Litho update

So here is the update on my lithography process i have taken a few picture of the drawing along the way.

Here is the starting of my drawing on the stone.   Learning that drawing with grease crayons is alot harder then i though. Luckly you can erase with a razor blade or x-acto knife. Gum arabic (in small dipping bowl) can be used to make sure areas you cover remain white when printing. 

Here is the drawing now to add a little contrast.

Ready for the the layer of acid then printing. 

And here we are done and printed... still would like to water color a few for better results.

Lithography sketch

Next assignment in my printmaking class is to make a lithography. For those who dont know the process its a heavy load, literally. "With a slate stone (the material you draw on and transfer your drawing to paper from) weighing in close to 50lbs you can quit your gym membership." Instructors words. Thought they were funny and kind of go along with the mindset of the way this process is done. Im hoping to actually try and document this process because its an art unlike a lot of others which actually involves a lot of chemistry. With acids that etch your grease pencils to the simple reaction your grease responds to water to keep the stone in a working condition. Thats not the scary part though. Lithography is so by the book that if you do one step wrong you will have to repeat the process back from the beginning and most of the time you wont know if you have done anything wrong until the end. Well enough about the stress of the project and more about the good parts. The assignment is kind of a free for all under one condition. You must draw one of the objects in your piece from direct observation. My love and collection of toy robots fueled this drawing and it should come out to be a fun piece. Here is my sketch. 

Lithography incorporates an endless possibility of marks one can make from smudging to scratching out to simple line work and or the masking of areas with gum arabic. I wanted to experiment with my mark and just have fun but show a little tension within the piece. 

The Dream

Here is one I forgot to post that went with the nostalgia topic. It is done by a unique method of screen printing where you paint water color on the screen and then transfer it over. Not my favorite technique do to the ghosty effect and the risk factor of certain parts not printing as vibrant when transferring.

"The dream"

Toy Design

So for the next production piece we are suppose to design a rotocast toy. I have taken the challenge of making mine figurative with moving pieces. Here is The preliminary sketch before it gets thrown into Illustrator.

If you know the similarities prepare for a series. (Hint: CSULB Professor)

Update

Slightly neglecting my blog with the overwhelming joy of sleep from the past two weeks so today I will over load you with the finals of the two pieces I left you all on last. 

First of my nostalgia piece. 

"Longing" Screen print.

Still feel it may need a bit of work but its turned in and done. Found out yesterday this was accepted into the Nostalgia Gallery. Hello publicity. 

Now for my comic book pin up.

"Alas Poor Yorick" Digital

Just like "Longing" this is another piece i feel could use some love still, but that of course would be attempted after the semester is over. 

Nostalgia

Here is my sketch for my next print. In my survey class we are diving into screen printing and our prompt/Topic was nostalgia. As a child I loved going camping with my family, although we did it very seldom. The act of living out in the woods thrilled me and the idea that out in the middle of the forest or no where you got to see the night sky more clearly was always something refreshing as well. The fox imagery stands for something a little deeper. Foxes by nature are born into a family but when they reach adolescence they leave and live on their own. One of the ideas of nostalgia is the longing for something you don't have and I thought that this woodland creature would seek company in the moon. Its a little basic conceptually but this is my first time playing with screen print and its not your traditional screen print as well. We will be using drawing fluid for this one instead of your typical emulsion. 

 

Hopefully I will post the next step to show the slow process of building these flat colors up. 

Pin up poster

So the next epic adventure in Production consists of a comic book poster/pinup design. I chose to do mine based of the famous quote from Hamlet, "Alas poor Yorick". Its a stretch from the quote but none the less inspiration for the piece. Still a work in progress but I thought id show some progress none the less.