Chinese Crane

This Chinese Crane is a print on a whole different size than the ones in that other series. A commission with some interesting challenges on both the design and technical aspects.

Design wise: because of the large amount of white in the bird, the paper had to be of a different colour. That took some time and experiments on its own. As always, diagonals are an issue so that foot and the feet were quite the puzzle. The ankle joint and the larger half-round parts that suggest the feathers are made from parts that became available only just recently.

Technically: the dimensions were just about the max of what’s possible on the Vandercook proofing press I used for this print. Multiple print runs at this size requires a lot of LEGO, the logistics for that needed some figuring out. Then, most of the complexity is at the top and the bottom: the head and feet. Getting the last part of the paper to hit exactly right between each run requires some additional work to prevent the paper to start hanging from the cylinder to guide the paper just right. I’ll explain that in more depth some other time :)

The commission part: the Chinese Crane is the spirit animal for the marriage of H. and S. This print celebrates their 5th anniversary. Thank you & congrats!