Invisibleman » print

Muggmaker poster generator

keegan — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 01:36:09 +0000

Here’s a sample image from my Muggmaker poster generator which I’m currently developing.
I’m randomly generating thousands of high-resolution Muggs, which are first passed through a Photoshop action to silhouette them against an alpha channel. Then an PHP script generates a high-resolution file of the Muggs composed in an overlapping crowd, according to the size of the print you want.
I plan on offering unique prints for sale that have your Mugg hidden in the crowd somewhere. No two prints will be alike!
I think I will also have to make some repeating patterns of a crowd like this to make some custom fabric at Spoonflower.

Early Griffin screenprints

stuart — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 09:50:52 +0000

A whopping big 50cm by 70cm two colour screenprint that will was printed by the folks at earlygriffin.com up in Edinburgh, Scotland. The inspiration for the print came from an old etching I found of a Frenchdude, called Margat, in 1798, who rode his white stag, Coco, around in a hot air balloon! Bizarrio. You can buy a copy (on the hush-hush cheap) from my Etsy Store for $55.

The Joyful Bewilderment screen prints for sale

stuart — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 07:23:26 +0000

The screen prints, especially made for the Joyful Bewilderment Show down at Rough Trade, London, are now for sale at my etsy shop. I’m so stoked how they came out; they look almost exactly as the original artwork (one of the few times in my life where I’m happy with the quality of the print!)- so big ups to Lovenskate Stu at Error Solutions for the amazing print job!
30cm x 40cm, high quality four colour, hand pulled screenprint on 300gsm Canford paper. A limited edition of 40 prints, signed and numbered.
Re: Joyful Bewilderment- It’s going to be the most rippingest exhibition, with some of the best illustrators and artists (a total of 120!) from around the world getting involved. Can’t wait to see it!!!

Paper vs. Photo Lithography

kerry — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Last fall I created experimental prints of my Manhattan Bridge drawing using both paper and photo lithography. The results are above. Both processes involve a fair balance of science and “magic” to create an image. I found paper lithograph, both print and process, to be much more successful and easier to comprehend. Photo lithography will require a lot more experimentation to get any sort of desirable outcome.

Pyroton Particle Theory

eric — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 08:40:33 +0000

This is a phosphorescent ink silk-screen print of a small self portrait I did. It is printed on nitrocellulose or “Flash” paper. It is 4.25 inches by 4.25 inches. “Flash” paper is usually used as a stage trick. It burns extremely brightly and almost instantly, without smoke or ash.

These are three states of the same piece; in the light, in the dark and post-ignition view. Click the image to see a larger version.

The title comes from a theory by a “scientist” named Larry Arnold. He believes that Spontaneous Human Combustion occurs because of subatomic particles in the body called Pyrotons. This theory has never been proven though.

Paper Litho

kerry — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0000

The above image is a paper lithograph. Paper lithographs are amazingly simple to execute but the results are tough to predict. Basically you gum up a xerox, ink it and then run the inked xerox through the press. The paper xerox is your plate! Optimistically you can get 3-5 prints per paper/plate. Each print is rather unique and thus paper lithos are something like monoprints. This image was created from a xerox of an old drawing of mine. Also I must disclose that my instructor inked up much of this print AND inking up the paper litho seems to be where the real magic happens. One needs to have a soft touch and a keen eye to what the ink is doing to the paper and to the toner (which is receiving the ink) on the paper. Again: amazing! I am very excited about this process and look forward to experimenting further.

Yee-Haw Industries at Prints Gone Wild!

keegan — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 00:28:46 +0000

On a hot tip from well-informed invisibleman Kurt, today I went up to check out the two-day Prints Gone Wild! show in Williamsburg. Every print was priced at $50 or less, and there was a great assortment of posters, prints, cards and t-shirts on display. I was immediately drawn to the amazing work of Knoxville, Tennesee’s own Yee-Haw Industries. I picked up the above poster celebrating Buford Pusser, the Tennesee lawman who was the inspiration for the 1973 film “Walking Tall” (just added to the top of my Netflix queue).
Check out the goods at http://www.yeehawindustries.com
Other cool print shops worth checking out are Pittsburgh’s Triangle Poster, Atlanta’s Methane Studios and the grandaddy of them all Nashville’s Hatch Show Print.

Shark Ad

Paul — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 21:25:30 +0000

As friends know I’m a bit of a shark enthusiast. The other evening I drew a variety of the shark-related objects I own – most of them of the rubber, squeaky-toy variety. That evening I dreamt of a decrepit old shark swimming about, covered in moss and plants (along the lines of a chia-pet). Anyway, I made a few color versions and ultimately created this image to use in this year’s Siren Music Festival guide.

Guest Post: Two-for-One Screen Prints

eric — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 15:15:37 +0000

Hi, my name is Eric and I’m invisible for a day. The kind folks at Invisible Man are letting me guest post so I’m doubling up for my big break.

The left image is a detail of a silk screen promotional poster for TOOL: An evening of novel performance technologies, which took place at Tonic in NYC on Saturday April 29th, 2006. I did this for a friend, Jamie Allen who teaches NIME: New Interfaces in Musical Expression at NYU and coordinates the show. He asked for a “sort of an american-inventor-folk-art-technology thing”. He got sound schematics and ear diagrams on craft paper… If you have any interest in experimental music and video, check it out.

And the right image is a detail of the save-the-date from my wedding. It is a screen print of the landscape of our wedding venue, The Hammond Museum, done with a Print Gocco printing kit.

Read on for the full images, info and tips.

Click above for the full image.

I get all my silk screen supplies from Standard Screen Supply. When I have an image too big to shoot myself, they’ll usually turn it around in a day. They’ll also cut specific squeegee sizes to the inch for $1.25 an inch. And, even if you’re going to shoot your own screens, they’ll print perfect large size transparencies. Last time I was there it was about $20 for approx. 15×24 transparency.

If you’re screen printing at home, and you can’t get enough water pressure to clear your screens. Get an adaptor (most hardware stores will cary them, but make sure you have the right kind) to connect a garden hose and spray nozzle to a regular faucet. That should do the trick.

If you have a larger screen and can’t fit it in your tub or sink, you can get a photo developing tray. It’s just a big plastic tray with a corner that allows for pouring. It can be awkward but they are way cheaper than installing a slop sink.

Always have plenty of paper cups, jars and popsicle sticks. You can use the cups to mix and pour your ink, the sticks to stir and help pour and the jars are to store your colors. Having a cup with a straight edge helps because you can easily wipe off excess ink from the sticks into the cup. Trying to mix in a jar with and then scrape off the ink on a threaded neck is next to impossible and if all your ink isn’t mixed properly you can get some “marble” effect in your printing.

For the printing itself, I just have a cheap wooden door that I got from Home Depot on two saw horses. Because it isn’t precious, I don’t worry if I have to move around my hinges to get a good angle for printing larger or smaller pieces. I just sand off old holes to keep from getting splinters. Another tip from personal experience.

Click above for the full image.

I would only use the Gocco for printing one or two color things that don’t really need to register. My wife and I, of course, printed four colors that had to be registered. NEVER again, registration by touch, actually feeling when the paper is aligned, is probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever tried to do.

Thanks for letting me guest post. Hopefully I’ll be able to do it again soon.

Silkscreen Session

Paul — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 21:53:57 +0000

Last weekend Invisiblemen Jon Keegan, James Antonson and myself gathered at the Brooklyn headquaters for some silkscreening. We created a couple designs based off of the logo and got to work preparing the screens and designs for printing. Here’s a link to a silkscreening process guide that Jon previously posted. We hope to be selling InvisibleMan t-shirts soon.
After toiling on t-shirts for hours we focused our attention on Brooklyn’s greatest bar which due to the looming basketball stadium is not long for this earth: Freddy’s Backroom.