CLA #2: edge-painting: I’m constantly humbled by the two huge pieces of iron that live in my basement, and I’d like to start documenting certain things i’m learning in the printing world, so I’m doing this little segment called crazy letterpress adventures (CLA).

The photos above are my first attempts at edge-painting. Edge-painting is a challenging technique for a couple of reasons: 1. Nobody tells you exactly how to do it. Edge-painting is usually kept proprietary to each printer, as perfecting the technique takes time and lots of experimentation. 2. It’s really important that everything is perfect when you do it. You need to have the right mix of paint, your edges trimmed perfectly, and everything clamped tightly. You need to know when to fan the stack, so that you don’t rip the paper etc.

Each color you see is actually a different technique I tried. They aren’t perfect, but there are definitely certain techniques I’ve found that work better than others. I found most of my information via the Ladies of Letterpress Forum, and then I experimented from there. I still have some more experimenting to do, but until then I’ll probably outsource my edge-painting until I have perfected my technique.

The business cards were designed by my dear friend, Andrea Stember. She’s a designer in Louisville, KY and you can follow her here.