26 January 2009

Fantasy Creatures (old work)

black bear

fireowl

baby ratt

when we meet


Was looking through my chest of books today and remembered these gouache drawings - done in maybe 2006(?) - ink and gouache on notebook paper (great notebooks from Bob Slate, numbered pages!) I was never sure how I felt about these - but I couldn't stop doing them even though they took forever. I ended up using them for an edition in one of Anne Pelikan's classes that I TA'd for - the title of the 'book' was After Four Hours and Photocopies as I had spent four hours and many photocopies trying to make a xerox book to distribute to the class. With no luck or inspiration I ended up scanning the drawings, throwing them in a square in InDesign, printing them out, pasting them back to back and making some 'books' to hand out to the class the next day.

I'd like to do more work with gouache.

Love Notes You Can Eat




Found these at Rite Aid today - their candy selection pales in comparison to well-stocked Walgreens but I was impressed by some of their valentines' day selection - Love Notes You Can Eat - what more could you possibly ask for?

Dad - 1987






I found an envelope of photos my grandmother had lent me to scan months ago - here's a detail drawing of my dad from one of them - the photo is of my mom and dad and i (at like 1?? younger?) at some bbq at tower ridge. To be mentioned: I'm not a skilled drawer but I do it occasionally for fun, so there's your explanation.

I wanted to do something to it, but instead I fucked it up. Played around with stitching a border - I successfully sewed the bottom one, but it was boring. So I got out some colored thread and had a go, but the paper was too thin, the thread and needle too thick - my patience too thin. Anyways, I fucked this one up but I like the idea - I also like the idea of framing drawing inside of sketchbooks.

25 January 2009

Children In Heat (old work)








'06ish - Children In Heat
Xerox image transfers on bookboard (images from disposable cameras @ parties)
Misfits lyrics xerox transferred on Arches text wove accordion
Artists' own binding
Technically unfinished as I never made a box for it

NYC Paper Models







Black Ink in Harvard Square often has really great paper model kits for sale - I've seen a few awesome kits from Optical Toys (look at that killer website!!!); one of the best kits I ever purchased and put together was the Garden Box:





Sadly, my garden box (made sometime in '06 or '07) did not survive the eight moves in made in recent history, and my sample is gone for good. If I see it again, though, you can be sure I'll buy it, make it, and post it.

I can't figure out who produces the kit these miniatures are from, but the title card says 'make city' and it's the New York set - 'A Smidge of New York'. It comes with 5 cards that double as postcards - each card is printed with printed pieces ready to be cut out, folded and glued to make the 3-d miniatures of what the designer finds to be the most iconic of NYC - The Brooklyn Bridge, A double-decker Bus, A taxi-cab, The Empire State Building (with King Kong!!!), A deli cart (with attendant), A bagel with lox, onions and cream cheese (YES!), and a signature cup of to-go coffee. What you see pictured is what I've finished - great thing to do when there's nothing else to be done.

Not a very difficult kit but the front end of the taxi and the coffee part of the cup were both tricky.

Pattern Tape Book








A few images from a current project
After drawing a cassette tape template, the cassette is traced and then pattern and color are added
Planning on keeping this as an on-going project, would like to have at least 100 leafs before binding - book may be left unbound and kept in a box, undecided.
This project is an attempt to explore my interest in patterns, and to try and stretch my creativity for creating patterns and colorways.


Aubrey, brilliant stitchmaster behind Spool Spectrum is a total inspiration for this project - he is the master of many things, including patterns and mixtapes - often mixing them, resulting in great music with amazing labels. I will scan one and update this post, soon.

Single Needle Coptic








single needle coptic bound
index cards used for text block
handmade/colored paper accent on cover
first book bound as part of a library of sample bindings i'm currently working on
approx. 2.5" x 3"

More

LINKS: Eating A Hobo - Spool Spectrum - This Moi - Wasted Youth Sound System - Weekend Party Update - Besty Q. Bramble - Todo Mundo - Rogue Femme Art - Holy Craft! Fair
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This work by Rattfink Press/Ellen Arnstein is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License

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