How I make my Art Prints

Your purchase will mean more than you think!

Kia ora koutou,

Last time I shared the inspiration behind Te Ngāoriori a Māui, today I want to take you behind the scenes of the creation process, from concept to art print.

But I also want you to know - these prints aren’t just about what hangs on your wall. They’re about something bigger.

In a few days, I’ll share exactly what I mean. For now, just know that every purchase will go further than you expect…

Me in my studio(garage) A creative mess is better than idle tidiness - Michael J Fox

Every idea starts with a small ‘thumbnail’ sketch. Normally I do many before I settle on one I like. I knew I loved this idea even at this small stage so I moved on to the next step.

Once I like a thumbnail, I do the full size sketch. Keep it quick, keep it loose. This will maintain the energy in a peice, and I then look for ways to improve it before final pencils.

In the next iteration, the hand of Tangaroa was improved, but I struggled before I was happy with Māui and Nukutaimemeha(his waka)

It may take a few iterations, but eventually you get to a place you are happy with even if its not perfect. Is better to get it done than fight for perfection.

In this process, I use a lightbox in which I can see the pencils under the bristol board i use to ink over. The pencils act as a guide rather than perfectly tracing. Here you can make further adjustments. You can see I used more black here than is on the final piece, as I removed in the digital phase.

My trusty A4 scanner means I normally scan the item 2 or 3 times and stitch them together in photoshop. An A3 scanner is on my wishlist.

In photoshop I add colours, make further adjustments to the linework and can even colour the linework.

As this is my first time printing my own giclee art prints, I tried many times to get the print to look like it did on the computer. Eventually I invested in quality paper which printed perfectly the first time. Paper makes a huge difference.

This shows how many times i tried and how much difference there is, in what all came down to the paper choice.

And now I have a new art piece for my wall. This is the artist proof and not 1 of the limited edition prints, so yours will be even more special.

Remember:

• Only 20 signed and numbered prints will exist.

• Once sold out, this edition will never be reproduced.

• This drop opens next Tuesday at 11am NZT

Ma te wā

DDA