Tag: challenge

Hey, that’s it. It’s all over. (See Part I, Part II, and Part III and Part IV.) There were 31 days in January and I made 46 pieces of art in that time. I am pleased. I don’t love everything I’ve made, but as a creative I never have. I don’t think there’s anything I’ve taken on where I absolutely love every piece and think it’s my greatest work. Be it songs, photos, videos, writing, whatever… Which brings up a good point. Does making a lot of work prevent you from making fewer pieces of really amazing work? Well, that’s a question best left to art pundits, of which I am not.

But maybe it’s that desire to continually make things you love that drives us. I feel like there is nothing I have mastered, and so we go on. We try again, we try new things, we do not give up and call it a day. We keep going.

A decade ago I had this idea (dream?) of teaching art at the university level. I even did it for about a year and a half. It was a lot of fun, but it also wasn’t my full time job, which might be why it was a lot of fun. Anyway, I did not pursue it, and in time I became totally okay with that. In fact, it’s probably for the best.

For me, making art is a hobby, and fun thing to do, something where I am in control of what I do and not beholden to clients or bosses or institutions that sign my paycheck. It’s for me. That said, I do love when I can make art for people, or art that people feel a connection to.

I’ve seen a number of academics I know who teach art get all into AI and NFTs and other stuff I hate that I consider shit. For some of them, I think they have no choice. The institutions that employ them may expect or require them to learn and teach such things. Or they may feel pressure to stay relevant in a changing world. Students may also be expecting to learn about AI art. As an independent artist I can just say that I don’t give a fuck and no one can tell me what to do. It’s sort of freeing…

Whew, okay… got off the rails a little on that last bit. Anyway, remember when I was doing all that electronic music stuff about two years ago? I enjoyed it quite a bit, but two things that sort of bothered me was that it was time-based media (which of course takes a fixed amount of time to consume) and that in the end it was all still zeros and ones in the form of digital audio (and video) files. Making real-world tangible objects with handmade paper, ink that I applied (sometimes mixed) and just this… physical thing. Well, as a maker, that hits differently that some digital ding dong doodle.

A friend of mine said they really enjoyed seeing the posts of my work each day. There’s something there… I told them that we live in an amazing time where we can share art so freely with the world. Sure, much of the Internet today is a cesspool of complete garbage, but being able to see art by people around the world every day is amazing. You don’t have to go to a gallery (though you still should!) and you don’t have to only look at the work of the masters. You might find some random person in the UK who makes art and you just love seeing their stuff each week. (And if you do, consider supporting them!)

The next question. Are these for sale? Yes. But it’s complicated.

I didn’t post these prints along with “For Sale!” or “Visit my shop!” or put prices on things. My goal in creating these was not to sell them, but to challenge myself to be creative and make art for an entire month. I did that, and I enjoyed it. It did not become a slog, I did not burn out or get sick of it, though when the end came I had some mixed emotions. First, I was like “Whew! Almost done!” and I was relieved. Then I was like “Well, what am I going to do tomorrow? Wake up and not make prints?” And the answer is yes, for now. I need to take a break to get caught up on other projects. (Then I will probably go back to printing!)

Where was I? Oh, selling them! Typically someone I know online (either on Facebook, Instagram, or Mastodon) would see a print and as if it was available. I would let them know that they could have it and either come pick it up or cover the cost of shipping, and then pay whatever they could for the art. The most someone paid was $50 USD and the least was zero. Most were in the middle, around $25 or $30. (I am not upset at all about the zero dollar ones. Two pieces went to friends of mine, and they both had really weird shit happen to them the week the prints arrived, so whatever. I’m all good, and I am glad they are all good now.)

Almost every print (though not all) were sold to people I knew. It makes me feel really good to know a friend liked the art I created and was willing to accept it into their lives and maybe even pay me for my time. As for the materials costs, the money covered the cost of ink and filament. Since I make my own recycled paper that cost was close to zero. I bought a few more brayers and X-ACTO blades, but those are fairly cheap. Again, I am extremely privileged to be able to do something like this and not have to rely on the income from selling art to survive. I appreciate the work that independent artists put into their work, and I definitely get why art can cost what it does.

So what’s next? Well, I am contemplating whether I should keep this going. Not at this pace, mind you, but the whole “prints for sale, pay what you want” thing. I have way more ideas and things I want to try out, and it’s fairly easy for me to post art and see if anyone is interested in it.

But wait, what about Gallery 69! Indeed! I do have a gallery I need to keep full of art. I am 100% sure some of the seconds and test prints will go into the gallery. I’ve been waiting until January is done, but I’ll probably drop some of these prints into the gallery in the next few weeks. So hooray to more free art for the people!

Maybe combining the two things makes sense. A print goes in the gallery, and anyone local can come and grab it! If you miss out, or are not local, you can contact me about sending you a copy of it. I don’t know, I’m still figuring this out, but if you have ideas, let me know!

And finally… one more thing. You can see all the January 2024 Prints in the RasterWeb! (online) Gallery.

See Also: Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV.

This post is the fourth covering the prints I’ve made in January 2024. (See Part I, Part II, and Part III.) The idea was to create 30 prints in 30 days. (I know, January has 31 days.) I based this on Var Gallery‘s 30x30x30 Exhibition which I applied to, but alas, I was not accepted. No matter. I’ve made well over 30 prints in fewer than 30 days. Zing!

I am writing this on January 27th and right now I’ve got 41 prints done, and another four plates ready to go, so I’m going to guess the final total will be 45 prints. If you had asked me if I could create 45 prints in less than 30 days I don’t know that I would have said yes, but somehow I did it.

While I certainly made a lot of art, is it any good? Well, there are pieces I definitely really like, and at least a few people liked some pieces enough to offer me money for them, so that’s nice… But from a challenge standpoint, I would say I definitely enjoyed the challenge, and I can see a path forward with new art I want to create.

This month has been about creating a process that works for me. The process is one where I can work fairly quickly, but I’m also interested in slowing down. There is one design I worked on about a week ago and I haven’t finished it yet. Most of the designs were done in little time, sometimes it took less than 30 minutes to design something, produce the files, and then hit “Print” on the 3D printer so I would have a plate ready for later.

The “working really fast” method is great for kicking out ideas, but that refinement and iteration of ideas can get lost in the speed of moving fast. I think there were only a few designs where I made a second plate because something wasn’t quite right with the first one. Two were size issues and one or two were redesign issues.

I think what I’ve seen after creating all this art is that some ideas and methods and styles have emerged, and the next step is to push those further. I consider these all experiments to figure things out, and things did get figured out.

I think there’s a good variety of different pieces included in this post, and some of them are favorites of mine, and some mean something to me personally, and others are just “meh” because I don’t think I quite nailed it. It’s weird though, because I’ve somehow melded graphic design (with iteration) into a printmaking practice, which I don’t think people who do woodcut or linocut really deal with.

Alright, thanks for once again reading my rambles around art. I guess there will be one more post in this series since I’ve got a few more prints to do before the 31st rolls around. Stay Tuned!

See Also: Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part V.

Have you already see January Prints in Progress Part I? This is Part II of the journey to create 30 pieces of art in 30 days in January 2024. Part I covered the basics of the project, so in Part II I’ll show the latest prints and talk about all sorts of random things.

I have been really enjoying this process. Each day I come up with one or more ideas, and either design something digitally or print out an image and do a bit of tracing and drawing and then digitize that and make a plate. The plates are all 3D printed for this project, which has also been a challenge (sometimes fun, sometimes frustrating) but overall I have a process that works for me.

These sorts of creative challenges where you need to create something every day can be rough. I remember discussing a photo challenge with someone where they took one photo every single day and they said there were a number of times it would be 11pm at night, they’d be exhausted, but still had to find the energy to be creative and come up with an idea and get a decent shot…

If you get sick or have unexpected things happen (you know, like a power outage, flat time, having to get an MRI) it can be difficult to prioritize being creative when you are just trying to survive! (Luckily this month has been pretty smooth so far… Fingers crossed!)

Even though this month has been pretty smooth, it still takes alot of time. For me I’ve found that if I can get in 30 to 45 minutes in the morning before going to work that helps move things along pretty well. January has been a slow month for sales and I’ve just sort of pushed off a few other projects I have been working on. They are still getting done, just a little bit slower…

Speaking of slower, while I do like the challenge of creating something new every single day, I sort of look forward to this project ending so I can slow down. Most of these prints are a single iteration of an idea. To me design has always been about iteration and continually trying to improve things, so there are a few prints that I think are (nearly) perfect, and some that could definitely benefited from a bit more time and versions.

Ideas can be like that though… sometimes you get an idea and BAM! That’s it! You nail it on the first attempt… Or so you think. Maybe doing a number of versions, playing around with it, pushing it, pulling it, and trying variations is something worth doing. Once this months is over I may take that approach.

Speaking of approaches, these are relief prints and not linocuts or woodcuts because I don’t actually cut anything. Carving plates is a subtractive process while 3D printing the plates is an additive process. I am not the first person to do this, but I think I’m definitely a person who has now done a lot of this. As I mentioned in the previous post these 3D printed plates have some pros and some cons, and I’ll probably follow up on that topic in another post.

I also had to make more paper because of all these prints. Luckily I’ve sort of got that process down and can make about 16 to 20 sheets in about an hour or so and they are dry and ready to use in about a day and a half or so. Sometimes I really like the paper I make and other times I think I should just use pre-made quality paper made for printmaking. I’ll probably continue to make paper in the future (perhaps experimenting more and trying to create higher quality paper).

I hope you’ve enjoyed this update. We’ve still got another 10 days to go, so expect more prints to come. If you are interested in acquiring one of these prints for your collection let me know. We’re still running a “pay what you want” model in the interest of getting more art out to more people… people like you!

See Also: Part I, Part III, Part IV, and Part V.

Back in November 2023 a friend of mine said “Hey! I’m going to apply to the Var Gallery 30x30x30 Exhibition, do you want to apply?” and I said “Sure!” and I did, and then I started to prepare for it over the next few weeks, and then I did not get in! No matter. I’m not new to creative challenges so I decided I would still make 30 pieces of art in 30 days so that’s what I am doing. I should mention that there were over 220 applications for the show and (obviously) only 30 are selected. While my friend did get in (Yay Maks!) one other artists I know did not get in, and another said they didn’t apply because of the application fee. (Which sucks, and I will totally cover their application fee next year if they want to apply.)

So here’s my progress so far. The first 10 prints of the month, with another 20 (or more?) to do. I stuck with the small works format of 6″ x 6″ except mine are 152.4mm x 152.4mm because I’m like that.

Each print gets framed in a 3D printed frame that I designed and printed. I used OpenSCAD to create a parametric design so I could create frames of any size. (Here’s a mention of the frame and another.)

Each of these prints was done with a 3D printed plate. I design things in Inkscape (or draw on paper and scan it in) and then extrude the design and add a backing plate in OpenSCAD. (Yeah, I need to write up a post with that whole process.) Basically I am using 3D printing to create plates for printing 2D art and then framing it in a 3D print. Okay!

Some of the prints are really simple, and some are a bit more complex. The method of using 3D printed plates sort of forces some style choices, and producing work fast also adds constraints to things, but that’s sort of the idea right? A new piece of art each day isn’t easy, but it can definitely be fun. (Especially for someone who likes to make something, move on, and then make a new thing.)

Oh, and all that paper I made last month? I’m putting it to good use. Each print features the handmade recycled paper I made. Each piece of paper is unique and each print is unique. Of course along the way I also created a 3D Printed Mould and Deckle so I could make the paper because of course I did. DIY? Duh.

I’ve been doing a lot of rainbow rolls where two or more colors are used, and I’ve been mixing inks for a few of them. I ordered some white ink but it may not arrive until February so I really should try to get some locally because I still have a few ideas that would need it. I’ve also explored texture and color and share more than I typically do when creating art, which is a fun new thing for me.

I’ve been sharing the photos of the prints online (typically on Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Pixelfed, and even… LinkedIn!?) I love sharing the things I make with the world, and I always hope others enjoy them as well. In fact, people have actually wanted some of these prints. People wanting the art I made is a strange and new experience for me. I am fortunate enough to work two jobs which allow me to survive and making prints is basically a hobby/thing I love doing. In most cases it’s been people I know who want a particular print, and I’ve found a way to accommodate their requests. (Also, how fucking awesome is it to know my art will go to friends of mine? It’s really awesome.)

If someone wants a print I ask that they cover the cost of shipping and then I ask them to use the “pay what you want” model where they get to choose the price. Selling art is weird to me. I mean, I know artists have to survive, and selling their work is one way to do that, but for me and this adventure I just need to cover the costs of the shipping and materials, and if I make any more than that then I get paid something for my time. Again, with printmaking as a hobby I’m happy that people want these and are willing to pay for them.

I have no delusions of quitting my two jobs and becoming a full-time artist because I know the amount of work needed to do so. And the work is not just “make art” but all the work around that, which is marketing and promoting your work, constantly showing your work, always creating new work, making art people want to pay for, etc. Right now I am more than happy making a print, taking a photo, sharing it online, and whatever happens happens… even if nothing happens. Worse case I have a bunch of art in my studio (er, “basement”) and eventually I give it away or throw it away.

For me the largest value of this whole process is… the process. I’ve learned a ton of new things. I’ve developed new processes for making art, I’ve learned new techniques, experimented with styles, wrote parametric code to create frames, learned how to frame things inexpensively, and as always seems to be the case when creating things, I’ve learned about myself and the things I create. I shared with my artist friend that writing about the work (even if it’s just a few lines) makes me think about the work, and often have revelations about it, or form connections to it, and see how things connect to my life, and my experiences. And that is amazing.

So yes, stay tuned… we’ve still got 2/3rds of the month go to and we’ve got more art to create!

See Also: Part II, Part III, Part IV, and Part V.