Albert Seaman's Paintings, Drawings and Essays

Home

Introduction

Gallery

Articles

Links

Article 1: CARD ART.  This article was produced to accompany a live demonstration of the subject in 1999.

ab

CARD ART

There is nothing new about the idea of using personal artwork to decorate a greeting card, an invitation or similar sort of product. In fact, until the advent of low-cost full-colour process printing, it was about the only way of creating such things. The standard of workmanship varied from simple and mundane, to superb works of art. A few fine examples of the latter survive today in some of the world's major museums. Enough has been said and written on the subject for further elaboration in these notes to be unnecessary.

Whereas the production of cards and similar items was once a totally manual dedication, today we have unbridled opportunity for combining the charm and sophistication of traditional methods and materials with modern reproduction techniques to produce very acceptable results. The preparation of a personal salutation is no longer the prerogative of those with an abundance of time to spend on the task.

Historically, the creation of a greeting card was a very personal matter. Today, there is a vast industry dedicated to the design and manufacture of an endless variety of cards, not only for the more traditional occasions but also for events and circumstances that were almost unheard of a generation ago. Although the commercial, mass produced products may seem to be expensive, the cost of making your own by hand could be much higher if the total value of materials and labour is to be included. Consequently, the justification for such an adventure must lie in reasons beyond the economic. Which brings us to the first and most important question:

There has to be a good reason in order to justify the amount of work involved. From the artist's point of view it can be a means of displaying his or her art and at the same time, conveying the warmth of greeting to the recipient. If the recipient appreciates the style of art, the work may very well end up being framed and displayed, in which case the artist is doubly rewarded.

There is unquestionably a sense of achievement in incorporating a personal work of art, however small, in salutations to friends and business associates. There is nothing really difficult about the task although it does take a substantial amount of time to do it properly. The purpose of these notes is to identify the essential features of the work and to provide a rudimentary checklist for guidance in producing worthwhile results.

Those readers who are already involved in making their own greetings material will be aware of the pleasures and pitfalls. Opening a few new doors will perhaps expand some horizons.

Having decided that you will be making your own greetings cards, hasty notes or similar products that will incorporate your artwork, there will be several points to consider before you get too far along the road. Some of the major items are listed here and expanded upon further into these notes.

In what style is the greeting to be produced and how is the end result to be delivered to the recipient? This point will have a surprising impact upon quite a few features of the items, from the availability of suitably sized envelopes to the availability of the selected paper, board and so forth in economical sizes.

What type of art are you planning to use as the focus of your efforts? It may be that every piece is an original of some form or another, or there may be reproductions in one or other of the many available options, such as photographic, lithographic and xerographic etc. Resolution of this point will have a considerable bearing upon the materials and methods to be used.

What quantity do you anticipate producing and will the details all be the same for any particular batch? This factor will influence the amount of simple tooling or other devices that can be justified. A very few may be made quite simply by measure-and-cut tactics, whereas any number more than that and up to about 50 or so, can almost certainly justify simple templates. The quantity factor may also determine the manner in which the artwork is to be reproduced.

If the product is to take the form of a traditional greeting card, what type of materials will be best suited to the type of art envisaged? The card itself may be made from high-gloss bright white art stock at one extreme, or coarse hand-made paper at the other. Also, the need for a liner must be established quite early in the game as it can influence the construction process considerably.

The principle restrictions to the style and size of the finished card will be determined by whether it is to be delivered by hand, or entrusted to the vagaries of the national postal system. Unless you are going to be making your own envelopes (not an impossibility), then the availability of commercial sizes in suitable materials will help to determine an appropriate size for your work. The first impression that the recipient will get from the greeting will be the envelope. A wide range of sizes will be available but not necessarily in a suitable quality of paper. Therefore, if you are not already familiar with what can readily be obtained, it will be worth the time spent in checking out the market place.

The economics of mailing greetings cards are not as favourable as they once were. In addition to the relatively high (and constantly increasing) cost of mailing a package, there are some restrictions on envelope sizes that mean additional postage for anything falling outside the limits. Allowable sizes can be checked with the Post Office and informational leaflets are usually available for the asking. Also, it is easy to exceed the weight limitations for minimum postage if due consideration is not given to the size and thickness of the materials to be used. In the same context, you will need to know quite early in the game whether or not a liner for a card will push your work over the basic weight limit.

If the style of your work is not in the common greeting card format, then the effect of delivery restrictions may not be an important factor. Mailing the piece(s) may be out of the question anyway and delivery by some other means more or less mandatory. Indeed, the general category of "Mail Art" can include some very unusual styles and features that would not permit it to be mailed at all!

Some styles of Card Art can be virtually matted reproductions of the original piece. It is not uncommon to find such work ending up framed on the recipient’s wall. Other than the obvious issues of size and weight, factors such as the ability of the matting and backing materials to resist the delivery person’s overwhelming compulsion to fold the package in half can be important considerations.

The two basic forms of artwork to be considered here will be:

Original art in various forms.

Reproductions.

It may be assumed that original art will be used as Card Art in very limited amounts. Perhaps the most common form would be hand-painted pictures on commercially available materials, which usually come packaged with their own supply of matching envelopes. The manner in which these materials would be used is self-evident. An extension of this concept would be the production of a card or cards from scratch in a suitable grade of watercolour paper. Again, the technique would be obvious and would display the characteristics of the individual artist.

Contemporary technology enables the artist to reproduce artwork by several methods, most of which are suitable for use in Card Art. The choice will probably be determined by the size of the original. For practical purposes, there will be a well-established dividing line between works over or under 12" by 16". (In some cases, some accommodation of the 12" dimension may be required. More about that later.)

For practical purposes, the initial stage of reproducing artwork over 12" by 16" will probably be by photography. Some commercial print shops are able to scan larger pieces than this but the cost tends to be beyond the scope of this type of project. Such methods will not be considered here.

Generally speaking, before digital cameras became commonplace, photographing original art required good camera optics; a slow-speed fine-grain film; a very even light source of the correct ‘colour’ (usually 5000 – 5400° K for the technically minded) to match the film characteristics, and a steady camera hand or a firm tripod. Mid-day sunlight on a windless day with plenty of white clouds in the sky would provide ideal conditions. A good quality 35-mm camera could produce adequate results for Card Art but larger formats would be better if available. There are many professional houses that are willing to take on the task of photographing your original material but generally speaking, the cost would be too high for the sort of project being considered here.  Better quality digital cameras not only simplify the initial phases of the photographic process, they enable the resulting digital file to be plugged directly into a computer for final manipulating and printing.  

If you decide to do the photography yourself, be careful about colour casts that can sneak up on you almost unnoticed. Outdoor sunlight is fine if you are not too close to a red brick wall, a heavily leafed green tree or something similar that can cast reflected colour onto the artwork. Even a clear blue sky may cause problems if there are no white clouds to mute the blueness. You may not notice it yourself but the film or digital process certainly will and you will wonder why the colours in your prints are not what they are supposed to be. There are problems enough in the developing and printing of pictures without the need for the photographer to add to them. If you need to get some reflected light onto the picture, consider using a good-sized piece of white Styrofoam. It’s cheap, lightweight and easy to handle. It will also blow away in the wind if you are not careful! And be careful about shadows creeping onto the area being recorded. A photographic establishment working under controlled conditions is not likely to encounter these problems but you will have to pay for the convenience. It may well be worth it!

Getting the image onto the film or the digital memory card is just the beginning of the process of producing copies for your cards. One-hour developing and printing from film can work if you have trained the personnel properly to understand your requirements. However, such establishments tend to change their staff frequently and you may get stuck having to train them all over again. Also, there can be a noticeable difference between the results from various stores. The prints usually tend to be over-contrasted and dark in general. The operators will tell you that the chemicals used in their machines are supplied in controlled batches and cannot vary, which leaves us to assume that problems are inherent in the machines themselves. One way of determining where the best results may be obtained is to take a negative to several different print shops and compare the prints. Finding the best way of getting good prints is essentially a matter of trial and error.  Printing from a digital camera is a different story altogether.  There are too many variables for the topic to be included here, so suffice to say you will presumably adapt these notes to suit the circumstances.  

It is unlikely that you would require photographic prints larger than 5" by 7" for card art. It is sometimes convenient to use the smallest standard print at 3½" by 5", although this size is losing popularity and may not be readily available everywhere. Once you find a source of acceptable quality, check to see if they have a special reduced price for reprints periodically. You may also need to choose between glossy and matt finishes and that decision will be influenced by the nature of your work.

The quality of xerographic colour reproductions available today would have been regarded as pure magic a few years ago. Most print shops now have colour copying facilities in sizes up to 11" by 17". Some have fixed reduction (and enlargement) increments and others are infinitely variable. For Card Art we would normally be using reductions from the original sizes.

The standard art paper size of 12" by 16" is something of a watershed in xerographic reproductions. Although the flatbed copiers that we would normally encounter have a theoretical size of 11" by 17", they are usually built to a metric size, which is about 3/8" greater than the 11". This means that if you can sacrifice 5/8" from either side of the 12" dimension of your original, the whole image can be copied. It is also possible to extract sections from the original on most copiers, providing that the whole work can be fitted onto the bed. The accuracy with which the extraction can be made depends upon the skill of the operator.

Generally speaking, the accuracy of the copied colours is remarkably good. There is usually a slight increase in contrast for each stage of reproduction, but this is normally quite acceptable. However, if several stages of reproduction are involved (as discussed in the next paragraph) then some noticeable increase in contrast should be expected. At the present time, the writer of these notes has no information regarding the permanence of the colours, or their ability to withstand strong light.

At the present time, the usual cost for one 8½" by 11" colour copy varies from about $1.00 downward. Twice the size – 17" by 11" – twice the price. Consequently, for Card Art, we would want to pack as many images as possible onto one piece of paper, which can then be chopped up into useable pieces for mounting on or in the cards. If, for example, your 12" by 16" (actually 11+" by 16") is knocked down to 5" by 7", (44% linear) a couple of copies (at $1.00 each) can be pasted onto an 8½" by 11" sheet for subsequent copying at 2-up, which amounts to 50¢ per useable copy. That will be less than a photographic print and probably of better overall quality. There is obviously an opportunity here for the adventurous spirit to experiment with copy layouts to keep the cost of the exercise to a minimum.

If you have the proper equipment and are smart enough to be able to use it to scan your artwork and print it out of your computer, then you don’t need to be told here how it should be done! Suffice to say that if you plan to print images suitable for Card Art straight from your computer, then you need compatible, properly tuned equipment with adequate technical specifications for the job. Scanners and desktop printers have not only improved in their technical capabilities in recent times, they have done so at increasingly lower costs. However, a job scanned and printed at less than 300 d.p.i. (dots per inch) in colour, is going to look far less impressive than a xerographic copy. Also, the capability of lower priced ink-jet printers to reproduce original colours still leaves a lot to be desired at the present time. If the nature of your artwork is compatible with desktop published results, then you certainly have the most economical means of reproduction at your fingertips.

Some excellent results can be obtained by lithographing onto the covers of hand-made cards. (This does not refer to commercial offset lithography.) Every item thus produced is essentially a limited edition original. Consequently, the process does not fall into the category of "reproduction" in the sense that it is used in these notes. Also, the technique is quite specialized and one needs to be skilled in the art to use it. However, inasmuch as embossing may be combined with lithography to produce some fine Card Art, parts of these notes may well be applicable.

There is a vast range of suitable materials available for making your own greetings cards. Those that you actually choose will depend to a very large extent upon some of the factors discussed above. For the purposes of the majority of this discussion, it is assumed that a reproduction of original artwork, probably reduced in size, is to be mounted on the front cover of the card. (It is of course possible to print a reproduction directly onto the front of the card as mentioned above. If this is to be done xerographically, the choice of board stock will be limited to what the machine can handle and what the print shop is able to supply. The thickness limit for 8½" by 11" is about that of a light business card. For 11" by 17", the limit is less, usually 70 pound, or just a heavy paper.)

If the card cover is to be embossed, the prime requirement is for the material to be able to withstand the embossing process without cracking. Generally speaking, thinner stocks with glossy surfaces are not suitable for the purpose. Some heavier glossy or high-art surfaces may be suitable, depending upon the type of embossing tools being used, but they need to be handled carefully to avoid surface damage. Unless there is a very good reason for not doing so, it is best to stick with a 150 – 200 gr. matt surfaced board such as Lana "Balkis" or commercial equivalents.

For card covers that are not going to be embossed, there are, within reason, few limitations on the choice of material. This opens the door to exotic hand-made papers at one extreme and metal foils at the other. If the front side of the cover is to be "windowed" to form a mat over the image beneath, then the stiffness of the board must be considered in order for it to remain flat. But don’t forget; thickness means weight and that may amount to extra postage.

Another factor to be considered in choosing a suitable material for the card cover is the resulting stiffness of the finished product and its ability to stand up at the point of display. At the appropriate times of the year, the card may be hung up for display, in which case stiffness is not necessarily a major point for consideration.

The colour and texture of the cover is very much a matter of personal preference. Compatibility with the liner material should be considered if indeed a liner is to be used to carry a message or greeting. If a liner is not going to be used, the inner surface of the cover should be capable of taking ink or whatever medium is used to carry the greeting.

For some unknown reason, a deckled edge along one side or more of the finished card promotes the idea of quality. Perhaps it is because the deckle is produced by hand in the manufacturing stage of the paper. If you decide to incorporate such a hand-torn edge into your product, you may either buy card stock already deckled, or you may quite easily create your own simulated deckle. More about that later. If you do decide to incorporate a deckled edge into you finished card design, make sure that when the card is opened, it will not be required to stand on the deckled edge, which will be irregular and unstable. A deckle is decorative rather than useful.

There will be many advantages in using a liner for your card design. It is a way of separating the message from the picture so that the words or greeting can be customized to suit the circumstances. The type and quality of the paper may be varied to suit the nature of the card, within the limits of compatibility with the cover. There will be a variety of ways in which the liner can be printed, or even endorsed with hand-written messages. The scope is unlimited. From a structural point of view, a liner can be used to provide back up support for the cover artwork if the cover is "windowed" to produce a matted effect over the picture.

Although the choice of materials for the liner is almost unlimited, the weight factor will have an important bearing on what is to be used. Also, if the message or other copy is to be printed from a computer, or perhaps, Xeroxed, then the type of paper will be partly pre-determined for you. (If you get liners Xeroxed at a good commercial establishment, they will almost certainly allow for paper other than their cheap copy stock to be used. It needs to be discussed.) Even so, some delightful colours, finishes and surfaces are available from art stores, office supply houses and sometimes, print shops. But some of them are quite expensive, so before you get too carried away, give some thought to a good quality white stock. White is elegant, relatively inexpensive and readily available in both 8½" by 11" and 11" by 17" sizes in a variety of qualities. You will almost certainly be cutting the liners so that there is some waste, so select a size that will give you maximum utilization of material.

If you are unable to obtain cover stock already deckled in the size, colour and thickness that you require, it is very easy to create the effect yourself. The result will not necessarily be exactly the same as you would purchase, but nevertheless will be quite acceptable.

When paper is deckled as it comes off the manufacturing line, it is hand torn along a thinned-out line created in the web of material as it is rolled to thickness in the machinery. We cannot properly create a thinned-out line after the paper is dried, but we can simulate the effect with a little trickery.

Assuming that you will be making several (or many) card covers from a single full sized sheet of material, the first thing to do is to lay out the shapes of the flattened cards so that they not only utilize the full sheet most economically, but that they all share a common line that will be the deckled edge. This usually results in the line of deckling running along the middle of the sheet, or thereabouts.

Fold the sheet along the line that you have chosen and crease it firmly but not hard enough to break the surface. (The tendency for the card to crack or otherwise become damaged will depend upon the nature of the material.) Next, open up the sheet and run a bead of water along the fold. You will want to let the water soak in to the fold for several minutes, the exact time depending upon the type of material. Flip the sheet over and wet the other side of the fold as well. In most cases, it is best to prop up the outside edges of the sheet so that a small bead of water, about ¼" wide, can be left laying in the fold for a while. When the wetted strip along the fold has obviously become soggy enough to allow the fibres to be pulled apart, remove any remaining water and gently pull the two halves of the sheet to separate them along the wetted line. Do this carefully, ensuring that the resulting tear follows the general line of the fold, but with some irregularity. With a little practice on smaller pieces of card, you will find that you can vary the line of separation sufficiently to give it the impression of a factory-made deckle. After separation, dampen the torn edges slightly and worry the fibres a little to heighten the appearance of a random tear, blot with paper towelling and leave to dry.

Embossing the cover of your card provides a distinctive, dignified and professional quality to its appearance. Embossing may consist of simple framing for the artwork or it may be artwork in itself. Whatever form it takes, some templates and tools will be required to produce acceptable results. The templates will be simple and easy to construct. The tools are the sort of things that most artists already have in their boxes of magic tricks. Let us consider a simple embossed frame around a mounted picture. (Under most circumstances, the picture would be mounted after the frame had been embossed.)

The first requirement for embossing is a mould or template on which to form the impression. This may be constructed quite easily by anyone with skills enough to paint the original picture that will decorate the card. A variety of sheet materials may be used to construct templates. The choice will depend upon the type of embossing to be performed, the quantity involved and the availability of a suitable material. In these notes we will assume hard plastic sheet about 1 mm thick. Polystyrene is a good choice as it may be assembled easily with model cement. Softer materials, such as cardboard, will not give a clean, sharp corner to the embossed pattern.

A template is essentially a throwaway item and does not require a sophisticated manner of construction. Some parts may be salvageable for use with other card designs, providing the dimensions are suitable and there is no damage in critical areas. The diagram at right shows the basic features of a template for embossing a ribbed frame around the picture area of a card. If the picture area is to be recessed only, and not contained inside a rib, the Outer Part of the template would not be required. The Stops are optional items. The card being embossed may quite easily be located by marks on the template surface. Use whatever method suits you best.

The quality of embossing that you achieve will depend largely upon the neatness with which the apertures in the template components are cut. A good sharp knife against a steel ruler will cut plastic sheet cleanly and without too much effort being required. The resulting edges on the template will produce crisp, clean embossed lines. The results will appear very professional.

The diagram at left shows the arrangement of components for the layout above – stops excluded.

As mentioned above, if you have used polystyrene sheet to make your template, the components can be stuck together with model cement.

The diagram below shows the blank card being positioned over the template ready for embossing. The rest of the process requires a suitable instrument to impress the form into the card and we should briefly consider the options.

A metal tool such as a burnishing point will work very well. It must be smooth enough not to damage the surface of the card. Aluminum tools should be avoided, as they will probably leave black marks on the card. If all else fails, a common or garden knitting needle (preferably stainless steel) can be relied upon to perform quite well providing it is not pressed into the card hard enough for the point to penetrate. If you are new to this embossing business, try some test runs with scraps of material to get the feel of things. There’s nothing difficult about it but a practiced hand will produce a superior result.

There is no law to say that the embossed section of your card must be rectangular, or for that matter, any other shape. The template components can be cut to suit the size and shape of the artwork that you will be mounting. The embossing can in fact be part of the artwork itself. The only limiting factor is the imagination of the artist. But remember, the simpler the line, the easier it will be to cut cleanly in the template components.

Once you have made the prints for the artwork, the cover for the card and finally, the plain or printed liner, it remains to assemble them. There are bound to be some accidents at this stage of the game so it is best to have a few spare bit and pieces available.

If the artwork is to be mounted on the front cover (usually the case), it will be necessary to decide what sort of adhesive to use. Water-based pastes and glues are not usually suitable as they can cause the artwork to expand and buckle. If you don’t mind the smell and, according to some environmentalists the potential hazards, pressure-sensitive aerosol spray mounts work very well. But if you use them, be sure that you do so in well ventilated conditions. The very nature of these adhesives is that they cause the parts to stick together instantly wherever they touch. So, get it positioned correctly the first time as there will be no second chance!

Attaching the folded (and presumably printed) liner inside the folded cover is easily accomplished with a fine line of white glue down the fold. Too much glue can cause the liner to buckle in an unsightly manner so be sparing with it.

Any final embellishments, such as the attachment of metallic trim or other decorations, will probably be applied after the liner is in place. Once again, a suitable adhesive needs to be used to avoid damaging the component materials.

In the final assembly stage, it is not unusual for some of the components to sneak slightly out of position. Consequently a final fine trimming with a sharp knife and a steel ruler may very well be in order. If you have a good quality paper cutter, that may also be used although they seldom like taking the very fine cuts that we are talking about here.

Finally, admire your handiwork and send it off with all of the kind thoughts that you have embodied in its creation.

However clever and accomplished you may be at producing Card Art, it is always interesting to see what others are doing. There are some specialty shops and artists' studios around that feature unusual or different types of greetings cards. Prices range from the commonplace to the unbelievable. It is worth investigating such stores to check out the marketplace. 

Albert Seaman. October 1999.
(revised and re-issued October 2006)