40 days left on AppleCare and my 3-year-old iMac started doing some really crazy stuff. I took it in and they replaced almost everything: the screen, power supply, graphics card, and logic board. Within a week after having it back, the computer began exhibiting the same weirdness. I took it back to the Genius Bar and Greg told me there were only two major parts left to replace. Friday evening he called with the bad news: The replacement parts didn't fix the problem. The good news: I was getting a new iMac! SWEET! He also mentioned I could upgrade and pay the difference. So, I decided to go big and make it a workstation that would last me a good long time. I picked up the 27" quad-core iMac. The new wireless keyboard and mouse are amazing! This is the first Apple mouse I will actually use. Applestore Greg is my new hero. He migrated my old system over and set me up with a great computer. I didn't hesitate when he asked if I wanted to add AppleCare.
Caleb cranks on the Vandercook
My 8-year-old son Caleb and I are taking the Intro to Letterpress class at Igloo Letterpress. Going into it, I wasn't sure if he would be up for a 3-hour class, so mom packed his back pack with snacks, comic books, and his sketch book. By the time class was over, he was begging for more. We had a great time. Caleb printed valentines cards with a porcupine on them. Seemed a little random to the rest of us--made total sense to him. We're both excited to go back next week. We'll be learning how to set type and print with photopolymer plates made from our own artwork.
Next week I will try to remember to bring my real camera instead of using my iphone.
More to come...
Seagull cards and tags
The new Seagull hang tags and business cards are printed, cut and ready to roll--another great print job By Allison at Igloo Letterpress. Next for Seagull, some t-shirts and new sign. Stay tuned...
My first impressions
I finally finished my first lino-cut this weekend and decided to spend some time Sunday afternoon locking it up in the chase, inking up the press, and trying it out. Not too bad for my first attempt. I have alot to learn about how to get a consistant impression and better coverage. During the make-ready process, I made a print, and rotated the paper to try another impression so I wasn't wasting paper. What I ended up with with a cool overlapping image that I really love! You gotta love those "happy accidents" (thank you Bob Ross). I ended up printing the rest of them the same way. I only have black and white ink at this point. I think I might take another stab at this with some different colors overprinting. I think it would look really cool.
The metal bits in the third photo are called "quoins" pronouced like "coins." They are designed to lock the artwork into the metal frame or "chase." Two of them were given to me by my friend Allison Chapman at Igloo Letterpress and the third quoin and the key (which is really hard to find) was purchased on-line last week. Not only is the press a beatiful machine, I'm finding that the accessories are every bit as eye-catching.
Figure drawing Fridays are back!
Well, I guess I should restate that headline: "I'm back at Figure Drawing Fridays." They have been going on without me for a couple months. The end of 2009 was so crazy I had to take a two and a half month break. Getting back into drawing as a scheduled part of my week has awakened my senses and reminded me of why we started that group in the first place. My friend Patrick Crawford and I started the group in his old studio back in 2007 and it has gathered a following of devoted sketchers ever since. It has not only been a place to advance my skills with a pencil, it has become a time to connect with a group of good friends, a place of weekly meditation, and a break from the world of creating client-driven content. Drawing for myself helps me be a more creative person for my clients.
If you are interested in drawing with us, please drop me an email and I can send you the details. You can also visit my flickr page which documents the good, bad and ugly over the past three years. I've come a long way!
Chelsea is Superga!
I needed a model and I needed one fast. Fortunately, one phone call to my friend Chelsea Perkins was all I needed. Despite the sub-freezing temperatures she did a fantastic job. I plan to use her again in the future. Thanks Chelsea!
Superga is a classic Italian shoe company that is relatively new to the U.S. market. I recently had the opportunity to work on the branding for their U.S. distributer, thanks to the fine people at R.G Barry who brought me in to design this project.
Igloo prints Seagull
This afternoon I stopped by to watch Alison at Igloo Letterpress crank out the new hang tags and business cards for Seagull Bags. I love that place! I was joined by my friend David Yugovich from Ydesign. It was a good opportunity to show him the presses and geek out about paper and ink and how cool letterpress looks. I think we'll be printing his new cards there as well.
The red ink is printed and drying. Next comes the brown ink and then die cut. Everything will be delivered to Dan next week. I can hardly wait.
More to come...
Mikey Burton at CSCA tonight.
http://www.cscarts.org/
Old press, new feed table.
About 4 years ago, our old 40-foot black walnut tree in the back yard took one for the team. Being the highest point on our property, it sacrified itself by taking a massive lightning strike. A thin strip of bark peeled off all the way down one side of the tree and the leaves began dropping mid-summer. We knew that the tree our kids loved to swing from wasn't going to survive.
A few months later, when the tree guys came to cut it down, I asked them if the wood was worth keeping. He said for $50 he'd have it board-cut and bring it back. We didn't hear from them for over 2 years and I had kinda forgot about it. One night at dinner, completely unannounced, appeared the tree guy with a truck full of board cut black walnut. Thanks to a friend with a planer and a big heart, we took 2 full evenings last summer to plane it all down. Sad to say, this is the first piece I have used so far. I can't think of a better place to use it.
Our first linocut prints
I hope my mother will forgive me for my comments from the previous post. My 8-year-old son begged me to allow him to cut his own block. Even after explaining the likelihood that he'd jab his finger with a gouge, he insisted. So, I took some time to show him the proper way to cut, helped him with a few of the details and let him do the rest. Not only did he NOT cut himself, he managed to cut a pretty sweet piece of art!
I didn't have any ink yet so I called my friend Allison Chapman at Igloo Letterpress. She hooked us up with some rubber-based inks in black and white. I accidently left the black ink at her shop so we tried the press with the white. What fun! Caleb's prints look great. They will be even better when the new rollers arrive; I placed an order last week. Can't wait.