Boy and Bear

I've been super busy recently but I've had some spear time for some quick concept work.

Water

Keeping with the flow of my blog I've posted some process pictures of this weeks Illustration Fridays entry. I thought I'd give you a glimps into my geeky work space. Actually thats my old workspace in the house  used to live in but the new one is pretty much the same, with the exception of the tobacco as I've quit! (Don't ever start kids, it's not cool and you smell!) I'm sure I'll post my new workspace soon It's full of loads more geeky toys and illustration stuff. Don't eat the pips. 

Screen Printed Bear, now on sale.

'I think of you often' is now on my ETSY store. To view the listing and details go to http://www.etsy.com/shop/lenallwood or click the shop link on the right. 

Don't eat the pips. This first run of prints is limited to 5, you will receive a signed certificate with your print.

Don't eat the pips. 

Golden, Sparkling, Vinyl Screen Printed Bear of Dreams.

So Iv'e just finished screen printing this. I’m posting the progress of the screen printing technique I used. I usually screen print with the traditional method, exposing screens etc, but this time I used a vinyl cutter to make a stencil instead of exposing the image onto the screen. The reason I did this was mainly to test the level of detail I could achieve with the vinyl cutter, and if I simply could screen print that way.

I’m really pleased with the end result; I think the paper and the bear complement each other completely. 

I wanted to give the character a delicate look due to the material I was using, so I hope this comes across and please let me know what you think. 

First I sketched the image and scanned it in at 600dpi gray scale. I find this is better for pencil sketches. It didn't really matter for this but I thought I would mention it. 

Next  I drew it up using the pen tool in adobe illustrator. I had to do this because the vinyl cutter recognise paths made in illustrator. 

The vinyl cutter then cuts out the image. 

Parts of this image where extremely intricate such as the fur of the bear. Naturally these parts I had to take care with when cutting out so as not to tear the vinyl. 

I used a knife to remove the unwanted vinyl, leaving a negative of the line work that I would pull the ink through. 

To remove the whole vinyl sticker in one go I used a sheet of masking tape. I stuck this lightly onto the front of the vinyl. 

I then stuck the vinyl onto the front of the screen before removing the masking tape. Which gave me the stencil. 

Finally was the taping up of the screen and pulling the ink through. The fabric paper is extremely thin the the metallic paint would seep through to the bed. Which meant wiping it off before the next print. 

If you have any questions about the print of the process, drop me an email or leave a comment. 

DON'T EAT THE PIPS. 

The Caramel Cat With the Golden Eyes.

The young bear Prince summons the power of the Caramel Cat With the Golden Eyes. This piece is inspired by a conversation I had at the globe gallery. The bear is actually one of the characters form the comic I'm working on.

Don't eat the pips.