藏书票的制作

A couple of weeks ago I got a request from Terence for a custom Ex Libris stamp for his archaeologist(考古学家) girlfriend AC as a Valentine present. It's been a fun and challenging stamp to make. I took pictures in the process and got permission from Terence and his girlfriend to share with you - so here they are!

(The signature parts of the sketch, stamp and imprint have been blurred out to protect privacy.)

AC specializes in medieval crusader(改革者) walls so he requested St. Hilarion Castle in Cyprus to be included in the design. He sent over a couple of pictures (1, 2, 3, 4 below) of the castle. Terence also told me that AC was into art deco and 18-19th century style; he suggested having her initials and the text, "Ex Libris" included in the design in an art-deco-inspired font. So I did a bit of researching online and found pictures for inspiration.

On the bottom of the picture you can also see pictures of trowel(泥铲) - archaeologists' tool of the trade, which was also to be on the stamp.

I drew a frame on a piece of paper to show the size of the stamp (app. 7x9cm, or 2.7x3.5in) and started sketching around the frame - sort of a graphic brainstorm. I tried out different elements of the design and how they would look together. 

After tea break I came up with an idea - having the castle "grown" out from an open book, the trowel in the front. The proportion and perspective were a bit off and needed more work.

I grabbed my Rubik's cube and put it on an open book to give myself a better idea of the perspective.

I redid the sketch and sent it to Terence for his approval, at which point he had the chance to change the design or details if he so wishes. He was very happy with the sketch and confirmed with me that I could go ahead and proceed to carving.

In the picture, behind the castle and mountain it is to be a simplistic(过分简单化的) sky design with line-drawn clouds. AC's signature will be on the top of the design (the blurred part).

I transfered the design onto a block of rubber and started carving. To find out how a stamp is made you can check out this tutorial.

At this point the stamp was 50% completed. A stamp this big is very difficult and time-consuming to make,

Stamp completed! I printed the stamp with a light blue ink once for a final check before finalizing the carve, then changed a few small detailes and mounted it.

Here is the final imprint! As usual the signature has been blurred out but this should give you a good idea of the design.

I took pictures of the stamp and imprint, sent them over to Terence for confirmation, then packed and shipped the stamp.