Thursday, February 24, 2011

Print Exchanges

Cripes almighty! There are like a billion print exchanges coming up this spring!!! There are three in particular I am going to participate in myself, and if you are into making tiny prints (5"x7" and 4"x6"), then you should too!

Oregon Ink Spot

Leftovers Print Exchange
Apocalypse themed Post Card (You have scroll down the news feed to find that one.)

These look fun so once I get my design printed, I'll post it on here, and then hopefully, eventually get around to posting whatever prints I receive in the exchanges!

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

J!NX World of Warcraft T-Shirt Contest

Looks like the Murloc Swarm tee I designed made it into the voting round!! Check it out and vote for it!



J!NX has a ton of awesome, nerdy stuff to buy. Definitely check out their merch if you are into video games, nerd culture (ex: zombies, math, science, gaming), or just good digital art.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Maneki Neko Reduction Print

Here's the story behind the Maneki Neko via Wikipedia:

The Temple Cat: This story goes that a wealthy feudal lord was taking shelter under a tree near Gotoku-ji temple (in Western Tokyo) during a thunderstorm. The lord saw the temple priest's cat beckoning to him and followed; a moment later the tree was struck by lightning. The wealthy man became friends with the poor priest and the temple became prosperous. When the cat died, supposedly the first Maneki Neko was made in his honor.
The Courtesan: A courtesan named Usugumo, living in Yoshiwara, in eastern Tokyo, kept a cat, much beloved by her. One night, the cat began tugging at her kimono. No matter what she did, the cat persisted. The owner of the brothel saw this, and believing the cat bewitched, cut its head off. The cat's head then flew to the ceiling where it killed a snake, ready at any moment to strike. Usugumo was devastated by the death of her companion. To cheer her up, one of her customers made her a wooden likeness of her cat as a gift. This cat image then became popular as the Maneki Neko.
The Old Woman: An old woman living in Imado (eastern Tokyo) was forced to sell her cat due to extreme poverty. Soon afterwards the cat appeared to her in a dream. The cat told her to make its image in clay. She did as instructed, and soon afterward sold the statue. She then made more, and people bought them as well. They were so popular she soon became prosperous and wealthy.