One of Antiquated Press’s studio treasures. Jabba is ever present and invaluable. A couple years ago his Bakelite center spool succumbed to years of demanding use and hairline fractures grew until it fell apart one fateful afternoon. Luckily Lil Joe is a pro with his calipers and solidoodle 3d printer. He replicated the spool in durable ABS plastic and Jabba made his triumphant return.
Jabba was rescued from the back corner of a thrift store shelf - his vintage faded name-tag sticker already in place. Always stocked with no residue drafting masking tape and weighing in at 1/1000 ton Jabba is forever a soldier and friend to the AP studio.
I apologize for being less than informative lately. I have gotten some email inquiries about what is going on with release four so I figured I would write up a post. September has been tough, I hoped to have had Clockworks done and posted by now- unfortunately it is not the case.
It looks like it will not be up until early October.
Also, due to some poor choices when it comes to the AP and clockworks shirts. They are not going to happen. All orders for the shirts have been refunded. If you ordered a shirt and did NOT get a refund/email of deepest apologies. Please email and I will get it sorted (info@antiquatedpress.com)
I don’t know if we will end up even making AP shirts right now. Me and shirts are a complicated thing and as of right now I kinda hate t-shirts. but as usual that is subject to change. Cool thing about doing all this without a production co. is I get to do whatever the hell I want. Bad thing is I get to do whatever the hell I want.
In other news it snowed this morning - which combined with the late May snowfall means that our non-snowy months were a paltry four. Four is not a lot of months without snow.
Some pretty neat stuff in the works - not really one to do the whole “I can’t talk about it” thing, it’s not really that cool. Just collaborations and an intensely involved process video.
Since the release is so damn delayed, here are some photos of some of the R4 plates
Release three went really well. It has been so busy since the 16th with packing and shipping orders. If you ordered before Wednesday the 21st - your order was shipped on the 22nd-23rd. And orders since the 21st will go out by the 28th.
I ordered these awesome Print Shop Primers from Work Press and Publication. They are totally sold out now but I wanted to include a copy in the first 20 orders from release three. Unfortunately due to an unfortunate collapse in the United States postal service, I still have not gotten them in.
I guess it will have to wait for release four.
Um, so as of today the launch and space variants are totally sold out. I have a couple artist proofs if there is someone who really wants one and missed out. Email the shop directly - the opportunity to get a set of the variants is gone.
It is really quite a bit doing this whole “series” “release” “printmaking” “stuff” This summer is just a blur of ink, paper, whiskey and tubes… so many tubes.
This is a pretty short post. Just saying HI and then getting back to work on release four.
Detail images of the Roccketships etching for release three of Antiquated Press Clockworks series. 3 4X6" plates printed individually and as a triptych on 12X21" Arches
It has been a week since I posted release one. Pretty exciting busy week. And here in 5 days release two will go up. Worked on final touches over the long weekend, editions are in the dryer and ready to post. yeehaw.
A bunch of stuff has been rolling around in my head, combined with correspondence with some customers and fellow print artist pals. I wanted to make an effort to kinda highlight some thoughts and info and such to the one or two of you out there who might be interested.
The work: I am a big fan of contemporary art, print, culture etc. I buy and collect prints. I work with other artists and companies on fun projects regularly. I hesitate to say most, but quite a bit of the work being put out right now is pop-culture based or derivative in nature. I do not want to dismiss pop culture work, far from it. My Dinosaur Batman series are probably the most well received illustrations i have ever done. But, at the end of the day, I feel there is something very special about completely original work. It is common for folks to ask me “what movie is this from” or “I don’t get it” when they see my original work. We are so used to trying to look for the reference or the mash-up that we expect it in everything. With my prints, my clockwork series, there is no inside joke. No movie or cultural trend that you need to come prepared for in order to get them. They are simply illustrations of robots. Little insights into the human condition through simple automotons. A child looking at them is as well equipped to appreciate them as the most tuned in cultural hero from the internet.
The Why: There are many reasons to do this sort of thing I am sure. Money, fame and power not being amongst them. I have done projects for big and small companies that serve a purpose. marketing campaigns, fundraisers etc. One has goals and a target audience and deadlines.. serious business. In those situations I am a cog in the machine of making a print or shirt or book.. whatever. It is not my dreams or vision, i am just part of it all.
This is different. This is my personal work. It begins and ends with me. I always create, always have - it is hardwired in me. Most of the time for no reason but to do it. Which is kinda the best reason. When I have attempted to put out my personal work in the past it has often been frustrating. Partially because I am obsessive/ compulsive about little things that do not matter (read:nightmare to work with). This led me down the path of building AP into something different. Hand pulling prints is pure joy. I am able to be as crazy as I want. Which is really refreshing. And I get to share my work, my vision, with the world exactly how i want to. no dilution or compromise.
Which brings me to another point. Fine art is some serious business. It is comprised of very fancy people doing very fancy things. I am not fancy or sophisticated. I do not have a MFA, I do not have years of exhibition and gallery experience. You’ll notice that all through my website I refer to myself at a print maker not a Printmaker. No capital “P"s in my title. There are brilliant folks who spend decades to become master Printmakers. I am more of a ronin printmaker… no sensei, no dojo. I am doing this just to do it. Gallery shows take a ton of time and are nerve-wracking. I am not interested in doing freelance commissions. I doubt anyone has read this far, so I will just wrap it up - San Dimas High School Football rules!
Check out this cool little Antiquated Press Print: a 6X9 plate on 10X13 arches paper. Limited edition that we are only using for promotion and giveaways and such.
The first 20 orders for clockworks will get one of these added. It can be hung on the wall or used as a pot holder for not very hot pans. all sorts of useful.
Pretty excited to get the nuts and bolts of the new website shop all dialed in. And it is good to have these prints out there. These prints are quite special to me and i regard them like little messages in bottles to be sent out all over the world.
This is “release one” - look forward to posting release two here in a couple weeks (or so)
A quick note about the titles: “shark”, “wolf”, “lantern”, “Fireflies”.. are by no means complicated or high minded titles. I like the simple titles, they were given to the plates naturally while i worked them and they reinforce the fact that although these prints are fine intaglio etchings - they are also low brow robot illustrations with a golden heart. We’re not a sophisticated lot here at Antiquated Press.
When making intaglio prints - one has to soak the paper in water so it is soft, pliable and able to endure the pressure of the press and conform properly to the plate. It takes a couple days prep to get the paper “put down” just right. After pulling the prints they dry in a couple days but they are all wonky and wrinkled and need to be flattened.
There are a number of ways to flatten prints - At AP we built a drying system patterned after Crown Point Press’s drying system (check it out here)
Our drying table is smaller - and since space is a premium in the studio - it uses our versatile super table (I will one day give a full run down of all the super tables excellent features and facets, this post is just about drying)
So - if you know about Crown Point’s table you’ll notice very minor differences. Instead of plywood, we used MDF - since our drying system is built in a 2'X4’ area we are able to use standard sized blotters and most of the corrugated cardboard we got from hot tub boxes (a great source for large unmarred cardboard)
in these photos I only have 5 layers: the way they are stacked goes - Cardboard, Blotter, newsprint, prints, newsprint, blotter, cardboard - then the cycle repeats. It can hold 30 layers easily with 2 prints per layer that works out to 60 prints. The system dries and flattens the prints in about 4 hours.
here are some prints that have been re-wetted with a spray bottle. At this point the ink is dry, the prints are just wavy and well… not flat.
The damp prints emboss quite nicely with the AP chop - so we stamp them just before loading into the drying system.
It is vital that the corrugated channels are all pointing the same way. Allowing the airflow to pass through the cardboard channels.
once you have the layers all stacked properly and placed the MDF top board on. it takes two people to strap in the clamping cross-boards. Simple 2X4s and all-thread.
the allthread only needs to be tightened finger tight as you don’t want too much pressure (that might kill your plate mark)
here the air bag (an expertly sewn canvas drop cloth) is fastened over one side of the stack (the side with the corrugated channels) and a small squirrel cage fan is used to inflate the bag. It is important not to try and drive too much air through the stack - just creating a positive and consistent air pressure across the whole stack works best.
when the fan is turned on - poof, big air bag. the airflow travels through the cardboard which through the miracle of osmosis draws all the moisture from the prints -
making them flat and ready for signing, numbering or whatever.
