Riso Print Day at RISO POP
I skipped the cheese and printed risos in Amsterdam! Here's how Charlie the noble herring-lover was born.
Before our trip, my husband had already found out about a studio called RISO POP in Amsterdam. While we were there, he noticed they were offering print sessions and said, “Do you want to go print something? Say hi to a local artist?” So we canceled our Dutch cheese tour and went to RISO POP instead.
I brought my iPad on the trip thinking I might doodle a little. I didn’t plan to draw a full illustration, but the iPad was super useful! We booked the session two days before, and when my husband asked, “What are you going to print?” I said, “Maybe I’ll use some old data.” But he told me, “Just draw something quick!” I thought, “Ugh, color separation is a lot of work...” but then—an idea suddenly came to me. (Thank you, creative gods!)
I was surprised how round he was, even though food was probably hard to get in the past. Must’ve had great parents!
Tada! It’s Charlie dressed like a noble, enjoying Dutch herring. I made it look like an old Dutch painting. I was inspired by a painting I saw at the Rijksmuseum of a chubby noble child. I really liked it.
During sightseeing breaks, I used Procreate to sketch, color, and do all the color separation.
Then we went to RISO POP! Aafke(@curlysketches), the owner, welcomed us with a big smile. The studio had just moved and reopened a few months ago, and it was really cool. At the entrance, there’s a little shop to buy prints. Behind that, a work area and riso machines. And even further back, a big backyard!
A riso artist named Julia(@riso.limun) from Germany was visiting too with her partner. We all said hi and had fun chatting about riso things.
Since we’ve used riso machines before, we thought we could handle it—but surprise! Her machine prints two colors at the same time. I’d heard about it but never seen it before! We didn’t know how to use it, so Aafke kindly showed us everything.
Then we printed! At first the ink wasn’t coming out well, so we wiped the drum and did a few test prints. Then it was ready!
Since it prints two colors at once, it was really fast. We finished 25 prints in no time. Yay! I was so happy—it came out super cute!
After printing, we talked with Aafke about the riso scene in the Netherlands and the challenges of reopening her studio. She also told us about other riso studios in Amsterdam.
As a souvenir, I bought the 3 Colour Combos Booklet! It has prints by different artists, each using 3 colors. It’s cute and helpful—a perfect color reference.
She wrapped up my prints so nicely, and I got lots of souvenirs full of inspiration that totally sparked my creativity!
Usually when we travel, we visit famous places or go hiking, but now I want to add “visit a local riso studio” to my future trips. Thank you so much, Aafke, for the warm welcome. Hope to see you again someday!
