astronaut far away! 

Dead Astronaut Ex Libris, Sketch

Here's what I've been drawing today - design for a custom stamp, commissioned by a sci-fi aficionado. Needless to say I enjoyed every second of it.

The customer, Franz, had in mind a dead astronaut looking in an airlock, with a barren moon-like planet and a UFO in the background. I designed this based on his idea.

If you would like to get a custom Ex Libris stamp like this one, use the contact form on the right. Or just say hello :)

There are some things I planned when I started and that I didn't include in the final design, including shattered glass on the airlock and a crack on the astronaut's helmet, but I'm very happy with how the design looks and I wouldn't want to change a thing. Luckily Franz, really trusted me and liked the design. 

I will post pictures of the stamp being made in my next blog post. 

Yay! :P

Hercules Ex Libris Stamp

Here's a new Ex Libris stamp I made for a lawyer and his book collection. 

The design is based on the Hercules statue created by William Brodie around 1863. 

I've been challenging myself with sketching and carving intricate Ex Libris designs. Since I haven't had large chunks of time to work on prints, I've been having a lot of fun making these. 

Below are some pictures of how the sketch turned into a stamp. I'm very lucky to have a customer who likes my work and trusts me artistically, which always make the process even better. 

If you'd like to order a custom stamp, you can use the contact form on the right :)

Anchor & Daisy Wedding Stamp Design

I made one for Ruth and Marc. Marc works on ships and their wedding theme is land and sea.

Here are some photos to show you the process.

P.S. If you would like me to create a personalized stamp for your wedding, feel free use the contact form on the right.

The initial pencil sketch.

Half way done carving the stamp, using Speedy Carve and a small v-gouge.

The completed stamp, mounted on a piece of unfinished wood.

Mmm. 

Been working on a very big project recently - hopefully I can complete and share with you in a few days :)

New Look in the Shop

I uploaded a few product images in the shop - the front page and custom stamp page look a little different now and I'm happy.

If you could kindly ignore my inability to get consistent white balance, here are some of the new photos. You can find higher resolution photos on the product pages.

Animal & Name/Initials of Your Choice -

Custom Ex Libris/Bookplate Stamp - 

Custom Business Logo Rubber Stamp -

Personalized Portrait, Hand-carved Rubber Stamp - 

Custom Pet Portrait Rubber Stamp - 

Rubber Stamp Carving Material Review - Blüm and Moo Carve

So this will be the review I know you've been waiting for - the awesome glass-looking Blüm Clear Printmaking Blocks. I used it for recent block for a wedding invitation commission. I will also mention the more popular Moo Carve towards the end of the post. 

You can see their packaging in one of my previous posts; I got my from Blick Art Materials. 

* I'm not writing this review for any company; nor did I receive the products from any supplier. If you would like me to review a product, just get in touch! Head to the contact form on the right or email me. 

The Blüm printmaking blocks looks just like glass. They are very relatively thin - 1/8" (32mm). It feels like rubber, but is very smooth and completely clear. They come in packs of two and are quite affordable.

This is how it looks after the transfer (I use 2B mechanical pencil on acid paper to trace my digital design). The Blüm block takes the transfer better than most other materials. The smooth texture is a down size though, since it leads to more smudges. When I carve, I put a piece of tracing paper under my carving hand and on the carving block so I don't smudge the design. 

* I understand you are not supposed to use the Blüm clear block this way. It's clear for the reason that you can put an image right under it and carve - without tracing. It might work for less intricate designs or when some imprecision is acceptable, but with more detailed designs like this one, the thickness of the material would definitely get in the way.

You can see the tip of the scalpel when you carve! It feels very weird and takes a little getting used to. It is a bit difficult to see where you carve, and it's a good idea to carve the block on a light-colored surface. 

The lines in the bottom center of the picture above are not photoshopped - they are little air bubbles that shape between your two carved lines. I found them quite cute :3

The Blüm block is harder to carve than regular carving materials like Speedy Carve, and because it's rather rubbery and very stretchy, you kind have to give each piece a little help when you carve them out. This also makes it quite time-consuming to work with.

The trick part is carving away the extra parts with a gouge. Since gouges are usually thicker than scalpels, it's much hard to carve with them than with scalpels. But it's so pretty, and you can really feel how sturdy and flexible the completed block will be. 

Can you believe I cut myself with the gouge twice carving this block? That's how hard the Blüm printmaking block is. I carve at least on three days every week, and usually this happens less than once a month. 

Back to the block. Because of its thickness (or thinness, to be more exact), you can easily trim off the edges with scissors. 

To test-print my new block, I used Brilliance Graphite Black ink pad and printed on 250 gram cardstock. 

You can clean the Blüm block very easily if you use a water-based ink; just wash it with your hands under running water. There will be very little ink residue. Big Plus. 

It was a bit hard to carve, but when I ship the block to its new owner I knew they'll have something that'll last for years to come. However, if you make stamps or blocks for other people who are not familiar with printmaking, make sure you explain the printing and registration process to them before they get frustrated trying to use it like a regular rubber stamp. 

So, here's my verdict on the Blüm Clear Printmaking Blocks: definitely don't buy them if you are a beginner, but they do make very durable blocks that prints beautifully crisp designs, and they are super easy to clean. Try them out - they won't cost a fortune - and see how it goes!

By the way, you might remember a big piece of Moo Carve I had on my desk in my previous blog post. I did try it out, but I knew I wasn't going to write a full review like this, so here's a few words. 

Moo Carve is very, very easy to carve. Hot knife through butter. The slightly grainy texture feels great. 

There is just one down side: it breaks. 

Moo Carve is extremely soft and you can easily break a smaller part with you finger. That's right, with your finger. I wanted to try it for a custom stamp I'm making, and halfway through it just broke on me. Like so: 

I'm not sure if the company just went to far in the development of an easy-to-carve product, or if this is a family-friendly carving product that's supposed be used and thrown away. At about the same price you can get Speedy Carve - which isn't as soft but is nevertheless quite pleasant to carve. And your stamps can last years, instead of minutes. 

I'm constantly looking for new carving material! After this week's stamps, I will take a break and make 2 small prints. What do you want me to write about next? :)

Hand-printed wrapping paper

I had been toying with the idea of stamping my own wrapping paper even before I found out we were going to have a big family Christmas dinner that presumably involves a gift pile under a proper tree. Then I realized if I was ever going to print some wrapping paper, this would be the Christmas to do so.  

This would be your standard magazine shot. 

Upon request, Anton dug out a huge roll of kraft paper from the garage. I wan't sure how lighter colors would show on the paper, so I decided to keep it simple and print in black. We ditched the idea of making regular snowflake or deer head stamps and went with 1) two stamps of our beautiful faces and 2) a smaller stamp saying God Jul (Merry Christmas in Swedish). 

The smaller stamp gave the final result a modern and chic feel and made us seem less like narcissistic brats who give our presents covered with only their faces. 

Oops. 

Anyway - I made all three stamps one morning, went home and we started stamping away. 

You talking to me?

Our gifts vary quite a bit in size, so I printed the stamps closer for smaller gifts and further apart for bigger boxes, using both Brilliance's Graphite Black and StazOn's Jet Black to print the wrapping paper. Brilliance is very easy to clean with just water while StazOn is an archival ink that will stain your stamp, unless you use their stamp-cleaner. I don't recommend mixing these two kinds of ink pads if you want to keep your stamps all clean and pretty, but ink residue on my own stamps doesn't really bother me. 

Printing this wrapping paper can be quite mesmerizing. 

It was a nice & sunny day - which you don't see a lot this time of the year here in Stockholm - and couldn't resist bringing these out to the garden and have a magazine-worthy photo session. The afternoon sun was low and warm but there were still traces of new-fallen snow on the terrace. 

Printing enough wrapping paper for our presents (including two other that we wrapped the second day) took less than 30 minutes; I don't think our presents could look any better. 

Tie these babes up with some twine for a rustic finishing touch. Or not.

If you have any questions about the process, leave a comment below, or head over to my Facebook page and stay in tune with my creations. 

Want to get printing, but still looking for some personalized rubber stamps? I'll make one for you! You can find geeky, cute and classic designs in my shop, or commission one by emailing me today. 

Got some red and green from our trees too. 

Happy holidays! :)

/Tyr