Designing and Printing Posters for Tor Johnson Records

On May 12, 2012 Tor Johnson Records celebrated their 10 year anniversary show at AS220 in Providence, RI. Tor Johnson Records is a local record label run by Paul Dechichio. It was a huge night, with 8 bands playing hard, fast sets and destroying the place. TJR had the show filmed for a future release, and over the past few months they have been editing and putting together the DVD from that killer night. In classic Tor Johnson fashion, they had a gigantic concert to celebrate the release of the DVD.

I was asked to make the posters for this release show, and I jumped at the chance to work with Paul and the Tor Johnson crew. Here's how I made them!

It all started with a concept and a drawing. I decided to make the poster 11 x 17 in. and began by drawing the poster to scale in pencil. Who doesn't love a screaming skull and stag beetles?

The next step was transferring the drawing onto the linoleum block backwards. I find the easiest way to do this is to make your drawing in soft pencil. Then place it pencil side down on top of the linoleum and simply burnish the back of the drawing. The image transfers clean crisp, and most importantly in reverse!

I inked some details into the skull and started carving the linoleum. The process basically involves carving away any part of the linoleum block that you do not want to print. What remains is the lettering and images. I use different types of chisels, gouges and knives to remove the linoleum.

Here is the linoleum block after 18 hours of cutting. All that remained was the information that would be printed. I rolled a thin layer of black ink over the surface to see if there were any areas that still needed to be cut.

Once the block was cut, it was time to start the actual posters. There were a few steps to making these guys. I started with 120lb 11x17in. white card stock purchased locally. I decided to screen print the card stock first, leaving a large matte color block on the paper. I mixed a cement grey acrylic ink and flecked some gold and Prussian blue onto each screen as I printed. It gave the effect of each poster being slightly unique.

I printed 50 of these and hung them for a few days to completely dry. The paper now had a matte flat grey surface and a white paper border.

Time for round two! Once dry, the papers were ready to have the linoleum block letterpress printed on them. I used an oil-based black relief ink for the linoleum cut. The ink was rolled onto the surface of the linoleum in a thin even coat making sure the larger flat areas received plenty of ink.

The inked linoleum was then put on the press bed and a sheet of the screen-printed paper was placed onto the surface. I use a variety of registration systems to make sure the linoleum matches up with the grey surface of the paper. For this project I used some masking tape to help align the paper and block. Then they went through the press using a rubber blanket to get some nice embossing on the poster.

The paper is pulled off of the block and hung to dry.

So. Many. Posters.

One of the coolest features on these posters was the sheen on the surface of them. Because I used a glossy oil-based black ink for the linoleum block and printed it on the matte screen printed grey paper, the lettering and skull looked wet and shiny! They almost had a warm silver look to them. This was an experiment using both processes in one poster and it came out great.

When the edition was complete and drying, I had to clean the linoleum block. I decided in true DIY punk fashion that I should make a patch on an old shop rag to give Paul when I dropped off the posters. What I should have done was stop messing around and cleaned up the shop, as I had been down there for almost 9 hours at that point! Paul dug the patch! Well worth it!!

So here is the finished poster. Again, every one is slightly different because of the random blue and gold flecks as well as the scuffed up bottom of the grey inked section.

This project was so killer!

I really look forward to some future projects with Paul and Tor Johnson Records. Check out their website if you are in the mood for some heavy music and killer records! There may be a few of these posters still available too!

One of the driving forces behind starting a print shop was to have full access to my own press to edition my engravings. I have been making relief engravings for eight years, and though it is very time consuming I love the engraving process because it requires me to be detail orientated. It begins with a few sketches, followed by a drawing on the blackened surface of the block, and then the actual engraving. I use synthetic blocks called Resingrave as the material I engrave into.

Using extremely sharp tools called burins, I remove material from the blocks surface one fine line at a time. The parts of the block that are not removed are what will print when editioned. The starting image is reversed because, when editioned, the block will print the image mirrored. In the case of the Nautilus block, I wanted the final image showing the tentacles facing to the right, so the block was engraved with them facing left. This Nautilus block is the first edition I have pulled at Spofford Press! I thought documenting the process may be of some interest to you!

The Nautilus block engraved and ready to be printed.

This is a picture of the actual block taken the day the engraving process was complete. The block's size is only 4 by 4 inches. It is pictured resting on a leather "engraver's bag", which is used to help rotate the block while engraving the surface. The tool in the foreground is called a "Spitsticker". It is used along with other burins to engrave the surface of the block.

The printing process can be just as detailed and time consuming as the engraving process! I start by inking the surface of the engraving block using a small hand roller called a brayer. A thin even coat of black ink is rolled over the surface making sure not to get into the engraved lines.

**Placing the inked block into the jig used on the press bed.**

Taking the block in hand, being careful not to touch the inked surface and smudge it, I wipe the very edges of the block. This helps make a clean straight impression on the paper when the print is made. A little ink on the edge can smear onto the paper and ruin the print. Once wiped, the block is placed onto the press. I use a jig made of hard board and wood to hold the block in place. Blue tape is used as a registration system to align the block and paper in the same spot each time it printed. Look at the sheen on that block!

**The blank paper goes onto the inked surface of the block.**

I take a piece of the printing paper and place it directly onto the inked surface of the block. Rule of thumb for laying the paper is "Gentle & Swift". When lining up the paper, I can make small adjustments to make sure it is square over the block, but once I start to lay it onto the block's surface it has to be in one quick swoop. Once the paper is placed flat on the block, it cannot be moved, bumped, even breathed on too deeply. If it moves at all the print will be smudged.

Next, the blankets are placed over the flat paper, again making sure not to move the paper as the blanket covers it. I am using a re-purposed rubber offset lithography mat along with a thick felt as blankets for printing engravings. The bright blue rubber mat has some give to it, and makes a nice clean impression when it takes the paper through the press. The felt is for cushioning and to protect the steel roller when the print in brought through the press. I crank the star wheel and the press bed rolls under the roller, making the block press into the paper as it goes.

Once through the press, the blankets are carefully taken off of the paper and the paper is pulled off of the block revealing the print! This step is also done in one swoop. If the paper is shuffled or moved at all as it is pulled straight off of the block it will smudge the final print.

The print is hung up along with the others and they dry for about 3-5 days, depending on humidity and other factors like paper thickness and how heavy the application of ink is.

About 5 days later I went through all of the prints I made once they were all dry. Of the 55 printed, I was shooting for 30 perfect ones and that's what I got! The other 25 were either a little to dark or just not exactly like the others. When I edition a block the prints have to be exactly alike. It's an old college rule that stuck with me. Nobody wants to be the one to get a slightly filled in or faded Nautilus!

The prints were made on a piece of paper slightly larger then what I wanted for the edition, so the final step before signing and numbering them is to trim them all to the same size.

The final print for the Nautilus is a 4x4 in. image centered on a 7.5 in. x 7.5 in piece of paper. Edition size is 30 prints, printed on German Zerkall book weight paper.

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