I love the forms the layered letters make.

One of my favorite resources in creating collages is a sheet of rub-on letters. In Providence I had a secret spot where I could go to get as much Letraset as I could afford. At first, it was in a small room towards the back of a downtown art store. I’d make my way through the cold, windy streets and pick some up before an evening of caffeine-inspired sketchbooking. I was surprised one day when the store had turned into an “art gallery.” I stepped inside to have a peek, and inquired about the drawers that once filled the back room. You can imagine my relief when the man, painting a seaside scene on a small canvas, told be to make my way downstairs to help myself to what I could find.

I felt like a Goony in search of One-Eyed Willy’s sunken treasure. It was dusty and dark. The entire inventory of what used to be an art store had been stashed to the edges of walls. I had to move some heavy, old steel chairs around to get to the bright orange drawers of Letraset, but did not hesitate. The treasure was mine!

Upstairs, I named my price for what I had scrounged, and the owner was pleased to see it go. (Not pleased enough to offer me the whole lot, though.) I am not sure what I did with it that evening, but I have a few stand-out collages that I have used Letraset rub-on letters that I love. The first one was “Perched,” below:

Perched- rub-on letter collage

After publishing that on my site a few years back, I was asked by the Santa Fe Reporter to create a similar image to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Santa Fe Opera:

Sante Fe Reporter- Cover illustration

I used a similar technique when creating album art for Ellery:

Ellery2

Another personal piece I created using Letraset leans more towards concrete poetry than collage:

The Shapes of Numbers- collage

Here are two more using fewer elements. I sell prints of all of them at elphabat.com

F is for Fish

FIN- collage print

Maybe some day I will make it back to that basement to score some Letraset. It hasn’t really been that long ago, it could still be there! As of late, I have been trying to draw more, and I have plans to record some new songs soon.

(Click on any of the images to enlarge)

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COMMENTS / 4 COMMENTS

[...] And I love this Letraset collage from Able Parris: [...]

Sunday type: crossword type | i love typography, the typography blog added these pithy words on May 12 08 at 3:23 am

[...] the main image of the interview. I had forgotten about that one or I would have included it in the Letraset post I did last week! Be sure to flip thru her site, because there is a lot of great [...]

Able Parris | Collage, Design, Inspiration, and Creativity » Blog Archive » Collage Blog Interview added these pithy words on May 15 08 at 12:45 am

I also love to use Letraset rub-ons in art- there’s something so classic about the process and outcome. “Perched” is a stunning piece!

Nubby added these pithy words on May 12 08 at 6:55 am

Thanks, Nubby. And nice site. :)

Able added these pithy words on May 12 08 at 1:48 pm

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Using Letraset in Collage

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