Barn Owl - art print process art thread - start to finish

[Anville]

Hey everyone,

Id like to document the process of making an art print, and show a little bit of what goes on with making a 8 color print. This will be a little different than the Spinner process, which more emphasis and documenting on the printing, and how to layer colors and general printing process. Ask any questions in this thread, I will do my best to answer them.

Art by me - http://www.Anville.net
Printing by Issac at - http://nightowlsprint.com/

So that people arent sending lots of PMs to me, these will be available in a week or so from http://www.nightowlspostershop.com/

Admins, if there is a problem putting the URLs up, please let me know.

Ok on with the process!

The original inks were a commission, and the seps I do digitally. Here are the scans of the loose pencils before the client gave the green light.

A little more ornate...with more details added.

Right here is where it gets complicated...


Here are some youtube timelapse videos of me penciling and inking. The last 2 are long...

Penciling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=GyPBFlgdkK0

Inking 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50X4V...feature=relmfu

Inking 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz050...yer_detailpage

Here are the final inks...about 30 hours at this point. Tomorrow I will add the beginning of the color separation process.

[Work Of The Devil]

That looks amazing!!

[weaponsofmassdesign]

Nice.

[40ozGraphics]

Can't wait to see the rest of this process.

[hartman]

This is super! Looking forward to the rest.

[mikeage]

there's got to be something more between steps 3 and 4. that jump just blew me away.
nice work.

[exxxlonghair]

Damn, I just watched that inking timelapse video part two, when I was stoned and it was awesome. What types of pens are you using in that vid. I have been having problems recently with my Microns= keeping them from drying out. I have a couple of those Pitts but it looks like you were using a couple other ones. Maybe Staedtlier or coptic or something?

[El Roacho]

i just moved over from microns to steadtler and i think they might be superior. i kept having weird bleeding issues with microns.

[Anville]

Thanks for the comments, glad you guys are enjoying the process.

Damn, I just watched that inking timelapse video part two, when I was stoned and it was awesome. What types of pens are you using in that vid. I have been having problems recently with my Microns= keeping them from drying out. I have a couple of those Pitts but it looks like you were using a couple other ones. Maybe Staedtlier or coptic or something?

I am using staedtler pigmentliners, I have used my last micron. I know many others and especially Mr.Horkey swear by them, they just die on me so quickly and the line quality degrades just too rapidly.The staedtlers last twice as long, and the strokes are smooth as hell. I order them online, the art supply stores dont carry them around here. They run about $2.10-$2.50 each. I use faber castell pitt pens (the brush tip and various widths) to fill in blacks. Ill take a photo the pens next update.

[Anville]

Round 2...

This is the final file, I can show various closeups to show how I arrived at the final seps.


First, I scan everything at 600dpi, and if you are using screens that are 305+ mesh, and depending on your transparency, the screens will pick up every last bit of detail (Ill show pics of the screens). 300dpi is fine for most applications, but Issac and I decided to go 600 and the screens (and the final print) will show the difference.

Here, I chopped out the BG and made it a light grey layer (all seps get changed to pure black for transparencies, they are color here for working purposes).
I extended the grey into the black for trapping.


Here is the metallic green trapping. More detail on the filigree clipart in a bit.


The clipart was taken from a dover book, I chose it because I wanted the piece to have a more classical look and I tend to overdarken my filigree. Will not be doing this again, maily just wanted to throw down some ornate design that was more flowing than I felt like attempting at the time. The filigree was chopped up and rotated etc for a few hours to get it to do what it does here.


Metallic gold trapping in the crown.


Brown trapping for the frame and owl. you can see the splatter brush pattern that will be laid down. 600 dpi allows a higher resolution to pick up these details.


Transparent grey used in the background is also used here on the blue cloth to allow another level of depth.


Closeup on the owls brush pattern.


Trapping on the split fountain. I am showing you the colors out of order, the split fountain is the first color to go down. Notice the feet is also colored yellow by the yellow of the split fountain.


Here, you can see the way the colors interact with the black. See how close they are, and how the black covers them.


More details.


Closeups at 150dpi.






At around 40-60 hours at this point, I am anal about the exactness of the trapping. At 600 dpi I did a 12 point trap around most things. My hard work is done at this point, the rest is up to Issac. Will be showing some pics of him printing next....