Ninja August 4th, 2008
Brian Gonzales’s work deals with repetitive patterns, the repetitive routine of day to day life, and the repetitive nature of printmaking.
Even though my process is very regimented, it’s never boring. I do very little preliminary drawing before beginning a print so that the final product is always unexpected.
–Brian Gonzales
Purchasing link
+ Brian Gonzales’s prints at Illegitimate Press
Ninja April 14th, 2008
I got word from our printer that our prints should be delivered at the end of April. Daydream Believer will be ready to ship in May. ^___^
3-color offset lithography art print
18 inches x 24 inches
Printed on 80 lb cover Accent Opaque White Smooth stock
Limited edition of 300, each individually signed + numbered
Ninja March 23rd, 2008
I finally got around to marking up changes to my Daydream Believer print. For some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to actually write on the proof, so I used post-it notes instead.
Pretty minor tweaks, then I’m going to run seps, and hopefully, it’ll all look pretty. But knowing me, there will be more tweaks. ~__^
Happy drawing,
Ninja ^___^
Ninja March 14th, 2008
Our next print, really!
The Daydream Believer print was originally slated to release last spring, but life, work, and doubts prevented me from getting it out. My apologies for those of you who requested a print last year, and I truly thank you for your loving patience!
So what made me get off my butt to finally do this? You! You, lovely people, you. I’ve received really encouraging emails from some NvP readers. A few of my friends had commented that this was their favorite out of all my vector illustrations and that they would love to have it hanging in their homes. My coworker Jason recently inquired about the print’s release and gently nudged me to complete it. His wife requested this print for her birthday, and she’s been patiently waiting over a year for me to get this printed. I just can’t refuse that wish. ~__^
Ready for proofing
I finished tweaking the paths this past weekend and am finally satisfied. I sent this baby out for a color proof so I can really make sure all the bezier points are just-so.
Process
These are 2 of my printouts (there are piles of them lying around). I will print the vector drawing out at full size, mark up corrections, make the changes to the file, highlight the printout to indicate that they were made, and repeat. I went through about 20 or so rounds of revision. At one point, I realized that butterflies should only have 3 body part segments—head, thorax, and abdomen. In a daze, I had given some 2 or 4. After I noticed this, I carefully inspected each butterfly to make sure they only had 3. @__@
I get pretty obsessive over the details. This is just the feet. You should see how nuts I went fixing all the little bumps in the butterfly wings.
Now for my doubts…
Some time after I had made that first post about the Daydream Believer print, I came across this gorgeous illustration by Jillian Tamaki. My heart sank. She’s so unbelievably talented, and I didn’t want people to think I was copying her. I would just forget about my Daydream Believer print, I told myself. Then a bit later, I read this fantastic post by Asaf Hanuka about how different illustrators may have similar ideas and similar results (independent of each other).
Even though Jillian and I share similar subject—a girl in a tire swing hung from a tree, we have obvious differences. For one, the perspective is different. Hers is from below, looking up; mine is straight on. Our styles are VERY different. She has this beautiful, delicate brush work, and I have my vector paths/silhouettes. Our palettes are different, too. Jillian has soft, muted tones, while I opted for bright, vibrant flat colors.
I was minorly freaking out about this a few months ago, but now that I think about it, I’m sure there are other illustrators who have girls playing in tire swings… ~__^
What now?
I’m working on other projects while I wait for my proof to come in. Then more revisions (of course).
Thank you for letting me share my art with you (and for listening to me go on a bit about my worries).
Smiles,
Sighs,
Ninja ^_____^
Related postsNinja March 2nd, 2007
first sketch: figures look too stiff + hey look, she’s got no arms
second sketch: the figures look a bit too elongated, the hoodie seems odd when silhouetted, + the pattern is not quite there
final print: ah, much better! the elements work out nicely + negative space balances out the composition
First Kiss, offset lithography art print
18 inches x 24 inches, printed on Classic Crest Recycled Bright White 80lb cover stock
Limited edition of 300, each individually signed + numbered
$32 + FREE shipping
Related postsLimited edition lithograph prints. Signed + numbered.
