The two photos on page 7.2 were both taken in Aberdeen. I traced the 'Annie Mo's' one, which you can see on page 7.5, and added depth and colour to it with oil and chalk pastels. Using a photocopy of this tracing, I went in with a fineliner and roughly picked out a segment of the bay windows above the shop. I then traced that again, cleaned up the linework with a biro, transferred it to lino, and created a stamp. With a little bit of testing I was able to create a seamless vertical repeat.
My note on page 7 reads: 'The image on the left is a photocopy of a tracing of a photograph I took on Union Street, Aberdeen. I went in with a pen and defined a section of tenement bay windows. Retracing and retracing, I eventually arrived at a clean enough bit of linework that I then traced onto lino and cut out... While tracing, I ensured I would be able to seamlessly stack each individual print into a repeat pattern.'
I photocopied my pencil sketch and repeated it in a collage to try and figure out how the stamps could fit together. I included a fashion illustration for Prada, from the book 'Millenium Mode' - a photo of this actual physical piece is included on page 33 - because the little rectangles on the bodice reminded me of the windows. I picked out a few sandstone-like colours using Caran d'Ache watercolour crayons, and tried to match them as best as I could using watercolour inks. The note from page 7 continues: 'The red sandstone colour in the print below was achieved by mixing brown ochre with a very small amount of black watercolour inks.'