Post- and Pre-Con updates and a Corgi!

I uploaded some fun pics of cosplayers and other stuff from GeekOut that you can see here!

GeekOut and KiraKiraCon were great and I had lots of fun meeting the con-goers and other artists. I'm really looking forward to next year's GeekOut, since it will be upgraded to a 3-day event!

Up next on the schedule is my first 3-day con, Hoshicon, in Winston-Salem June 28th through June 30th! There'll be more digital art prints (most fanart stuff... but new stuff!), some new print runs, more robot mugs in more colors, and a handful of special plushies I'm making for the event. Should be fun, and maybe I'll add some previews of the merch on here in a week or two!

Meanwhile... Checkout this fan pic I received of a corgi with my corgi print! Too cute!

Reproductions now available!

Lately I've started doing more original illustrations and less (printmaking) prints these days mostly due to time constraints, so I've begun to make those available on Etsy by printing reproductions! One of my latest straight up illustrations is this watercolor of a calaca mariachi band:

Available here ---> https://www.etsy.com/listing/103457580/mariachi-calacas-print

The random side projects are helping me blow off some steam from the pastel drawing series I've been working on. On that note, prints of those will soon be available as well! 

I'll probably do some idea crossovers for relief prints from these eventually, but for now, it's all about the Senior Show and getting that thesis wrapped up!

Leftovers III and TRex Skull Prints

I finally printed a tiny block for the Leftovers III print exchange! The size limitation was no larger than 5" x 7" and I have been wanting to reprint an old Resingrave block I made a while ago. The block is only 2" x 3". So in the spirit of using scraps (aka Leftovers) of paper, I tore down those skinny scraps you get when breaking down a full sheet of printmaking paper. I never had a good use for those, so this was perfect! I remember back in the print studio in school, most people just trashed those strips, so it's nice to put them to use instead of wasting them. Although it was a strange mix of papers... mostly random Japanese rice papers and a little Stonehenge.

Here's how they came out:

Hopefully whoever receives them won't mind the goofy dimensions!

While I still had a wet block, I went ahead and made a more formal edition of prints as well. I printed these on a natural Stonehenge paper. 

I loved using that Resingrave block. I have messed with a lot of the composite (non-linoleum) block surfaces, but so many of them break down or pull weird. I could use a Dremel on it for textural effects and still retain nice edges where I wanted them. Those blocks cost double what the normal ones do, but it's worth it for the quality. Plus, they ink amazingly! 

I decided to name it "Omnia Mors Aequat" as a sort of reference to the original print I used this block for, which has a "frame" linocut that this block fits into, and has a space in the bottom of the image for letterpress. The letterpress part quotes an old Memento Mori medieval poem which says, "Omnia mors perimit et nulli miseretur."

Anywho... the edition prints are available in the Shop if ya want one!

Save the Date!

In a few weeks I will be participating in a local holiday art festival. There will be tons of booths for the local artists and we will be selling our wares and schmoozing. I will be selling prints, Christmas cards, and some original paintings/illustrations as well!

Here's the event info:

McDonough Arts presents

HOLIDAY FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS

Sunday, November 13
12 PM – 5 PM
Artist Market & Festival
McDonough Square

Oregon Ink Spot Exchange Prints

The 2011 Oregon Ink Spot Print Exchange results are in! w00t! I got some very nice relief prints and some random fun ones. Check them out! These are my top 8 favorites of the 15 I received.

New Studio Set Up and Woodcuts

Hey guys! Just a quick summer update... I finally got my baby press installed and functional so I'm churning out reprints of old blocks and working on some new pieces as well.

I'm currently working on some hand painted versions of old prints like this:

And I'm working on a new pair of woodcuts that are sister prints. It's two rockabilly characters that were actually derived from what I did in the print above. I'm am almost halfway cutting the guy's block, then I'll start on the chick:

Leftovers print exchange results are in!

It's about time for print exchange prints to roll in. So far, I've received prints from the Leftovers exchange, and they are fabulous.

The presentation was totally worth the entry. It came neatly put together with a super cute napkin and receipt.

Love it! The prints I got are really awesome too. Here's a sample:

Here's a link to the Leftovers blog if you're interested in learning more:
http://leftoversanyone.blogspot.com/

"Better Brave Than Bored" Block

Here's my large (18" x 24") woodcut I'm working on! It's the starting place for my steampunk narrative series I'm doing for my Senior Thesis.

Not much is cut on it right now other than the borders, but I can't wait to see how this baby prints!

"Bonecrusher" is officially done.

Here's some of the color variations I've done for the final print.
 

Multi-color block prints are a go!

I've been working readily on the multiple color block prints. All the blocks are cut and being printed (some prints are completely done, but I want to go back and print more in other colors). Here's some pictures of the process for the first color layer, which began as a light blueish purple but I switched over to a nice green halfway through printing.
 

 

This print has been a lot of fun. I've been enjoying trying to approach the composition from a comic book/gig poster style. The wood was being difficult though and a lot of the lines and edges are disrupted, but that's the nature of woodcut! Can't wait to post the final results... They just need to finish drying first. :)

Infinite Possibilites Exhibition

Great news! I entered the two Ex Libris dinosaur relief prints in an exhibition held by the University of West Georgia's Art Student Union and I received 1st place for them! Good times were had and I'm very proud of my little prints for receiving this honor.

On another note, I'm currently working on a 4-color woodcut (on four blocks) with a similar theme to my samurai/ukiyo-e print. This one is done in a more Americanized comic book style a la Tank Girl meets The Walking Dead. Proofing begins this week, and I can't wait to have all four blocks done! Pics to come soon.

New Ukiyo-e style prints finally done.

Here's the zombie prints finally done. They're full bleed and two color reduction blocks (wood).  Each one I printed had different colors, which was a lot of fun to experiment with. Here's two samples, one on Unryu (a mixed fiber Japanese printmaking paper) and the other on Bogus recycled drawing paper.

The next piece I'm currently working on is supposed to be a continuation of the same theme. It just has to have some element from this one, but I don't think I will stick to the same art style. Instead I am going to go with the more Western "gig poster" style, and feature some sort of scene with a zombie or monster encounter. I might, however, reuse some of the patterns on the fabric.

Bookplate style relief prints

These are the most recent prints I have done. They are bookplate-style relief prints done with 4" x 6" linoleum blocks, as well as a 2" x 3" resingrave block for the skull.

 I'm currently working on an 11" x 14" ukiyo-e style print of a zombie attack which should be done soon. ^_^