Canis Mykiss

Well after a hell of a print session last week the dust settled and I was left with the Canis Mykiss.

I had number of struggles along the way which all stemmed from one large problem off the bat.... I changed presses.  In theory one press should be the same as the other, but also in theory it shouldn't. In this case the press that I had been proofing on before going to my final prints was much different and because of this it was a battle of adjusting inks, press blankets, pressure, and then ultimately realizing my folly.  Sadly, because of the nature of mezzotint and it's limited number of prints I was only able to get about half of what I had originally planned for this edition.  That said, this particular print is only the beginning of a large body of work that I'm starting to dip into, and it functions as a great point to learn and take the next print to the next level!

May 31st through June 6th

To project my image, it has to be dark. Summer evenings seem never to part with the light. Now that is normally a lovely thing, but when you are exhausted from your work day and thinking only of getting to bed, waiting for dusk to take its last bow tests even a glaciers patience.

The below shot is a detail of the work so far. My apologies for the awful quality, it is hard to get a meaningful image when the pencil lines are so faint.

I am so excited to have my first steps of the piece complete!

The Apothecary is Growing

Just as I have finished the plate for the Trouthound mezzotint (soon to be proper named according to it's genus), I have also finished the next addition to the apothecary.  I have yet to formally give this guy a name, but it will soon have one! In the mean time, have a look...

May 23rd through 30th

The March Of Maruice Del Taco

I was involved in a silkscreen workshop this past week and i thought it would cool to post a little something that came of it. It wasn't my first experience with silkscreen, but that said it was my first formal training with it.  I haven't done a lot of work with silkscreen and paper before and this gave me a chance to do just that.

Here is the original drawings on vellum. The 3 different layers are overlapped to see what the concept for the print is broken down as the necessary separated layers.  I drew this with black marker, ink and litho-crayon.  After the screens were exposed separately using the vellums.

Below is the final print... The March Of Maruice Del Taco!

May 17th through 23rd

I pulled an old acrylic painting that I made in 2nd year art school off of its stretcher to use for my next painting, only to find that the stretcher was warped. A frustrating discovery. Especially on the heels of the You-Lost-Your-Staple-Gun-Again purchase.

I bumbled around my house looking for something to draw. I opened cupboards and drawers, watching for a little still life to appear, something with character. This time I elected to sketch something that is not normally appealing to me. Products that have modern packaging are not romantic enough to light up on my radar. There is not enough history with them, no real connection to my past - well not yet.