screen prints

CMYK OK!

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There are many ways to replicate an image in print, and one of them is to screen print using CMYK colours. So what are CMYK colours and how do artists use them to print their artwork?

CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key. Key usually being the black layer that is used to align the other colours. These four colours are layered and used in combination with halftoning to create an almost infinite number of colours. It starts with separating the cyan, magenta, yellow and black colours from the image and creating new separate images with each of these individual colour values. A halftone is created from these single colour images which means turning the image into tiny dots.

Sunrise by Gavin Dobson

These tiny dots are printed at different sizes depending on how dense that particular colour is in an area of the image. For example an area printed with small cyan dots would appear as pale cyan and larger dots would be a darker cyan. This is because there would be more or less of the white space of the paper showing between the different sized dots. As the dots are so small your eye reads them as one colour when looked at from a distance. To create multiple colours cyan, magenta, yellow and black are combined together at various densities to give the illusion of one colour. On a very basic level an equal sized yellow dot overlaid with a cyan dot would give you green. Changing the size of these dots would give you a pale yellowy green or a darker blue green. With the addition of magenta and black you can create all sorts of colours.

If you look closely at Ponds and Plants by Ashley Amery for example, you can see the small dots that make up the image. It’s easy to see in newspaper imagery where the dots are bigger you get a crude image, and where they are smaller a finer image can be created. Each dot is overlaid at a particular angle so as not to create a uniform pattern that the eye would recognise. If you look closely you can see a rosette pattern of the overlaid dots which is characterful of halftone printing. If the dots are not lined up correctly or are larger, a moiré or interference pattern appears which can cause the image to look blurry.

Below is a selection of artworks that use CMYK separation and halftone printing to recreate the imagery. Some are more obvious but some need a closer look.

Penguin by Gavin Dobson

Screen print on Fabriano paper 310gsm with a deckle edge.

500mm x 700mm

Signed limited edition of 100

Ponds And Plants by Ashley Amery

Screen print on 350gsm GF Smith Colorplan paper

490mm x 550mm

Signed limited edition of 50

Morning Star by Fiftyseven

Screen print on 330gsm GF Smith paper

297mm x 420mm (A3)

Signed limited edition of 100

Sunrise by Gavin Dobson

Screen print

500mm x 700mm

Signed limited edition of 100

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Follow Your Nose!

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This post is dedicated to all things olfactory at Of Cabbages and Kings. While we stock a range of aromatic home fragrances to keep your house smelling beautiful, also included in this post are some not so smelly, but equally as nosey gift ideas. Follow your nose though this curated selection of gift ideas.

Hobo + Co candles are hand poured in small batches in Lincolnshire, England. They are made from soy wax which is a healthier alternative to traditional to paraffin wax candles. Cleaner burning with no toxins or carcinogens, soy gives off less soot and burns at a cooler temperature, so the candles last longer. Each candle has approximately 35 hours burn-time and available in four different fragrances.

Featured in Elle: Decoding Clean Candles – The Scented Alternative That Won’t Damage Your Health 13/08/2019

Karina Bank’s Anatomy Collection, designed for empowered women, is inspired by the unique and beautiful irregularities of the female form. Each piece is handcrafted sustainably in Karina’s Tottenham based studio from sterling silver.

These abstracted nose-shaped earrings are made from 2mm sterling silver round wire, offering an alternative to traditional hoop earrings. A humorous design that is minimal and stylish. Their irregular handmade design means each one is very slightly different. 

Hobo + Co’s collection of room mists are a great way for helping cleanse and refresh your home. Naturally scented with a blend of pure essential oils they are vegan and paraben free. Available in three different fragrances and blended from pure essential oils in a 100ml recyclable amber glass bottle.

These comedy glasses attached to a classic fake nose. It may not be very good for smelling, but this image will certainly put a smile on your face. Look further and you will see Lauren Mortimer has hidden three cats in the bushy eyebrows and moustache of this peculiar disguise.

Taken from one of Lauren’s original graphite drawings and printed on Hahnemuehle German Etching (matt textured) 310gsm paper.

Read our Interview Lauren Mortimer.

These reed diffusers fill your room with long-lasting fragrance without the need to burn or light a candle, so they are perfect anywhere in the home.

In her series of screen prints Phytology, Tal Brosh illustrates the history of the Bethnal Green Nature Reserve. These prints explore the reserve’s life from a medieval meadow and market garden, through to a Victorian church, a war-time bomb site and now an apothecary garden. Phytology 2000 looks at the nature reserve’s now apothecary incarnation – where aromatic and medicinal plants grow. Bring a breath of fresh healing air into your home.

If you’re feeling adventurous why not conjure up your own scented candles? These little DIY, Make Your Own Candle Kits are an enjoyable way to spend a relaxing few hours. Each kit makes two small votive candles that will burn for roughly 15hrs each.

Contains soy wax flakes, fragrance oil, glass jars and wicks. The simple instruction leaflet explains exactly how to make your candles with ease. A thoughtful gift for any creative candle-loving person.

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An Interview with Underway Studio

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Ahead of their upcoming show: Printed Spaces: East London Edition at Of Cabbages and Kings (12 April – 5 June 2019 and kicking off with a Private View – 7pm – 9pm, 11 April 2019) we have asked them a few questions.

Underway Studio is a collective of four artists based in Brixton, London. They work collaboratively on screen printed works, with a strong graphic feel that often has an architectural theme. With ‘Printed Spaces: East London Edition’ they explore the architecture of London’s cultural spaces, featuring new prints with an East London focus.

Underway’s, Melissa North, Caitlin Parks, Anna Schmidt and Aiden Barefoot.

There are currently four members of Underway Studio, how did you meet?
We all studied on the same Illustration and Visual Communication degree, but across several years. After graduation, we set up our own studio space to continue working in screen print and it has evolved from there. Initially the studio was a space to pursue our individual practices, but we started to collaborate on a few prints and soon developed a strong collective voice. After having a few different homes across London, we are now based in Brixton where we produce our own work and teach workshops.

 

How do you work on an idea collectively?
For the past 6 months our work has predominately been focused on the architecture of London’s cultural spaces. We wanted to start this portfolio as both a celebration of the rich culture we have in this city and to showcase the architecture of these spaces, much of which has been re-purposed and developed over the years. When we start developing prints we take a lot of photos and collage these together to see which subjects have the most interesting aesthetic, passing designs between one another until they are ready to be taken into screen print.
What is your artistic weapon of choice? Pencil, pen, paintbrush, digital, print?
Screen printing and collage. We love the way that you can play with scale and overlaying different colours and textures to create a completely unique result.

 

Tell us about the production side of things and how you produce work as a collective.
We physically share the files and material of what we are working on together. Print designs are passed between the collective until they are finalised and ready to screen printed. As a result, the artworks have an impression from each member creating a unique aesthetic. 

National Theatre by Underway Studio

Where do your influences come from for your subject matter?
Much of our work is influenced by architecture, form, texture and colour. Using a physical print process means that our visual language is both playful and distinctive, embracing any happy accidents along the way.
You have a very distinctive, bold use of colour. Is the colour influenced by the subject matter or come from somewhere else?
Colour lends itself extremely well to screen print.  Overlaying layers and textures creates interesting results that inspire and drive our work. We experiment in the studio doing test prints and playing with different colour combinations and this often leads us to our final palette.

 

What are your favourite takeaways?
We are all massive foodies and will eat anything from pizza to ramen. Honest Burger in Brixton is a particular favourite of ours, but you can’t beat South London staple Morleys to get us through the long printing hours!

 

To see more work by Underway Studio take a look at our website here. If you do get a chance come by the shop and check out the show.

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