Poster done by Kris Johnsen @ Emblem Studio in Portland, Maine.

This poster was super fun to make! I started out just drawing cassette tapes in my notebook while at the same time was thinking of ideas for upcoming shows at SPACE, and it just clicked together, Ted Leo=Fun good times! so I chose to make a grid formation of old tapes, which are all based off of real tapes I found in a box at my work. I eventually changes some of the information on the tapes to fit the show, Ted Leo & Screamales references, and maybe one local indie band one in there as well. You’ll have to see these in person to know what I’m talking about!

First few drawings of tapes which eventually led me to hand drawing all of the band text. This is harder than it looks, mostly just trying to pick the one that works best.

Way more photos after the jump!

After the poster was all layed out in Photoshop I printed out each color layer on to paper and oiled them up for the burning process. This poster is a 3 color screen print, printed on 4 different colors of paper. Ink colors are Black, Light blueish white and Orange/red

The photo below is the blue layer transparency.

Some detail in the tapes. Which appear on the poster in exactly the same size as a real tape. You could hold up the original one right on top of the printed one!

With a lot of the blue layer I mixed in white onto the screen to get a little gradation of color rather than just a flat color. I really like this effect, I’ve been doing it on the last few posters I’ve done, I feel like it makes them all just that much different from eachother.

I use old discarded posters for text prints. It creates crazy layers of imagery. I have a whole stack of these kinds of prints.

Orange Layer! Lots of white in this one.

And the last layer of black detail.

There is an edition of 35 of these posters and will only be available on June 19th at SPACE Gallery for the Ted Leo And The Pharmacists show with Screaming Females. Click here to buy tickets, which you will need to get in advance because this show will sell out!

Click more for process shots from the making of the poster!

A few different colorways were made so there will be a few choices!

This month’s posters are for Dead of Winter and Stand With Haiti. Dead of Winter is a 3 color screen print designed and printed by Kris Johnsen. Stand With Haiti was designed by Sean Wilkinson and is a 2 color screen print, also printed by Kris Johnsen.

Here’s some process shots of the Dean of Winter poster being created.

On October 20th we had one of our all ages shows with Negative Standards, Ye, Pinko & The Action Boys & A Primative and Savage Land. Was a really awesome night, our 2nd show inside of the Swoon installation. We also made a screen printed poster for this show, Illustration done by Ahna Galatea, Printing done at Emblem Studio.

3 Color Screen print done on various types of paper, Very Bright!

New poster just finished for the next ALL AGES show at SPACE Gallery with Nightmare Of You, Destry, Fly Upright Kite & Colors. Poster is 25in-10in. Printed on thin chipboard and a few on white poster board. 3 colors.

Here is a link to the show page.

Poster printing and design done by myself, Kris Johnsen @ Emblem Studio

Oiling up the paper with the images printed on it. Each color is a different layer.

Our exposure unit in not in a filthy basement anymore! Pickwick Independent Press is getting all together and that is where I will be working. Its in the same building, just alot nicer and cleaner, plus a bunch of new presses are being added to the space, check them all out on Pickwick’s website! They are accepting applications now.

First layer of yellow.

The yellow layer was drawn and stretched for the size of the poster.

This is all you need when you print posters! and the occasional sandwich.

I started to mix the 2 red’s I was printing with, so no two posters are exactly alike, some came out alot darker than others, but I really like the different reds in the print.

You can see the different shades of red here.

New washout sink is amazing!!!

Last layer of black. Notice the smiling Target gift cards I use for placement holders. They work prefectly!

Last steps of cutting the rest of the paper and signing and numbering all the posters.

This poster is a 4 color screen print, the image comes from a page out of my sketchbook originally done with coffee, acrylic paint and micron’s. The image was drawn again for the poster and to be able to separate it into different colors. Also a different layer of spray paint splatters was added as well.

I use the computer to separate each color and print out the layers.

Images printed out on paper then oiled.

The first layer of half the posters were printed in gold. The other half in baby blue. There is an edition of 52 of these posters.

Red layer.

I used 6 different colors of paper for the backround, So there are alot of different variations of this poster. Only 2 dark blue ones!

Sometimes awesome dogs named Capone come and distract you!

Thanks to Jess for coming and helping me out!

The black layer printed on the mylar that helps me register the prints.

This edition of the SPACE Gallery Poster Series is for Beverly Massachusetts‘ Caspain, Portland’s own The Baltic Sea & Irepress from Boston, Who are all playing at SPACE Gallery on Thursday, August 27th at 7pm, it’s an all ages show and is only $5! Poster design by Kris Johnsen at Emblem Studio.

Also if you have not yet downloaded Caspian’s new album Tertia, I suggest you do! The whole album is available for a FREE download at http://www.gimmesound.com/CASPIAN/

This poster is a whopping 6 color screen print. 2 blue’s, 2 green’s, black and white. First I seperated each color into different layers and printed them out on paper, then covering each piece of paper with Canola oil to make them transparent. Then exposed each to a screen. 5 screens used in all.

This image was taken from pages out of a sketchbook and collaged together to create this weird sea scape image.

Cutting paper/chipboard is my least favorite part about creating a poster.

First layer

Mixing colors can also be a pain and be very challenging to get it just right. I think I did pretty well on this print. I tryed to add some silver ink into the lighter blue in the waves but it didnt show up. Oh well.

I’m very happy with how well everything pops in this image. Also the first time I’ve drawn waves in any print I’ve done.

my hanging wire with binder clips is a life saver!

Last layer of white text over the whole image.

Ended with an Edition of 56. Posters will be available at the show!

]]> http://havefaithinworthlessknowledge.com/2009/08/23/space-gallery-poster-series-kris-johnsen-emblemstudioorg-caspian-the-baltic-sea-irepress-space-gallery-8272009/feed/ 1 http://havefaithinworthlessknowledge.com/2009/07/07/space-gallery-poster-series-kris-johnsen-emblemstudioorg-the-sophomore-beat-moving-mountains-pinsky-arcuates-space-gallery-7242009/ http://havefaithinworthlessknowledge.com/2009/07/07/space-gallery-poster-series-kris-johnsen-emblemstudioorg-the-sophomore-beat-moving-mountains-pinsky-arcuates-space-gallery-7242009/#comments Wed, 08 Jul 2009 01:16:06 +0000 kris johnsen http://havefaithinworthlessknowledge.com/?p=1369 Continue reading →]]> The SPACE Gallery Poster Series is a new edition to the HFIWK blog. It is here to showcase some of the great Posters and flyers we get here at SPACE, and to show off how they are made and the process behind them. This first edition features a poster by myself, Kris Johnsen. And is for one of our new All Ages shows, on July 24th with The Sophomore Beat, Moving Mountains, Pinsky & Arcuates.

Please visit my website, and on going art blog

This is a 4 color screen print, printed on thin chipboard with an edition of 102. The Images comes from a sketchbook drawing and was broken down into black and white and then the color was added in layers.

To burn the screen, I print each layers (color) out on printer paper and then oil them with Canola oil to make them transparent, this works the same as printing the images on transparencies, and is also A lot cheaper.

The transparencies are then places on an exposure unit, the screens are coated with emulsion before hand. I try and burn all the layers at one time to save time.

Burn for 5 minutes in complete darkness in our very grungy basement which is actually localed right below the SPACE Gallery bar.

The screens are then sprayed with water to remove the emulsion that was covered by the black ink on the transparencies. Sorry for no pictures of this, but I was doing it all myself, and if you wait to long the emulsion can become hard again and get stuck in the screen.

Each layer is then printed separatly, starting here with the yellow.

Each poster is hung on a drying lineso they do not smudge and touch each other. The line also helps keep everything organized.

The second layer for this poster is the black outline of the figures and lines. The only 2 left after this are the text colors.

Its handy to keep around scrap pieces of larger paper for test prints before you use the actual posters. This helps you not mess up any good prints.

Before you pull the squeegie you must flood the screen while it is not touching the paper.

I use a sheet of mylar (clear plastic) to register my prints with each other.

Myself lining up the print with the print on the mylar.

I use tabs (Target gift cards) taped down at where 2 of the corners of where the print is, so it will always be lined up at the same point. This works fairly well for posters such as this. I also always make sure to put the same corners against the tabs every time, because the paper can be cut differently just the slightest and can ruin the registration.

My friend Bryan from Hillytown.com, showed up to help me finish up the last layer of text, the white.

White ink is uaually the hardest to print. It dries much faster than any other color and can sometimes clog the screen very fast. It did not have much of an effect on these prints, the text was already somewhat grainy based off of the font I chose. “You dont need to push as hard as Bryan looks like he is.”

Finished Print!

After the prints are done I hand number the final edition with how many prints were made and sign them. I also print my emblem with my information on the back of the prints.

Clean up time!!!

Stay tuned for much more editions of the SPACE Gallery Poster Series by many other local artists.