New Etching

Check out this new etching I just pulled fresh off the press! Click on the image or click here to see a larger version on my Flickr site.

I've been enjoying the amount of chance that comes into how I make these prints. At first, the deterioration of the plate makes me think things won't come out that well, but its the areas that are left up to chance that are the most interesting sometimes.

Monotype Discovery

Today I had a pretty exciting moment in the studio. In preparation for doing a demo on monotype printing, Colleen Kinsella (MECA's Printmaking tech) and I were trying out doing some ourselves. I was painting and rolling out some flats of color when it occurred to me that I had never tried using Chine Colle when printing in this process. As I pulled the sheet of paper off the press, this image was slowly revealed in all its brilliant glory—

(Click any of the images for a close-up view of the detail)

Needless to say, I was ecstatic. I think I have found a great new way to work color into my prints. For a little while, I had been trying to think of different ways to work into the images I have been using frequently. From this first one, another gorgeous print was made, along with a nice ghost-print from that (click here to see that)—

So with these tests done, I am very excited to make some more chine colle material so I can do more of this. I am excited about the ability to create something so painterly and vibrant, as well as include my detailed imagery that I personally enjoy so much. Look out for more of these, and let me know if you think you would buy this as a print. I'm debating creating an Etsy store if I have enough to put up and sell. Exciting things are on the horizon!

Design Concept: Panic!

As I sat idly in the print studio today scanning in textures and browsing through my older files,
I came across an image I had meant to work with a while ago. I was very interested in its line quality and how dramatic it was, and I'm in the process of creating a design from it to submit to Threadless. I have always told myself to challenge myself and submit designs to this site, so I'm gonna try this one once I work on it more and see what happens.

 

Click here for a large preview on Flickr!

Recent Work in Printmaking

I've been busy this summer making use of my free time in the print studio (helping the tech as her assistant gives me access to the shop, which is awesome). With the freedom to explore whatever I want, I've been just kind of messing around with processes that I don't usually get a chance to explore. First off, I had been wanting to see if I could successfully print something that made use of brightly colored poster-board. By printing things in a way that the black fill reversed out the image, I was able to knock out an image from the color and still have that brilliant vibrancy of the paper show through:

 "There's No Space Like Deep Space" Silkscreen Print

Alongside this little experiment, I had been messing around with my large bank of collected imagery, mashing things together on found paper to try and get some interesting and dense images:

 Lace and Skulls, Silkscreen Print

From this, I also wanted to try something outside of silkscreen since I had been focusing on it so much. To be honest, I think this next experiment was my favorite thing to do, and I plan to do more:

 "Untitled" Photo Lithography, Silkscreen, Chine Colle

This little mashing together of mediums was very fun, and I think I'm going to build another photo-etch plate sometime soon. Being able to bring my found illustrations into another medium that allows for some combination is really exciting, and I like how excited others get when they see these pieces (One sold at the First Friday Art Walk for $25, I was thrilled).

Click any of the piece titles if you want to see an enlarged version of the works on my Flickr site.

Anchors and the Ocean

Recently I have found a bit of a fascination with pattern. This all started out with finding a stripped shirt for 5 dollars. It seemed a little boring, so I wanted to print a little more onto it. From this, I found some imagery related to the ocean and sailing (since the pattern reminded me so much of a pirate, or sailor's shirt). Here's another one of the shirts with a more interesting collar that I re-purposed:

From this, I have been wanting to create accompanying pieces to these shirts. My idea so far only includes one other item, but I'm excited to try and figure out some sort of "clothing line". I hope to create a bag that stays on the same kind of theme as the shirt- "Influenced by the Ocean". I'm beginning to assemble imagery for patternmaking, as well as doing research on things like materials (for example, how to get a rope handle like this one). The pattern creation has been interesting me lately, so more on these in the future. Here's some examples of what I have made up for now:

Welcome!

Welcome everyone to my new blog!

This was a project I feel I should have started up in earnest a bit ago, and now I am finally getting started. I wanted a place to share what I have been working on, but I have a feeling this will become more than just that. Hope you all enjoy reading what's going on in my studio and my life, because I'm excited to share with you.