People assume prints start on a computer. Ours start on the cheapest paper in the building. Here's the full journey of Tin Robot No. 5 — a commission for a seven-year-old that became a shop staple.
Week one: thumbnails and arguments
Forty thumbnails, each the size of a postage stamp. Long legs won early (adventures need stride), the heart took longer — chest gauge, glowing core, or visible through a hatch? The glowing core won on the grounds that feelings should be legible.
Week two: the ugly middle
Every piece has one: the stage where the sketch is stiff, the ink is wrong and someone suggests starting over. No. 5's ugly middle lasted three days and one redrawn left leg. The studio rule is that ugly middles are scheduled, not feared.
Week three: colour and proofing
Colour goes on in layers — teal sky first, robot last so he sits in the weather. Then test prints: we proof every piece on the actual paper stock, checking that the heart glows and the teal doesn't go muddy. No. 5 needed two proof rounds; the average is three.
Week four: signing and shipping
Approved prints are signed in pencil, recorded in the edition log, and packed flat or rolled. The original commissioner got print number one and, per studio tradition, free prints for life.
Want to watch a piece happen? New work lands on the portfolio monthly — or commission your own and get the sketches.