Thesis work in progress.

Just a couple weeks shy of the semester's halfway point, and I'm wrapping up the first two of four prints planned for this spring's thesis. So far I'm miraculously on schedule. You can see that schedule right here. I'm working on print #2, while putting the finishing touches on print #1.

I don't want to give away too much too early, so here are my original thumbnail sketches for prints #1 and #2, along with an early proof of print #1, which has since been heavily revised...very heavily. Which is one of the reasons it's not completely finished three weeks after it was supposed to have been.


Midterms is two weeks away, and at that point I will share some photos of finished work. For now, look at how scribbly my thumbnails are. Practically incomprehensible. Ridiculous!

Ozymandius.

Gadafi is going the way of Ozymandius, and everyone seems to know it except him.

Redacted Context.

As you can see, I have been on a bit of a laser-printer and newsprint binge lately, and it's only going to get worse. I have been busy and have a lot to share. This weekend I will unveil some printmaking that has been the real focus of my attentions this semester (that means thesis work---hurrah). But for now I'm going to offload these works on newsprint.

In addition to printing my own work on blank newsprint, I have been experimenting with printing over actual newspapers. For now I have just been printing flat shapes over random City Paper pages in order to learn how opaque toner is and how redaction can alter or enhance a story.

This piece is something of a happy byproduct of experimentation. The blackout has masked most of the textual and visual context, leaving the narrative open to interpretation. What is the story here?

As always, comments are greatly appreciated; what feelings does this appropriation evoke? Is your first instinct to look closer, or back away?

Crows. Everywhere, crows. STATE II

Trying out some different text. Next step: create a custom halftone using little black crows as the halftone dot. That's three layers deep. DUN DUN.

Also, this one has 'MURDER' in Helvetica regular, and the first state was Helvetica bold. Debating which is better. Leaning towards bold--the 'U' gets a little thin here.

Crows. Everywhere, crows.

I make this post with some trepidation. I've been working on an experimental side project whenever I run out of steam on my thesis work and need a change of direction. The work in progress below is typographic and is far outside my comfort zone. However, inexperience has not stopped me from mangling some letter-forms.

The experimental hypothesis has been: can a laser printer make prints bigger than the maximum printable area? The answer has been a definitive yes. By folding paper two and four times, I have been able to produce eight and sixteen sided prints from letter and tabloid sized laser printers. In numbers, that is a 34inch by 44inch print from an 11x17 printer.

Below is a 'full-sized sketch.' Some ideas just have to be seen at scale, but this piece is far from finished. Think of it as the 'first state' of a poster. It is 22 by 34 inch laser-print on newsprint. Very grungy materials for a very grungy design. For state two I will be spacing the 'MURDER' letters by hand to avoid the seams and maximize readability. I will also try a version with graphite-rubbing 'CAW's' from metal type. Laser-printers don't like flat areas, so the more texture I can bring into the print the better.

A misshapen bowl.

From my sketchbook, from my imagination, and from the end of a very long pencil with a slightly shaky hand.

A rocky wasteland.

Here is a detail of a drawing I am finishing up. I don't want to reveal the whole thing until it's finished, but this strip is about 6 inches high on the real drawing. Click the image to explore the drawing in detail.

Also, check out my new portfolio website, ianonpaper.com. Follow the portfolio link on the right -->

A rhino.

Playing around with texture and the deprecating effects of laser-printers, which seem to give a pretty good facsimile of plate tone from an etching. The lines of the rhino could easily be confused with an etched line, at least to the casual observer. I think I need to make a few more fake etchings and see how convincing I can get.

Don't freak out.

I'm just fiddling like I always do. Forever searching for the most user-friendly, navigable and good-looking format. It's what I do to procrastinate when I've already seen all the new content on the internet.

I found a rock in my sketchbook.

Hanging in the Gallery.

Me and my print hanging at the Washington Printmaker's Gallery.

 

Washington Printmaker's Gallery

Got my print into a real life gallery show. Will take a few pictures tomorrow at the opening. I love seeing good work framed.