Hi hi, Reader! Happy Thursday:)

A few weeks ago I got asked about printing my work and I thought it would make a nice Thursday Thought art tip.

Whether you work digitally and want a way to hold your work in the flesh or you work with analog media and need a way to make copies of your art, printing your work is an important step toward embracing your creative practice. First, let's talk about what you can do with printed work...

1. Display it

I love surrounding myself with work that speaks to me and yes, that includes my own work😊 Often, my favorite pieces are sketchbook studies, like this pigeon and poppy image! Because I prefer to keep sketchbooks intact for easier perusal and archival reflection, scanning and printing is my method of choice for getting sketched work onto my wall.

2. Sell it

Did you know that you don't have to print your work in bulk to sell it? I've been exploring the print on demand world of e-commerce lately and it's been an exciting way to get my work on different products without having to store them in bulk myself. I use Printify which links right up to my Etsy shop and so far, I've enjoyed the process.

3. Repurpose it

One way I've loved repurposing is by making pins out of them. I made these fun pins by painting different images in my sketchbook, printing them out, cutting them, gluing them to wooden disks, and applying a shimmer finish. By printing them, I was able to make them in large batches and maintain their hand-painted feel.

4. Give it

And finally one of my favorite things to do with printed work is give it away! I love saying thank you/I love you/hello/I'm just thinking about you with my own designs, it just feels a touch more personal:)

On that note, to say thank YOU, Reader, for being such a lovely supporter of my work and my art journey, I'd love to send a little something special your way...

Yup, giveaway time! If you'd like to enter my itty bitty printy giveaway, just forward this email to a friend who you think might enjoy it and respond to this email with their name and I'll enter your name in for random selection. I'll announce the giveaway recipient in next week's newsletter✨ P.S. You'll get your name entered for every friend you forward to and guess what, you'll even get an extra entry for each friend who subscribes to my newsletter👏

Looking for a professional printer?

Part two of this Thursday Thought is about finding a printer for your work. Here are some things to consider when looking for a printer:

• Location: do you want to pick your prints up in person or pay to have them shipped to you? One of my favorite high quality online printers is CatPrint.
• Project type: are you looking for a simple print or something more custom like an accordion-fold zine or door hanger? Fireball Printing offers a great variety of prints and even custom orders.
• Quality: printer qualities vary to provide different types of color saturation, paper type, etc. Not every project needs the highest quality printing so consider what the print will be used for in order to choose where you print. I've printed my work for very cheap and quick at Fedex!

The printer that I've worked with the most is Philly-based Fireball Prints. I discovered them during grad school and have loved every experience working with them. Here are a few projects I've worked on with them:

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Thanks for reading, Reader! I'm wishing you an artfully thoughtful Thursday and sending all my best until next week.

PS! Don't forget to enter my itty bitty printy givaway🎉 Forward this email to a friend then reply to this email with their name🤗

xo

Lexi K.