Art Director Eric Reigert takes digital illustrations from his iPad, laser-engraves them onto shina plywood, and finishes each one with a hand-painted background to create tactile, one-of-a-kind prints that get his work off a screen and into the world.
The process started with a simple frustration: digital illustrations are invisible unless someone is looking at a screen. Eric Reigert wanted to hold something. He tested multiple types of plywood before landing on shina, which absorbs water without warping, making it the only option that made the whole process work. From there, a laser engraver cuts his iPad illustrations directly into the surface, and each piece receives a unique hand-painted background that adds colour, texture and the quality of having been touched by a hand before it reaches anyone else’s.
The results are one-of-one objects. No two are identical, because no two backgrounds are identical, and the laser engraving on top of each surface produces slightly different results depending on the grain. The combination of digital precision and analogue unpredictability gives the prints a character that neither process could produce alone.
“It’s fun to finally get these weird doodles off a digital device and into people’s hands,” Reigert says, “even if my friends are the only ones purchasing them.” The self-deprecating honesty of that line is entirely in keeping with the project: an ongoing, unpretentious exercise in making tangible things from digital work, rooted in a genuine love of the printed medium.
Eric Reigert is an Art Director whose work blends digital precision with hands-on experimentation.
Website: ericreigert.com Instagram: @eraeric
From iPad to Plywood, ongoing. Laser-engraved shina plywood with hand-painted backgrounds. One-of-one editions.
