Andrew Witt, who creates under the name Rue Draws (based upon a childhood nickname), is a practising illustrator and artist who over the past 18 months has taught himself to letterpress print. During lockdown, Andrew designed and made a letterpress system from scratch, including the lettering blocks, a chase system, and a press. Today, he sells his own designs as prints and also works on commissions for both individuals and businesses.
Andrew has always had a relationship with type. After finishing a GNVQ in Art and Design and a BTEC in Graphic Design, his first job was engraving headstones. “This job reinforced the importance of layout, precision and the significance of type to the meaning we take from words which have stayed with me and still inform my work today,” says the designer. It was Andrew’s Father that first introduced him to carpentry. He started out making things out of old pallet wood and developed his skills by watching YouTube videos and a process of trial and error; “The more I did the better I got and before long I was working for a nationwide furniture making company, making furniture for a very well known group of pubs.”
From here, Andrew moved into Architectural Model Making, using many of the skills he learnt whilst making furniture. The models he makes are simple in form, but require skill and precision to produce. He comments; “Simple, clear layouts, precision, and skill are themes that run though all my work, whether it is furniture making, model making, illustration or print”.
Although Andrew never attended University, he has never stopped wanting to learn. Eight years ago he partook in an Illustration workshop at Central St. Martins and would regularly walk past their letterpress department; “I was fascinated by what I saw, it was enough to peak my interest”.
It took a global pandemic to finally give Andrew the time to explore printmaking properly. Furloughed for 12 weeks, he decided to make a letterpress system from scratch. Combining his passions for both carpentry and typography, Andrew created the press, chase, and lettering blocks himself. The process began when Andrew made a set of linocut lettering blocks that he used to print by hand. Not completely happy with the results, he moved onto lasercut wooden lettering. However, he explains; “I soon realised that I couldn’t get enough pressure for good prints by hand, so I set about making a press from scratch”. Once he had the press, he needed a chase system to hold the blocks in place. He went through a few designs of each before he was happy with the results. When the lettering blocks started to break up through use, he decided to invest time and money into learning how to produce polymer plates, meaning that he had far more freedom over the type he could use. “The whole process was a learning curve. The thing with being self-taught is that you have to make a lot of mistakes to learn how to do things the right way. The process takes longer, but when you finally see your prints on paper it is so rewarding.”
Although he comments that it wasn’t his intention, Andrew’s prints have documented his experience of the pandemic, from the music he has listened to, to the TV he has binged, and the conversations he has had. He says; “I like to keep my work simple, clean and precise. In both my illustration and my print, negative space is always as important as positive space. I choose my words carefully but I don’t hide my meaning. My work might make you think, I hope it makes you laugh.”
Andrew also recently became a member of Leicester Print Workshop, and uses their facilities to further enhance and develop his skills. He states; “It affords me the pleasure of just being able to go in and use their equipment which means I can just concentrate on my creative process.Their wooden/lead type collection is amazing, so it’s a real privilege to be trusted with it all.”
The next part of his printmaking journey is to learn photographic silkscreen printing. “I want to be able to create printed imagery and combine that with my letterpress and design skills,” comments the artist. He hopes to one day have his own studio space where he can continue to combine his love of wood, type, art, and illustration.
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