2nd color - Consumption Bird

2nd color is a pearlescent whiteish/yellow. This picture is not the best representation , but it will do.





Here's a closeup to show the color better.





Mixing ink for the next 4 layers



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"Consumption bird" process

Finally got around to figuring out the colors to use for this art print I've had planned out for quite a while. Not sure of the final amount, probably at least 8-10 . Maybe more. I tend to treat art prints like paintings ,so I always end up adding more than I anticipate.

Started off with a charcoal drawing that I worked some watercolor inks into, sketching out the general colors. Originally was going to go for something really bright, but I've since changed my mind.



The paper is great, 22 x 30 inch stonehenge rising. The paper takes the ink really well, nice and tactile, soaks in nicely. I'm printing an edition of 100, with 5 artist proofs.



Here's the first color. Split fountain, ochre-ish color into a brighter hue.





Film on top of the first layer:



Drawing the next 2 layers:

High On Fire Poster

4 color screenprint, 18 x 24

Lost in the Crusade

New art print:





"Lost in the Crusade"
Its rough when you have 11 legs all going different directions.
18 x 24 inches, edition of 200 signed and numbered. 4 screens were used in this run, 3 of which are split fountains, 1 a silver/gold split that makes it glow in person. Hand Screenprinted at my studio, Ground-Up Chicago.
Priced at a steal- $30. Dig it.

Calling all Saviors Art Print

Screenprinted, 18 x 24. S/N ed of 100, $30.

Screenmprinted, 18 x 24. S/N ed of 100.

Pelican Tour Poster

Here's the final, 3 screens on Slate Blue Paper...

Besnard Lakes/ Handsome Furs Poster

Pelican Tour Rough

Here's a sketch for the Pelican tour poster I'm working on right now.

Os Mutantes Poster

Black Keys Tour Poster

18 x 24, 4 colors.

Black Keys June Tour Line art

Well, its been a while since I posted here on the blog, a situation which will be rectified beginning now... Very busy with tour poster designs and printing for the Black Keys, Low, and Pelican- as well as new art prints which will be obnoxious for the number of colors in them (How's 24 sound?)

Here is the newest poster I'm printing this week- A tour poster for the always excellent Black Keys. This is the original scratchboard and Ink drawing on clayboard, 18 x 24 inches. Wooden/feathered seamonsters with marching drums ALWAYS fit in for a summer tour. Right? Right?

CD Cover for Mirai-Tou!

We're Rollin', They're Hatin- Hex Remover Totems

Here's a pic I snagged from Melissa and James Buchanan's (Little Friends of Printmaking) flickr set of the show that opened friday. These are 2 drawings, mixed media on a field of Hex Removers...

Melvins Poster for Brussels show

Here's a 4 color poster (2 split fountains, one in metallic silver/gold) for the Melvins appearance tomorrow night at the Domino Festival in Brussels, Belgium. Thanks as always to Tim Moss and the Melvins for asking me to make the poster.

There is no American Buffalo

New Drawing from the cyt-o show with Jeff Tady.

Scavenger

This is a recent drawing ( I used the image in my recent poster for Low's show at Metro Chicago) called "Scavenger" from my "New World" series. The piece is 22 x 30 inches on heavy watercolor paper. I really have enjoyed working directly on paper rather than wood- total immediacy. I used ink, latex, acrylic, pencils and a tiny bit of spray paint on this. I'm looking forward to the rest of the works in this series this year.
The displaced wolf in the piece is filled with houses, boots, post-apocalyptic mud cities, and car wheels...

Conquistador

New 5 color screenprint 22x 30 inches on stonhenge paper. This turned out fantastic. It was a pleasure to print this!

Show at Cyto gallery

Tonight I am having a 2 person show with my dear friend and comrade Jeff Tady at cytogallery in Chicago's Pilsen nieghborhood.

Jeff is showing his amazing paintings from his "Everything and Nothing" series. They are some of the most meticulous incredible work I have seen in a long time. The fact that he is an old friend is the icing on the cake.

I'll be showing recent screenprints and a few new drawings from my New World series.

Hex Remover print

Here's the spring colorway version. 4 colors on steel blue paper. This turned out great, looks like colorforms!

Hex Removers: Scratchboard/Pen and Ink

This will be one of the images in my art print onslaught this week.

Vandermark Five Poster

3 Color screenprint, 18 x 24 for 2 dates at The Green Mill, Chicago

art print sneak peek

One of the new art prints I'm working on....Here's a peek at the scratchboard drawing in progress.

Sketch for Low Poster

Low Metro show

Here's a recently printed poster for the Metro promoting an upcoming show on Low's "Drums and Guns" tour. I was inspired by the subtle brutality of this new record quite a bit, it ties into some themes I've been sketching for the last few months. The wolf head is filled with drawings of houses, boots, silhoutted mud-like cities and carwheels. I'm working on new art prints and drawings mixing Native northamerican animal imagery with contemporary detritus, so this seemed like a good fit for Low.

Vandermark/Kayarogis "Foreground Music"

Artwork for cover of CD I drew the covers for an upcoming release on Okkadisk records featuring Ken Vandermark and Pandelis Karayorgis. Its a fantastic record, I was honored to be able to make the artwork for this release.

The Thing Tour Poster

Here's a screenprinted poster I made for my friends Mats Gustafsson, Paal Nilssen-Love and Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten, who play together as the insane free jazz ensemble , The Thing. They are on tour in the US in April.

Lineart and Poster for Meqqa

Heres the scratchboard and ink original, and the 4 color screenprint for a local band here in Chicago.

Sketch

New Sketch for a new print I'm working on. I'm going to post each step of the process from sketch to finished 10 color print.

Crusader

Scratchboard drawing for a new print. Gonna change that flag a bit, though

Sketch

Linocut/Screenprints in Progress

I counted today- I have 6 prints in various stages at the moment. 2 of them are going to be mixed media prints. Specifically, I'm trying a combination of relief and screenprinting. It's exciting to be doing linocuts after a long time away from it- but its taking me a little bit of getting used to it. I've gotten so used to the fine detail I can have with using scratchboard that I get a bit impatient and frustrated with the relief medium- which leads me to believe my next relief prints are going to be slightly larger in scale.
The plan with these "trial" prints is to run 2-3 colors of screenprinted layers, then 1-2 relief passes, with perhaps a follow up with one more screenprinted layer. I'll be printing the blocks on my Poco Proof Press, which I inherited last year through the good graces of my friend and impresario, John Corbett (of Corbett Vs. Dempsey Gallery). The registration doesn't have to be perfect, which should help the process. I know that last sentence will make some readers laugh, as my prints have a lot of built in registration insanity to begin with, but I honestly do plan it that way. Really!
The block and print sizes on these are approximately 12 x 19 inches. Here's a few photos of a sketch and 2 blocks in progress. I'll post follow up photos over the next few days.

The Conversation

"The Conversation" 7 color screenprint, edition of 75, 19 x25 inches. Purchase it here.

Under Construction Print

A little while ago I was asked to contribute a self-portrait screenprint for a show at Cyto gallery in Chicago. Scott O'Brien , the director, was interested in having artists who make a lot of posters give a stab at self-portraiture in the medium. The show opens on Friday and includes work from : Sasha Barr, Casey Burns, Mat Daly, Dan Grzeca, Matt Hart, Kathleen Judge, Gina Kelly, Ron Liberti, Dan MacAdam, Michael Nielson, Simona Prives, Lil Tuffy .

The title of my print is "Under Construction", it is 19 x 25 , edition of 95, 5 colors. I'm really happy with the way this turned out- there are some really nice subtleties in the metallic split fountain layer that make the image really pop nicely in person. Unfortunately my work doesn't photograph that well, so its best to come out and see it in person! The opening is this Friday, from 5-10 pm. Click on the gallery link for more info.

Some sketchbook pages

Arrival

Here's a new print for 2007: "Arrival" 8 color screenprint, 19 x 25 inches. The background is a split fountain of a sort of tangerine color fading into silver fading into blue. You can buy it here.