Penguin Interlude

I drew this very quickly (it took about 40 minutes from start to end) for one of my friends. Crayons and art marker.


Again, the paper is white, not yellow. I should really remember to color correct my photos.

There go the Cats

And the final results for all the linoleum cutting that I did:






This shirt is actually white, not yellowish-tan as seen here. I didn't color correct the image after taking it, and the lights in my house are all really yellow. However, it does look good on that color, so if I ever find a shirt that color I'll be sure to print it.

Here come the Cats.

I did three linoleum prints of the house cat Bartleby. It was both a nightmare and great fun. All of the prints turned out as well as I had hoped.






The three different linos I prepared for the print run.

Present the Third.

I cut this lino after a complete and abysmal failure to screenprint this leaf on a canvas bag. Granted, I could have easily over come the hardships on printing on the bag, but it was early in the morning (for me) and I like lino cutting way too much.


Ta-da!

It's a pretty small lino block, a little bigger than an index card. In addition to how nicely it prints, I just love the look of a freshly carved linoleum block. I kind of think of it as psuedo-sculpture - really, it's more like bas relief. My favorite part of the entire process is simply cutting away at the linoleum. It's just really fun.



In order that I might save myself the hassle and cost of buying many bags and testing the print on those bags, I did test runs of the prints on paper - both Bristol and newsprint. All of my linos turned out well on the Bristol paper. That table is also the area that I did all of my printing on.


Finished product.

And this is how the lino printed on the canvas. Much better than my attempt at screen printing the leaf. I printed the image on both sides of the bag, but felt it was only necessary to show you one side of the bag - I figured you'd get the idea.

Present the Second.

This one was really easy to do, since I already had the lino prepared - I used a lino that I had cut for my GID 32 class. This image is probably the second favorite of all the shirt designs I made for GID 32 - the first being the E Coli shirt, which I still need to print for myself.


Wasp on bag action.

I'm thinking that I want to print several more shirts and/or bags with this fella on it. He's awfully popular and I think I could easily sell a few online through Etsy and the like.

Present the First.

As I may or may not have mentioned in a previous post, I decided to make shirts and bags for most of my friends this year in celebration of the holidays and my new printing skills. At the end of it all, I had printed 4 shirts and 2 bags, which is more than I did for an entire quarter in my GID 32 class. I'm pretty surprised at these results, especially if you consider that I went from concept to product in about a week, a week and a half at most. What took the longest was the linocut carving - I think one particular lino took about three or four hours to cut.

So now we begin the journey through the presents. I didn't record any of the flubs and mistakes I made along the way, but believe you me they exist.

The first present: a screen-printed T-shirt. Printing on black is the bane of my existence. But I did it and I'd do it again, but probably with more success and less frustration.


I drew an ice cream cone on tracing paper for my template.

Cute, isn't it? I think so. Simple, as well. Simplicity is what I like best in my art.


A shot of the screen after I had coated it with screen filler.

Screen filler, as I may have mentioned a few times, is not my favorite product. I can see the utility in using it if you want really loose, graphic images without a lot of detail. But it can be rather... frustrating to use. There may be cursing involved.


Proof that I can, in fact, pull a screen.

The end product wasn't completely professional looking, but I stand by my product. And the friend who received this particular present seemed happy enough with it, so mission success.

A taste of what's to come.

I've just uploaded many pictures to my Flickr page. It took much longer than I expected, partially because I wasn't aware of just how many images I had on my camera (425) and partially because my camera battery died 51% of the way through.

What follows is a small sampling of the art that I created this past Christmas week. I, personally, am quite amazed at my own productivity.





In addition to old-fashioned linocuts, I did a little bit of screen printing. I'm thinking that I don't really care for the screen filler, so I plan on getting the tools that I need in order to make my screen printing more or less viable.



So, as soon as I'm able to sit down, I plan on going through each project that I did and doing a mini-post about each.

Screen printing.

So, with my new screen printing kit, I've learned two vital lessons already: planning is important and having an appropriate work space is important. If you do/have neither of these things, you will rue the day you decided that you wanted to print t-shirts and bags for your friends for Christmas.

In other news, I've been able to kick out several good designs for the bags/t-shirts that I want to print for and give to my friends. I have less than a week to get it all done in, but I have high hopes. Worst case scenario, I don't finish them and my friends hate me forever, but not only is this case worst possible ever, it's highly unlikely.

End of the quarter semi-wrap-up.

This was my last project for my ART 86 class. It was done in Corel Painter, as was every other assignment for that class.

I'm really happy with how this turned out. I'm sure that surprises everyone, but I think the style especially is really strong. The sketchiness of it suits me, I think. I used techniques that I learned in a previous class, and I think I was able to use those lessons well in this piece.

I think my favorite part of this is the minimal color I used. It really adds to the mood of the piece and creates interest in the figure, which of course is important.

I've noticed that the ledge that the figure is standing on isn't as finished as it could be. I think I'll work on it - I think I know why it sticks out to me, so I should be able to fix it. I won't be able to start on my gifts until Sunday anyway.

Speaking of Christmas gifts, I'm really excited about the screen printing kit that I bought in SF. Not only can I print on fabric, I'll be able to do prints on paper. I'm hoping that I'll be able to start my own mini-business using this kit - as well as making linocut printed shirts. I have some images of the linocut printed shirts, I think, and if I don't I'll take some. The two that I did turned out really well and I enjoyed making them, which is very important.

I think this is the first time I've actually taken something that I've learned in one of my classes and taken it outside of the classroom. The first time I've been able to use what I've learned in one of my classes practically, any way. Sure I can draw and use Illustrator and paint, but printing really engages me. I never would have guessed it, to be honest. I think it's a combination of using my hands, being able to use sharp objects, and being able to make messes.


Here's one of the shirts that I printed using screen printing techniques - it has been by far the most popular print I've done, and that means a lot to me. Not only are people giving me compliments, but I'm able to engage people on science. I was able to do that with the other science-based art I did for my printing class - I think I did a post about that design. If I did, I'll add a link to that post. Edit: Here's the link.

I hope that I have time before school starts to print one of these E coli shirts for myself - the above is a small and thus only fit for tiny people.

I'll try to post some images of my printing process for my Christmas gifts - I've already taken some pics of the first design I've done. (It's an ice cream cone. :D) Note to self: Screen filler is difficult to use. And kind of frustrating to use.