Monday, April 21, 2008

Back In The Swing Of Things

Spring definitely seems to have sprung. Walking out in the mornings, everything is starting to look decidedly greener:


Returning home, cowslips are there to delight the weary traveler outside the kitchen door:


The back problem mentioned in my last post turned out to be much worse than I had thought - or perhaps it was the effects of pulling 60 prints on the Albion with the bad back that did it. I have had a period during which I could neither engrave nor print - not much good when this is my source of income. Even sitting was a problem.

I could stand and trim so I did. Everything is trimmed by hand one at a time. By the time you have done 500 bookplates, you are ready for an extra large mug or steaming hot tea and no mistake!


Luckily A was available to step into the breach. We switched production over to "Red", the larger Albion" and, with me inking and checking, we finished the job in hand. Subsequently, A has printed another edition of bookplates by himself, including the inkling, checking and troubleshooting, and I was very pleased with the results. Here he is in action:


Things have slowly eased in the back department. Current work includes a final drawing for the TC bookplate, preparatory sketches for the P&T J bookplate and a couple of small illustration spots, including a book:



Another sunny morning and so I shall take my tea out into the garden before returning back to my desk and my sketchbook.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry to hear about your back problems, Andy. I hope it improves quickly. Glad to see you had help to hand...give that man a star!

Lynette Weir said...

Sorry to hear about your back Andy. I spent 3-4 days flat on my back 3 weeks ago - after just turning slightly to the right - really not that much fun. Hope you're feeling better quickly.

Andy English said...

Many thanks for the good wishes. My back is much, much better thank you and I'm already contemplating which tree to pull up next ;-)

G said...

Backs are tricky things. The good thing is often they feel worse than the actual damage done.

Your work is always a delight to see, completed or in progress.