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:

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:

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

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

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

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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