I printed these beasts yesterday and they came out pretty good!
50 posters, 3 colours, no major fuckups.
The texture came out pretty nice, although the card warped ever-so-slightly as it absorbed the ink, which threw my registration off a little. Good job I like the off-registered look:
View more photos of the printing process over yonder.
Does it have a texture when you run your hand over it, it looks like it does.
Yes! One of my favourite things about screenprinting is that you can FEEL the ink on the surface of the paper -- you can even smell it. It is gorgeous and lovely and nice and tactile and yes, even lickable.
Once I've done a couple of test prints and the ink is flowing, I print on a large sheet of acetate which I tape down on one side to keep put. This shows me exactly where each of my prints will be positioned. Then I can slide one of my sheets underneath the acetate and line the print up exactly.
Once it's lined up, I just use tape to make registration tabs on one corner and one edge so every subsequent sheet goes down on the bed in exactly the same place.
Still lots of other factors which can cause reg problems but this system works well enough for me.
Photocopy till death? like MAking a copy of a copy until its just a bunch of black and white noise? Thatd be a cool evolution. Shit I sound like a conceptual artist.
I was asked to be part of an exhibition taking place in Hamburg, Germany in a couple of weeks, where a bunch of silkscreen artists each paint or decorate a wooden squeegee.
I haven't painted anything in quite a while so I found this a real challenge. Not 100% happy with the end result but as a physical object it's quite nice and hopefully it'll sit well with the other work.
Acrylic on wood (apologies for the glare!):
And here's an album cover I was commissioned to do. I did a bunch of rough ideas and logos for the client to choose from and then produced a few versions of the final thing. The artist told me he wanted something which referenced the theme of communication and liked the idea of the telephone orbiting almost like it was a satellite, so that's what we went with.
The satellites thing is great. Simple and good. Yes.
The acrylic looks like you worked it a lot while wet and maybe mixed your colours with black? Looking a little muddy is all. I need to do a painting on wood though, it's something I haven't tried yet. I want to do a painting on a wooden cube.
Re. the painting - I started out with the whole thing in bright solid colours, trying to replicate my digital stuff. I grew increasingly unhappy with it, as I wasn't getting the sharpness I wanted and was missing out on the 'expressive' nature of brush and paint.
Soooo... I took a very diluted wash of blue to the whole thing, and then just started drybrushing the texture of the wood (you can see it most clearly in the clouds and downward arrows) which I then felt had enough 'personality' for the piece to start looking how I wanted.
As for the 'muddyness' - you're right, there's a lot of watered down black on there, and shading produced by drybrushed black rather than an actual mixed tone. Messy and poor habits, I know, but time was against me and at the very least I don't have to look at it again until I see it in Germany at which point I will likely be very drunk indeed.
Finished the Blackbird print, which came out really nice:
New business cards, front and back:
And now I'm off to Hamburg, where the painted squeegee above will be exhibited, the Blackbird print will be shown as part of a print exhibition taking place in the BeatleMania museum, and I will be one of the artists selling my wares as part of the Flatstock event, in conjunction with the ReeperbahnFest.
I travel today!
Also... this will likely be the last post in my thread for a while. I realised I don't really get much feedback, and it's the same few people who comment on it - which I am thankful for! - but I have a niggling feeling that I am seen as just spamming my work, rather than posting to be critted and get better...
I like the community here, so I'll probably just stick around in the Chat threads. If anyone has an interest in my work and wants to keep in the loop re. new stuff, just subscribe to my Blog.
I'm massively guilty of looking at this thread, thinking 'awesome', and then not posting. The new cards are awesome by the way, what's the printing process?
If I have learned one thing on this trip, it is that staying up drinking until 5am every night is not very good for your immune system. I sang songs and danced. I sold some of my stuff. I was almost kidnapped by a prostitute. I ate a lot of wursts.
Some photos will be going up on my blog at some point soon.
Thanks for the kind words regarding my work folks, if people do find some use in it, I'll perhaps update the thread every so often.
Jake: printing process is just digital with a matte varnish, done by a company I've used a few times and they always do a great job.
Nappuccino: Yeah, I was interested in seeing if people picked up two -- only a few people did.
Mustang: It took me 25 years to design.
Des'Bots: Your crits mean nothing to me!
Crawdad: The 'Blackbird' print is 25 Euros (including postage to Spain.)
So, I promised I'd update this thing every once in a while...
Here's a gigposter I will be screenprinting tomorrow:
I'll be taking photos and tweeting the live printing action as I go. More stuff on my Blog.
I'd be happy to get any crits on the design -- strangely, I really struggled with this one initially and then all of a sudden it just fell together. It's been a while since I've managed to keep things at just 2 colours also...
hey man, I hate to break it to you, but you've got the American flag the wrong way up . Love the design, actually. You've hit the sweet spot between simple and complex. The one thing I'd like to see you experiment with, and to be honest I'm not sure if it would even be a good idea, would be the direction of the eyes. Right now to me they seem to be looking off page.
This will be printed at A2, so yep everything will be readable.
This was done in Photoshop... I do sometimes use Illustrator to Livetrace stuff I need to enlarge but this was all done at the correct size.
The tube thing is cleverly designed to be whatever the viewer wants it to be. :winky:
edit:
The one thing I'd like to see you experiment with, and to be honest I'm not sure if it would even be a good idea, would be the direction of the eyes. Right now to me they seem to be looking off page.
Well, I had this vague notion that the 'thing' I have depicted is a representation of the band making the journey over to the UK, so the eyes looking off the page is semi-intentional - at least in the sense that the entity is meant to be moving from right to left.
I'm aware that 'right to left' can often look odd, since we are used to reading things left to right and this affects our perceptions but I liked this idea of deliberately doing this (and sort of tying it in with the upside down flag).
I got commissioned to do a digital painting, not something which is usually within my comfort zone, but this was quite a unique project, as the building is somewhere I actually used to work and the people are all people I used to work with.
GET PAID TO DRAW PICTURES OF EX-COLLEAGUES AND COWORKERS!
I simply had to do this.
As mentioned, digital painting usually isn't my thing and there is lots wrong with this (perspective is a bit wonky in parts but I've tried to keep things very stylised, as is my... um, style... so hopefully that masks my many elementary errors).
This was printed as an A2 Giclee on fancy-pants textured paper and looks sweet! Client very pleased and it's been a fun project, especially as the deadline was tight and the whole thing required managing with a tight reign. All good fun though.
Comments and crits very welcome and will no doubt prove useful if I do anything like this in the future.
you love those arrows leading out of the design don't you
Well spotted! Actually, the poster where I last used the sign-post pointing off-page was sort of the inspiration for the approach, so the client saw the previous sign-post and asked for one.
the reflection on the front of the building doesn't seem to tie with the rest of the piece
In what sense? That reflection was one of the bits I really um'd and ah'd about... I ended up not having the time to play about with it and just had to go with it. :?
Posts
Everyone should take printmaking if givin the chance.
50 posters, 3 colours, no major fuckups.
The texture came out pretty nice, although the card warped ever-so-slightly as it absorbed the ink, which threw my registration off a little. Good job I like the off-registered look:
View more photos of the printing process over yonder.
Good printing; good times.
Does it have a texture when you run your hand over it, it looks like it does.
Yes! One of my favourite things about screenprinting is that you can FEEL the ink on the surface of the paper -- you can even smell it. It is gorgeous and lovely and nice and tactile and yes, even lickable.
Once it's lined up, I just use tape to make registration tabs on one corner and one edge so every subsequent sheet goes down on the bed in exactly the same place.
Still lots of other factors which can cause reg problems but this system works well enough for me.
Just getting the composition right before I start work on the texture properly. Crits welcomed - still not decided on the moon placement...
Completed design, colour seperated and ready to print:
PHOTOCOPY TILL DEATH!!!111
I was asked to be part of an exhibition taking place in Hamburg, Germany in a couple of weeks, where a bunch of silkscreen artists each paint or decorate a wooden squeegee.
I haven't painted anything in quite a while so I found this a real challenge. Not 100% happy with the end result but as a physical object it's quite nice and hopefully it'll sit well with the other work.
Acrylic on wood (apologies for the glare!):
And here's an album cover I was commissioned to do. I did a bunch of rough ideas and logos for the client to choose from and then produced a few versions of the final thing. The artist told me he wanted something which referenced the theme of communication and liked the idea of the telephone orbiting almost like it was a satellite, so that's what we went with.
Comments welcome.
Tumblr Behance Carbonmade PAAC on FB
BFBC2
The acrylic looks like you worked it a lot while wet and maybe mixed your colours with black? Looking a little muddy is all. I need to do a painting on wood though, it's something I haven't tried yet. I want to do a painting on a wooden cube.
Soooo... I took a very diluted wash of blue to the whole thing, and then just started drybrushing the texture of the wood (you can see it most clearly in the clouds and downward arrows) which I then felt had enough 'personality' for the piece to start looking how I wanted.
As for the 'muddyness' - you're right, there's a lot of watered down black on there, and shading produced by drybrushed black rather than an actual mixed tone. Messy and poor habits, I know, but time was against me and at the very least I don't have to look at it again until I see it in Germany at which point I will likely be very drunk indeed.
New business cards, front and back:
And now I'm off to Hamburg, where the painted squeegee above will be exhibited, the Blackbird print will be shown as part of a print exhibition taking place in the BeatleMania museum, and I will be one of the artists selling my wares as part of the Flatstock event, in conjunction with the ReeperbahnFest.
I travel today!
Also... this will likely be the last post in my thread for a while. I realised I don't really get much feedback, and it's the same few people who comment on it - which I am thankful for! - but I have a niggling feeling that I am seen as just spamming my work, rather than posting to be critted and get better...
I like the community here, so I'll probably just stick around in the Chat threads. If anyone has an interest in my work and wants to keep in the loop re. new stuff, just subscribe to my Blog.
Cheers all. x
edit: little man must wave at whale!
;D
My Portfolio Site
"Oh, heres just some pure gold I had laying around, no biggie."
I fucking hate your talent.
I'm just jealous because I've been on a year long artist block.
Good stuff mang.
If I have learned one thing on this trip, it is that staying up drinking until 5am every night is not very good for your immune system. I sang songs and danced. I sold some of my stuff. I was almost kidnapped by a prostitute. I ate a lot of wursts.
Some photos will be going up on my blog at some point soon.
Thanks for the kind words regarding my work folks, if people do find some use in it, I'll perhaps update the thread every so often.
Jake: printing process is just digital with a matte varnish, done by a company I've used a few times and they always do a great job.
Nappuccino: Yeah, I was interested in seeing if people picked up two -- only a few people did.
Mustang: It took me 25 years to design.
Des'Bots: Your crits mean nothing to me!
Crawdad: The 'Blackbird' print is 25 Euros (including postage to Spain.)
does it hold a crease?
Tumblr Behance Carbonmade PAAC on FB
BFBC2
Here's a gigposter I will be screenprinting tomorrow:
I'll be taking photos and tweeting the live printing action as I go. More stuff on my Blog.
I'd be happy to get any crits on the design -- strangely, I really struggled with this one initially and then all of a sudden it just fell together. It's been a while since I've managed to keep things at just 2 colours also...
:whistle:
Is that tube thing supposed to be in the... genital area?
This was done in Photoshop... I do sometimes use Illustrator to Livetrace stuff I need to enlarge but this was all done at the correct size.
The tube thing is cleverly designed to be whatever the viewer wants it to be. :winky:
edit:
Well, I had this vague notion that the 'thing' I have depicted is a representation of the band making the journey over to the UK, so the eyes looking off the page is semi-intentional - at least in the sense that the entity is meant to be moving from right to left.
I'm aware that 'right to left' can often look odd, since we are used to reading things left to right and this affects our perceptions but I liked this idea of deliberately doing this (and sort of tying it in with the upside down flag).
Cheers for the comments!
Oh no... not again.
80 of the fuckers to sign and number now...
GET PAID TO DRAW PICTURES OF EX-COLLEAGUES AND COWORKERS!
I simply had to do this.
As mentioned, digital painting usually isn't my thing and there is lots wrong with this (perspective is a bit wonky in parts but I've tried to keep things very stylised, as is my... um, style... so hopefully that masks my many elementary errors).
This was printed as an A2 Giclee on fancy-pants textured paper and looks sweet! Client very pleased and it's been a fun project, especially as the deadline was tight and the whole thing required managing with a tight reign. All good fun though.
Comments and crits very welcome and will no doubt prove useful if I do anything like this in the future.
you love those arrows leading out of the design don't you
the reflection on the front of the building doesn't seem to tie with the rest of the piece
Well spotted! Actually, the poster where I last used the sign-post pointing off-page was sort of the inspiration for the approach, so the client saw the previous sign-post and asked for one.
In what sense? That reflection was one of the bits I really um'd and ah'd about... I ended up not having the time to play about with it and just had to go with it. :?