ink management, why you won't see McCain's wrinkles, but hey! floating cats

Well, for those who have been asking... here's the update on my Election 2008 flip book....

It's done. Version one anyway. It actually came out much as imagined and I even added a 4th page so there's actually 37 flipping pages and dimensions of 4.25 inch x 2 inch (whereas my standard flipbook is 24 pages and 2.5 inch x 1.25 inch). Even though it took so long to make, I left the "plot" rather simple. I decided against an elephant and donkey running amok (partly because I didn't feel up to trying to draw and then animate them) and I left out any other side stories.

The problem is that I totally underestimated the printing quality I would get and I did stupid things like spend all this time on little tiny details like sweat beads on McCain's head, or Obama's eyebrow moving slightly. And now it turns out it really doesn't print much of the detail at all. At all. I think it's a combination of my low class printer and paper that's a bit too toothy. Considering the scale I'm working in, I totally should have known better. Nevertheless, I'm planning to go to Kinkos or somewhere to see if I can get better quality. (Any advice on this welcome).

Here's the "real" onscreen version:


And here's a page from the book, which shows about as much detail as there is anyway:


I made 3 of the books and one sample flipper and they are now awaiting the grand opening of Bizarre Market's Holiday edition (starting this Friday, Nov. 28th at Chop Suey Tuey, upstairs).

Perhaps I'll get a super detailed print then it can be the deluxe version. I'll probably make more and put them in my etsy shop one way or another.

Also for Bizarre Market, I finished 20 mini Cats In Space. They are ready to hang and will fit pretty much anywhere you have wall space. Each is one of a kind, $15, so go pick one up when you go to the market, which will be open through to Christmas time.



I think this might be one of my favorites because it looks like a little crazy hyped up lazy cat.



This one wants to be friends with Patches.



This one is drunk on star dust.



This one wants to know if the moon is really made of cheese.

Little Cats in Space

I've crossed a couple of things of my weekend to-do list of projects.

One of these was starting a stencil sheet for a new version of cats in space. The original cats in space were painted on wood blocks, but I've decided to make a smaller and more simple style. If all goes well these will debut at the Bizarre Market holiday edition opening Friday, November 28th from 6-9 pm at Chop Suey Tuey. I have other things in the works so there'll be more on that later.



These are made of foam core spray painted black with outer space effects done in oil paint marbling.

So, I've stenciled some in white and plan to go and paint each one individually, of course each cat must have its own personality.



Then I'm thinking I will seal them and make them ready to hang. So essentially they will be smaller, lighter and less expensive versions of the originals.

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Next up is a my attempt to make a new flip book. I've also completed my sardine can and polar bear related projects: I think I'll report on those in a day or two.

The Most Beautiful Mouse in the World

Quite a while ago, I had a grand master scheme in which I would solve my clutter and pack-rat problems by gluing everything I own together and pretending that made me a folk artist all of a sudden.

I keep revisiting that theme when I realize there are things I want to keep, but unless they are somehow clustered together in some mass object, I really can't justify all the little pieces.

So, I don't think my scheme will take on much momentum because it's really not all that practical... but I did finish one project. It's a vase topped with little animals and others of the glass menagerie variety. I had them glued on here for a while now, but it was just recently that I decided to white wash the vase and make it more of a winter wonderland.

As for these animals... I don't know how to describe it other than that they were such childhood treasures, it would be hard to part with them so I couldn't resist but to affix them somehow on an object less likely to fall through the cracks.



This mouse, for instance. Honestly, I not only thought this was the most beautiful mouse in the world... but maybe the most beautiful person in the world, if a mouse was competing in a beauty pageant with a person, she would surely win. I always thought all the other little animals were in love with this mouse.



I guess my big plan to pare down and clean up is partially dependent on my being able to somehow morph the thousands of tiny things into something manageable. This is one example where it actually worked. I'm not sure the glue bottle is safe yet, but there's only so much I can keep.

I have some other techniques in mind. But it's slow going.

I'm currently working on some projects, one of which involves a polar bear tapestry from 1975... the other is potentially going to be based on a sardine can... and there's more. So maybe there will be an update sooner than later this time.

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On a side note, how about Dubai's the World? I read about it recently... I forget where, but at the time actually thought it was made up. But it's real. (Where have I been while this was going on?) It's kind of the opposite of what I'm trying to do in terms of clutter, if we're talking on a planetary scale. It's like some giants decided to make sand castles one day and then things went horribly awry. I still don't understand who the people must be who live in your typical rich-person suburban subdivisions, let alone who these people can be who want to live on a man made luxury chunk of sand scrap masquerading as a piece of Australia.