BISHOP STREET BANNER MAKING WORKSHOP PART 2

Our second workshop was led by Steve Hammond Evans who has worked as an artist in residence at Bishop Street and is experimenting with a range of techiques to create Vinyl banners which are used in his Church at Blaby Methodist.

The first technique Steve demonstrated was how to turn a drawing into a huge banner that the whole congregation can get involved in. The initial drawing needs to be converted into a jpg file which is sent to a printing company to convert it into a vinyl banner. This can be done by either scanning the drawing or taking a high quality photograph of it.

Once back from the printers Steve used framers tape to ‘mask off the main area of his giant vinyl banner to ensure the border was kept fresh and white. He then armed members of his congregation with ‘sharpies’ a high quality brand of permanent coloured pens and set them to work colouring in the sections. According to Steve people really enjoyed the chance to do the colouring in even if they hadn’t done anything artistic in years! Everyone had a go and the result was a true collaboration. See the handout below for more info!

Next Steve went on to tell us about how he creates the artwork for his vinyl banners. Working on A3 (which he later reduces to A4 so it can be scanned)

Steve uses a range of materials including Pan Pastels which give him the rich bright colours and quick background coverage he is after. Pan Pastels come in round pots and Steve used a makeup sponge to apply them to a piece of thick, good quality paper. He then dazzled us with his electric eraser which he used to create designs in the pastel ground he had laid down! We also learnt how to use framers tape to mask off areas which could then be filled with pastel colour to create borders.

The next art product Steve demonstrated was Brusho. I have used this myself for batik work and love the intense colour it gives. Steve used a pipette to transfer a small amount of water into a bowl before adding some brusho powder and mixing whilst warning us to be careful not to drip the mixture on surfaces or get it on our hands or clothes as it is very permanent!

Again it is important to use a thick, high quality paper to apply the brusho to. The colours mix well and you can see the result in the background of the  ‘Morning has Broken’ image above which Steve is holding up with the assistance of Esther!

Finally Steve spoke about how he loves to use Celtic inspired knotwork in his designs as they not only tie the work together well but people like to ‘follow’ the lines with their eye which then ‘lead’ them around the image.

You can see some of Steve’s banners currently on display on the Bishop Street Cafe walls.

Here is a copy of Steve’s handout from the session.

You can see more of Steve’s  work here: http://www.stevehamandeggs.com/

Banner by Steve Hammond-Evans