Creative Momentum
- Jun 6
- 2 min read
Sometimes inspiration takes awhile to percolate, but other times it just hits and you can run with it... and this print was the latter. I spotted the inspiration when I was doomscrolling and a Temu sticker ad hit my feed. I was instantly drawn to the collage-style lettering: Canva stock letters that gave off an enthusiastic scrapbook energy. But even more than that, I was struck by the irony of how it was being made and sold. The dots clicked and I tossed my phone aside.
After a few quick draft sketches, I arrived at a simple grid-stacked design. 15 minutes... tops? I transferred it to a little chunk of lino block and carved out the letters and basic block shapes, then hopped right to printing a proof. I knew with the first pull that it needed more... pizzaz? and that I was going to go back in for more carving, but I still liked its simplicity and printed a small edition anyways.
I rinsed off all my tools and scrubbed the block, then dug back in. I carved more curve around the boxes and added a little more thickness to the letters. After pulling another small edition of the updated version, I stepped back to compare the two prints. Side-by-side, the subtle changes popped out as I looked back and forth between them. A curved corner here, a variation in line over there.
The feeling of making this print was spontaneous and playful. As much as possible, I wanted that delightfully messy energy to transfer into the print itself: imperfect edges and marks, leading to bold and simple vibes. Two hours, two versions and a dozen prints later, I felt satisfied with the progress I'd made and put away all my tools. Some of the playful feeling had transferred into the design, but not as much as I'd hoped. I wasn't discouraged though, in fact the "almost but not quite" result excited me to explore the concept even more in future designs.
Chasing a feeling and translating it into art is a challenge I've wrestled with a lot in the past, and it hasn't always been a fun or smooth experience. Grip the feeling too tightly or take yourself too seriously and you'll crush your vision, but if you're too detached you'll lose it that way too.
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