Fairy Swords Risograph Print for May patrons headed out early next week! (Patreon)

So I've been on a real Britannia kick lately (the show on Amazon prime, lol, not sure I can recommend it but I’m hooked right now), watching episodes in the background while I draw, and the best part of the show is all the magic and mystery of the world of superstition they believe in. It made me think of all the superstitions I cared about and loved as a kid, especially because one of the main characters of the show is a young girl. One of my favorite things to draw then were fairy swords and goblin daggers, and so this was born out of a desperate need to revisit those fun items of lore and magic. Drawing these overtook all my work duties for the day, and I’m glad I got them out on paper and Risograph printed!

I loved the way this one turned out, especially because it felt so effortless once it was printed. I made the first print with all three colors and loved it so I went right to printing the entire first color, starting with blue! In the photos above I added closeups of the print and they show some of the delicate dots that create the greens and subtle pastel colors. I love that just a few little dots can change our perception of the color from far away! I didn’t change a single value from the mockup to the final so what you see above in the digital color is what I printed, which is pretty rare! Sometimes I go through an agonizing 10+ test prints (printing 3 rounds each time) so being satisfied on the first round is a treat.

One of the reasons why I think I was happy with the first test was because I colored this print in a less calculated way as I usually color. Usually I have a tree or a person’s color already established to bounce off of for the rest of the piece, slowly filling in colors as I react to the main color. I knew I wanted these swords to be slightly different colors...but I also wanted the piece to be very vibrant and colorful at the same time so I didn't really start with a clear idea of how I wanted the coloring to go. Instead I kind of floundered around, building up colors using several value layers and erasing out of them as I chose. The colors changed so much during this process, but it was all about testing values until I was happy. One way I enjoyed finding my favorite colors was by adding and erasing out of gradients. I started with my four main opacities like I usually do- 100%, 75%, 50% and 25% opacity layers inside each color group, and added in values as I saw fit. Sometimes it was chaotic and I hated where the coloring was going and I got frustrated, usually adding a gradient in one color group would help get me through a spot where I was stumped. I tend to do this on final digital pieces too, not usually for Riso. If I’m stumped with a color or an area I’ll lasso the whole shape and add a dramatic change to the color- filling it with the bucket tool and using a hue or color balance slider to figure out what’s wrong. Sometimes I’ll just add a whole gradient on top and change the mode of a layer until I get it right. There’s a lot of trial and error usually- and this piece was no exception. The sliders help me find my confidence in coloring after having moments of panic and doubt. So, again for Riso, I would add a gradient of a color (maybe blue set to 50% opacity and pulled from the bottom to the top) and then slowly erase out of it until I was happy with the entire piece- turning off and on layers until I was satisfied. 

Overall really pleased with this one and strongly considering making pins based off these designs! My most prized possessions were sword necklaces and pins when I was growing up so I definitely want to make these a reality someday (a small and blunt/harmless reality)! 

Thanks so much for reading! These are headed out to May patrons early next week! I’m getting caught up and June’s prints are almost finished as well! As always, let me know if you have any questions! Happy to share and help!

Best, Natalie