Contextual Studies Essay Research: 1

For my upcoming Contextual Studies essay I have decided to focus my argument around sustainability as an illustrator / publisher as I felt these were two areas which heavily relate to my chosen specialism and my impact within the environment. As an artist it can often be hard to work sustainably due to large printing quantities, the types of ink we need to use to obtain the results desired and the necessity to sketch on large amounts of paper yearly.

I began by researching what printer ink is currently commonly made from and found out it consists of many harmful ingredients such as resins, solvents and inorganic varnish bases. Due to this it would seem logical to search for an alternative and compare the cost to see whether a more sustainable method is possible for a small illustrator. On amazon the current price for my printer ink is £24 on sale. However, as I attempted to explore a home use printer which utilises vegetable based inks for printing, I was unable to locate one. All of the options for eco-friendly were low power usage printers and not related to the type of ink. Unfortunately, the only available websites were all printing companies who used these eco-friendly methods for you, so it would appear trying to become more sustainable at home is still a difficult road for an artist.

This is concerning considering the current climate with the country and still facing the Covid-19 pandemic, meaning many individuals are still working from home and rely on their ability to print for many things whether it be for study or work.

Regardless it was uplifting to see how many companies were available to economically publish a book, which will become even more relevant to me as I progress as an artist. I was highly inspired by the work of Argentinian artist Pequeño Editor and their plantable children’s book created from acid free paper which is combined with seeds where once planted it will turn into a Jacaranda tree. I absolutely adore this concept and have seen plantable paper discussed before but have never seen it used to create a fully illustrated children’s book before which gives me a lot of hope for my future career. This will not only help the environment but teach young minds the importance of looking after the planet whilst making it a fun memory.

I managed to discover a site called Green Giving which offered seed paper services, although currently it does not offer the availability of printing a full book. However I remain hopeful considering they have launched the creation of seed paper notepads, which are in a similar structure so the printing of books may be possible in the future. Unfortunately this was a Dutch website and I was unable to accurately convert the pricing so I chose to investigate a second source for UK currency.

The second website I managed to locate was based in the UK named Hatch which provides a huge variety of products for both personal and business led purchases. This brand focuses purely on the use of recycled papers including pulp, seeded and silk. This company also appears to provide a much broader product selection, including brochures and booklets which I had initially thought I could use to print my commercial project module, however I discovered through this that not all of these options were available using the seeded paper unfortunately.