They're coming...

Get ready for the Bump it Mafia. Nothing's going to stop a band of wild lady printmakers!

Also, I'm off to Santa Barbara for a few days. it's supposed to rain. trashcat is not amused. It should be fun anyways.

Seeing Hands

First off there's Jersey shore gone Wilde which is delightful.

also, I've been printing! here's what I'm working on for littlest print exchange. It's been a bit of an adventure, since I was trying to get it done quickly. The semester is almost over so I'm not sure if I'm going to have studio access over the summer. so I'm getting my print stuff done now.

here's printing with ketchup and mustard. not really tho.

and then the first two runs:

and the completed print, as of noon today:


next week I'll be doing some more printing, but now it's off to work with me. I haven't pulled a large multi-color edition in a while. Also I think I will never print paper this small again. it's very hard to register, annoying to callendar, etc etc. next time I will use larger paper and cut it down, or do multiple-up or something like that. ok, enough print-speak. here's some random sketches with marker, trying to emulate an artist I enjoy:


also slowly working out plot details of that comic I'll get around to drawing sometime in the near future hopefully.as usual, it has transformed greatly since I first started working on it a month ago.

ok, time for work now...I leave you with Dengue Fever(who I saw last friday. THEY ARE THE BEST.)

Oh Portland...

What do you get when you add a bagpipe and a unicycle? Portland at its finest:


Sorry I haven't posted in almost a week. That experiment I've been working on in the Print studio is proving to be more difficult than I anticipated. I'm on attempt number five, though I'm getting closer each time. this time I got it to accept ink upon rolling up, but I lost most of the drawing when I went to second etch. And that time I followed the directions in the tamarind book instead of just going from memory. still, I think I know what I need to do. enough bout that, I'll get back to you all when I have photos.

As a result of my experimenting with fickle lithography projects, my comics have been pushed aside for a minute. DO NOT FEAR. I'll try to get the next installment up tomorrow or the next day.

All right, off to more printmaking!

EDIT: I did it! I made the lo-shu wash work! as far as I know, it is stable, we'll see what happens when I get around to trying to print an edition. so far so good though...

man man comics comics prints prints

And here we have the second installment of our comic. I'll try to get the next part up on friday, kinda rushed the colors, I might be experimenting with that later, but for now this will do.

Also! one of my favorite bands is coming out with a new album! WAHOO! Man Man is full of crazy and awesome, and they put on one hell of a live show. Anyways, it comes out May 10th, which is a little bit of a wait. But also not, since they haven't had anything new since 2008. Anyways, there's that.

In other news, I went on a bit of a Lithography adventure, trying to get a lo-shu wash to work. A lo-shu wash is when you suspend gum arabic into water, paint it on the stone, then wait for it to dry. Once this is done, you rub it up with greasy ink and if all goes well (and this is a BIG If) they you get this really lovely effect:

This image is a test done by one of my compadres from Tamarind. Anyways, let's just say my tests were not as successful. I had a bit of a mad scientist moment, and tried 3 times to get the damn thing to work. In all fairness, I've never actually done a lo-shu wash myself, and I was going completely from memory of a demo of it I saw maybe three years ago, so I was a little rusty on the specifics. I tried all of my sneaky printmaker tricks to get the damn thing to work, and I got pretty close a couple times, but ultimately ended in failure. Sad face. So I looked it up and realized I had made some key mistakes, and I plan on going back to the studio tonight and giving it another try. Also, I finished my drawing for the Tiniest Print Exchange. It's a fun little thing, and I'll probably proof it tonight. I still need to add two more rund to it at least, but the key is pretty nice, exactly what I had in mind. If Im feeling particularly ambitious, I might also proof the large fungus tree, which is ready to go. I will most likely need to add another run to it to make it look the way I imagine, but the hard part is done. Hopefully I'll start getting some pictures of all my printmaking adventures.

Littlest Print Exchange

even though I know I sometimes bite off more than I can chew, I've decided to join The Littlest Print Exchange just for the fun of it. and also to get my printmaker nerd on. For those of you interested, sign ups are still going on and spaces still available, so jump on it! I have no idea what I'm going to do for it, but I never know what I'm doing anyways.

Goodbye Facebook!

I have pulled the plug and left the world of facebook. in doing so, I found some old things I had forgotten about, such as this lovely bit of printmaker nerdery. It's a collection of photos of graining sinks from around the world. Wa-Hoo!!!!

Also, deleting facebook was not as easy as it should have been, and I write this so others know. the easy link only "deactivates" your facebook account, leaving all of your information, photos, etc available. When you do this, it asks you far reasons why you are deactivating your account, and everything you click pulls up reasons why you should stay. it's like trying to break up with an abusive boyfriend. It only strengthened my resolve to quite my 5 plus year relationship with the facebooks. To permanently delete your account, you have to search it out, follow the link it gives you, and then stay off facebook for 14 days. you cannot have any interaction with the website at all or your account will be re-activated. Facebook is some serious business. I was feeling a little wishy-washy about maybe rejoining in the future after I've had some space, but I was mildly creeped out and I think I'll stay away.

So Thanks, Facebook, it's been grand.