Monday, September 10, 2007

Ride'm Ferret!


I've finished printing a butt load of christmas cards and some other cards and I'm realizing that I need to stamp at least my press name and contact on the back of them. I am going to break down and buy a cast rubber stamp for this rather than carve one of my own because that minutia is just rediculous. I've found a site that will accomodate a custom image and I've been agonizing as to what to do. I've decided that the Distinct Mink icon is just going to have to wait.
Not many people know what the deal is with Pistoles Press and in fact most nonprinters don't understand the title "Press" anyhow. My publishing press is called Pistoles Press in memory of my beloved ferret Pistol. When he was a bad boy, his name was Pistoles Frijoles.....yeah, gun beans. Well, pistoles is not even spanish for gun but for an antiquated system of coinage in Spain...but that's the beside the point. Whenever there was an upturned plant or ripped open bag of produce with little needle tooth bruises all over the apples, it wasn't Pistol's fault. It was the infamous Pistoles Frijoles! The thing that cracks me up the most is that he percieved that if he stayed stone still in the middle of the crime scene right after the act, he was invisible. As soon as I would yell "PISTOLES FRIJOLES!!!!!!" he'd spin rubber to get under the couch or bed. He was a real inspiration, however, as he would go after animals ten sometimes twenty times his size (he scared the shit out of my roommate for a while there) and would always be ready to play and get into something. Even though he was a runt, he was a true ferret's ferret and was always up for attack! His tenacity was a real inspiration and that's why I went back to an earlier image that had been floating around in my head. I had drawn a weasel with ink guns in a gun holster belt but it didn't have the dynamic energy I wanted. Anyone who's taken the time to painstakenly carve a nice block or set a page of type, then have to load it into the press and do all the make ready, counting the numerous proofs to make sure the registration and pressure is right and that the ink is the right color/consistancy, knows that feeling of finally cranking out the prints. That's the type of thrill I wanted to have in my logo. After wrangling everthing into place, the bucking bronco can't throw you once you're running that edition out! I decided to anthropomorphize the legs of the press into cow hooves and I think the tracks for the rollers mimic bull horns. Who else thinks the hat looks like a toilet seat? Any suggestions? Can you tell the weasel is happy?

Monday, September 3, 2007

Red Squid



So, I've completed a series of 80 prints featuring my squid in a red theme. I've completed the color printing in another set of grayish squid that I want to print silver spots on. I have to carve the block for that one and will probably print that one up on a transparent white base. Yay, squids!

Salsa the Octopus



So, here is the long awaited end to my friend the octopus which I started upon opening this blog. I went through a period of picking around the painting off and on for a while. It's been months since I last worked on it but last night I just felt the urge to pull it out and work a little and before I knew it, tah-dah! I think I finished it at about 1:00AM. I've already picked out a frame for it that is gold and intricate so that it will have a sort of museum quality feel. I'm stuck on the mat so far. I'm glad to see it done and it was a real treat to work on. The detail work was like piecing together an intricate jigsaw puzzle. I wanted the end effect to be that of an illuminated manuscript illustration or a story panel from the ottoman period; sparkling with rich detail. I don't know if the scan shows this well enough but I lined each sucker with a grass green mica ink I found at the local art store. Somehow, "Salsa the Octopus" sounds stupid for the gravity I want the work to hold but that's the only thing that pops into my mind at the moment. I'm open for suggestion!