The Working Proof: Heisuke Kitazawa - Dance Party

Dance Party is an awesome print by Heisuke Kitazawa, an illustrator that I have long since admired, ever since spotting his wallet series for Poketo. Dance Party is about how we coexist with others. It expresses how Heisuke feels about communication:

Animals or humans it's all the same. It's all about sincerity - how we treat others and not about knowing the language or other communication methods.

This is a digital print on acid free, Neenah uncoated matte 100lb cover paper that is 80% recycled. It was digitally signed by the artist and was numbered by The Working Proof. 15% of each print sold will benefit Puppies Behind Bars. Read our interview with Heisuke here, and buy the print here.

Pattern Matters

Amazing papercraft/pieces by Pattern Matters.

The Working Proof: Jez Burrows - Sea Dream

I love the simplicity of this print edition by Jez Burrows - a series of maritime elements that make up a nautical dream. Sea Dream is a four-color Gocco screenprint on 140 lb Canaletto Liscia paper.  15% of each print sold will be donated to Médecins Sans Frontières.

Read our interview with Jez here, and buy the print here.

Alexey Luka

-- by Alexey Luka

The Working Proof: Harry Diaz - Same Sun

One of the best things about running The Working Proof is being introduced to new artists. When Harry Diaz sent us a link to his portfolio, I was super stoked. His artwork is influenced by Mayan textiles and hieroglyphs, and incorporates an amazing amount of texture, layer, and color. The edition he made for us evolved from his memories of the Day of the Dead celebrations in Guatemala (where he is originally from), which were happy and celebratory events, despite the fact that dealing with the passing of loved ones is always a tough ordeal. Same Sun is about the forces of nature, life and death, and the afterlife.

This is a four-color screenprint on 140 lb Muscletone cover paper from French Paper. Each print was signed and numbered by the artist. 15% of each print sold will be donated to Teach For America. Read our interview with Harry here, and buy the print here.

Mike Perry: Pulled - A Catalog of Screen Printing

Pulled is a new book put out by the PA Press, compiled and edited by artist Mike Perry. Through a broad range of work by a lot of young artists and designers, Perry explores the many styles of contemporary screen printing.

Sub-Studio got its start in screen printing, so it will always be something that we love, both as a product but also as a process. I did a lot of intaglio printing in college and we started screen printing because it was the only printing we could do out of our tiny apartment here in the city. The biggest adjustment for me was that in screen printing, the screen image is fixed and the final product is always a known outcome (except for monotypes). That distinction makes screen printing seem like more a form of production than an artistic process. But as you can see by the images, the variety of aesthetics - from the highly precise to the more sketchbook collage-y - screen printing can accommodate many styles of work.


The process, explained in only two pages!

Screen printing is one of the most pleasing low-fi printing methods - you can dry emulsion in a closet, burn screens in the bathroom, print on your regular desk, and lay prints out on the living room floor to dry (all of which we have done). Early on, we struggled greatly with our desire for high precision. But screen printing is printing by hand, not by computer, and the end product reflects this connection between the artist and the print. Perry speaks to this in his foreword and we echo his fondness for the DIY process - except for the highly-frustrating early days when we didn't know what we were doing.


Josh Cochran


Cody Hudson

The work selected in Pulled by Perry crosses a broad range of styles - from Josh Cochran's multi-sheet piece printed on found book pages to Cody Hudson's gold and silver and Aesthetic Apparatus' super-collage.


Aesthetic Apparatus

If you're interested in screen printing, Pulled is worth a look to see what is possible. It's not the best for learning the actual screen burning and printing process, but it is a great primer to see what's possible and to view some great work. It's got 43 different artists' work totaling a hefty 256 pages of graphic goodness.

DISCLOSURE: We were given a copy of Mike Perry's Pulled - A Catalog of Screen Printing for review purposes. We were not paid to review this product, and all thoughts and opinions are ours alone.

The Working Proof: Laszlito Kovacs - Vida Lenta

A light-hearted print by Laszlito Kovacs for your Tuesday afternoon, and good reminder in this fast-paced day and age: Vida Lenta, or "Slow Life". According to Laszlito, "It is a set of words for a way of living: slow, without stress, in a contemplative way." I need that reminder especially - with a three-month old baby, I'm trying to figure out how to balance work and life these days.

15% of each print sold will be donated to 826 National, a fantastic non-profit that encourages kids' interest in reading and writing. They also have an awesome set of themed shops, including the Superhero Supply Company in Brooklyn, which sells capes, masks, and grappling hooks, muscles, antimatter, secret identity kits, and suction cups. The website appears to be under construction, but you can check out all of the other shops supporting 826 National here. Read our interview with Laszlito here, and buy the print here.

The Working Proof: Santiago Uceda - The Visitor

This print, The Visitor, by Santiago Uceda started out as a gig poster for the band Finn Riggins. This simplified version is about travel and discovery in other worlds. The theme of travel and outer space has been of interest to Santiago ever since he did a poster last year for a science and arts festival, for which the theme was the cosmos.

15% of each print sold will be donated to Little Kids Rock. Read our interview with Santiago here, and buy the print here.

Scott Campbell - Rainbow Barrier

Beautiful print - Rainbow Barrier by Scott Campbell

The Working Proof: Blanca Gomez - Village

I am a longtime Blanca Gómez fan, so I am thrilled to share today's print edition, Village, with you. Village was created by Blanca as a simple and calm portrait of her ideal landscape. As with all of her artwork, the landscape features simple geometric shapes and bright colors.

15% of each print sold will be donated to Médecins Sans Frontières. Read our interview with Blanca here, and buy the print here.

The Working Proof: Karina Eibatova - Flower Families

Another pretty spring print - this one by Karina Eibatova, featuring Flower Families with subtle details and beautiful colors.

15% of each print sold will be donated to Restore NYC. Read our interview with Karina here, and buy the print here.

The Working Proof: bee things - Animal Medley

I'm so excited to launch this amazing print by bee things. Jeff and Shay are a husband and wife duo from Dallas, TX, who create beautiful, nature-inspired products. Animal Medley is a four-color screenprint featuring all kinds of exotic animals. The print is perfectly paired with the Jane Goodall Institute, because Jeff and Shay were delighted to hear about the Institute's philosophies and mission of inspiring and educating young people around the world to be stewards of our small planet and advocates for our fellow organisms.

Buy the print here, and read our interview with Jeff and Shay here.

The Working Proof: Mark Warren Jacques - The Things I Think Dangle From Me Like This

This new print by Mark Warren Jacques reminds me of Native American dream catchers, a symbol of protection that "caught any harm that might be in the air as a spider's web catches and holds whatever comes in contact with it" (Wikipedia). Rather than catching harmful things, The Things I Think Dangle From Me Like This captures and displays the positive elements of our selves - beliefs, knowledge, truth. As Mark describes the piece:

The Things I Think Dangle From Me Like This is a piece about self awareness and self exploration. The diamond shape with descending steps of blue into outer space represents the mind and its structured infinite nature. The dangling charms are our beliefs, our knowledge, and our truths, if you will. We wear these truths for all to see - they are our history, and in many ways, our self-worth.

Beautiful! 15% of each print sold will be donated to Farm Sanctuary. Buy the print here, and read our interview with Mark here.

12:31 Project

It's cool to see artists work with public data, but they are usually visualizations of non-visual data. Project 12:31 is interesting because uses a visual data set (The Visible Human) to make a new visual interpretation of the information. Croix Gagnon and Frank Schott used the visible human animations to create a series of lightpaintings that give 3d life back to the 2d data.



via Notcot