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 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 :)
   
   

   

   
   

Font Fiesta

I love working typography into my stamp designs. When I get requests for custom stamps, I sometimes get asked "are there fonts you recommend?" which I find hard to answer, most because fonts are like us and each one of them is so uniquely different!

Handmade stamps shown above: Handmade by + Your Name, Custom Stamp || Custom Return Address Stamp || Save the Date Stamp || Names in Heart Typography Stamp || Hearty Hands and Monogram Stamp || Handmade with Love Stamp

I decide to make this image (go chalkboard typography!) to show you some of my favorite fonts as well as give a nod of the head to some of the cinematic classics. Like I said, the fonts are all free, and if you click on the source address below the image you can go to the download page where you'll also be able to preview custom text in that pretty font.

Leave a message and share your favorite font and quote!

Fonts shown above: Lobester 1.4 (for this stamp) || Oldstyle || Refuse Trip || Coneria Script (used on this stamp) || KBSoThinteresting || Learning Curve || Olivier || Mossy