Hot rod pickup trucks in Austin. How Texan can you get?

I think I have a new series of woodcut prints for guys coming out when I get home.

Update on some of the prints.

I decided to add some color to two of the plane prints. What do you think?

San Jose Mission in San Antonio

Mission shot at San Jose Mission in San Antonio. 

I'm feeling a woodblock print coming on.

Gone for three weeks down south.

Well I needed to refresh and get away from all the snow. So down south we went!

Did the Whiskey tour. That was fun.

Then down to New Orleans for Easter.

Makers Mark Whiskey tour.

Easter Parade in New Orleans

Our Boo all bling'ed out.

Getting close to having too many home made printing press's.

So my friends Cara and Ben are out antiquing this morning while I'm freezing my butt off working in the garage working on my cheap and dirty gravity printing press.

They send me a photo of an old large box camera vertical adjuster and ask me if this would work as a printing press. $43.00 bucks! Dang right it will and the traveling bed is 12" x 28". Sweet! Now I just have to rig up an adjustable top roller to apply pressure and then turn the crank!

I will continue to work on my cheap and dirty gravity printing press's since its designed to print plates just under 2 x 4 FEET.

In the mean time I will work on both types of presses. 

Above is what they saw at the antique store this morning.

Here I took off all the bits that I didn't need

Here you can see the bed that moves back and forth when you turn the crank. Super!

Now I just have to add a top roller to apply pressure like from this picture and I have a printing press.

Well I had to give up on this one and toss the block.

Well I had to toss this woodblock print. After washing off the ink and rinsing it off with soap and water too many times..... the MDF fibers swelled up and filled all the cut lines and the last proof was all fuzzy.

Guess that I will have to figure out how to seal the MDF in between proofs or get the print done in one state.

Back to the drawing board for another subject!

Way to fuzzy!! Scratched the plate with a chisel. Done and done.

For all my Geek Friends! Here is a short version of the computer build.

Here is the case with the old mother board etc. on the wood block carving table.

Here is the cover off to show whats in side. A rats nest of cables and junk.

Lay it on its side and start to take all the old stuff out.

I number my Sata cables since they have to go back into the new mother board in the same way as the old. Keeps me sane and reminds me of changing the spark plugs and wires on my Mustang.

I then use the manual for the new mother board to number the Sata connectors so I can keep track of them.

 Time to put the new AMD A10 CPU and heat sink into the new mother board.

Then I add the memory while the motherboard is not in the case and use the anti-static bag to not punch holes in my fingers from the thru hole parts with sharp bits sticking out of the bottom.

All the good stuff is in and almost ready to put in the old case.

Pop out the old back panel filler and put in the new one for the new motherboard.

After that I put the new motherboard into the case and since it is smaller than the old one I will have to move around the screw standoffs that are used to secure the motherboard into the computer case.

Here is what the case looks like with no motherboard.

I use a pencil in the holes in the motherboard so that I can then put the standoffs in the right place. Quick cheap trick.

Here is one of the standoff that have to be moved.

 Now that the motherboard is all in and screwed down. We get to attach and tuck away all those ugly cables.

Cables all connected and tucked away from fans etc., funny that this mother board uses less cables than the last one.

 Now to re-install Windows 7 and then restore from my backup disk and off we go!!

Heads up! Computer going down for mother board upgrade today.

Well its time for a new motherboard. The old dual core CPU would not take Windows 7, Photoshop, Chrome browser and iTunes running all at once. Memory is maxed out most of the day and it takes too long to do anything.

So here is what is going in the computer case!

This should help things out!!

First state of MiG 15 - 17 x 13 inches.

Got to love the old jets too! 

The Russian MiG-15 was one of the first successful swept-wing jet fighters, and it achieved fame in the skies over Korea, where early in the war, it outclassed all straight-winged enemy fighters in most applications. The MiG-15 is believed to have been the most widely produced jet aircraft ever made, with over 12,000 built. The MiG-15 is often mentioned along with the North American F-86 Sabre as among the best fighter aircraft of the Korean War and in comparisons with fighters of other eras.

First state of MiG 15 - 17 x 13 inches.

Polikarpov I-16 is done!

Well here is the third and final state of the Polikarpov I-16 woodblock print.

Polikarpov I-16 - Woodblock print - 18 x 10 inches

New work and images. USS Politics, aground

Well I've been working hard and have some images to share.

I should not read the paper and watch news but it does have an effect on what I create.

First State of - USS Politics, aground - 20 x 12 inches 

I will post the rest of my proofs later.

Looking for a simple and cheap Proof Press!

OK! Here is a call out for anyone that can help me out.

This is a strange question but... I'm looking for a Morgan Co Line-O-Scribe sign printing press. Or a low cost Proofing press. Looking to spend $200 to $300.

I need one to do my woodblock prints. An etching press would be nice but they are often to big, heavy and very expensive.

A lot of grocery stores used Line-O-Scribes to print their own signage. I found one in Alabama but .... shipping will cost more than the printing press. ($200.00 for the press, set up and letters)

Any help would be appreciated. (Yes I've checked Craigs list, EBay etc..)

BTW there is one for sale on EBay but they want over $3 grand for it. Crazy, it's been for sale for over 6 months for a reason. :-)

I'm located in Rochester New York and since proof presses are rather heavy I would have to drive out and pick it up if anyone can help me find one. Shipping would cost more than the press! So NY, NJ, PA, OH would be OK if its within a days drive from here.

Thanks!

Here is a pic of what a Line-O-Scribe it looks like.

Carving and more carving of woodblocks.

Been working on two new woodblock prints this week.

Very addicting for some reason.

I love the old war ships from before WWI and I think I may do more of them also.

USS Olympia 24 x 14 inches. Oldest iron war ship in the world and can be found dockside in Philly PA

Also been working on another plane at the same-time. WWI Folker Tri-Plane.

More new proofs in the Gambin Ink

Titantic - Woodblock first oil proof - 21 x 6 inches

John Cudahy - Woodblock - 9 x 20 inches

"The Flying Scotsman - Woodblock - " 15" x 10" inches.

My order of Gamblin Relief Inks are here!

Well the Postman came by yesterday and dropped off my Gamblin Relief Inks in a big box. Strange that they pack them in glass jars instead of metal tins.... must be because they are using vegetable oil rather than the other nasty stuff.

Any way I printed up two old blocks and one new one to see how the ink works. I used less than the water based Speedball inks and the coverage was fantastic. No fill-in on the fine lines and a very nice black.

Here are the AP sample proofs.

Polikarpov I-16 - Woodblock print - 18 x 10 inches

Sopwith Camel - Woodblock print - 18 x 10 inches

"The John Wilkes" - Woodblock - 22 x 9.5 inches

More Planes.

Started this Russian I-16 yesterday afternoon and got the first proof done at 2 PM. My new oil based inks are coming in today via FedEx so this is going on one of my t-shirts!

 "I-16" - woodblock first proof - 11 x 17 inches

Why do you create all this stuff?

I believe that “Art” arose as a way to communicate between people.  The Neanderthals created fantastic works of “Art” as a way of communicating stories to each other  and we the H. sapiens managed to continue to use their communication tools.

We as humans all the way back to the Neanderthals have created ways and tools to communicate with each other.  I do believe that “Art” is one of the earliest forms of communication along with pointing and grunting. What real difference is there between using a stick to scratch a map/figure/animal form in the dirt to using a paint brush or Wacom tablet stylus and color?

It’s all just an attempt to communicate with each other.  “Art” as a communication tool sometimes does not work as good as the written word. So we tend to clutter up our first viewing of “Art” with all types of personal experiences that the creator of the “Art” may or may not have had. This is not a bad thing since it causes certain “Art” to speak to us in ways that we never expected. Beethoven's 9^th, Sergeants’ Madame X and other works struck cords in my soul that still reverberate 40 years later. 

Can I tell you why these works of “Art” and others had such a profound effect on me? Not really. Sometimes I know that the "Art" work just touches our soul and grabs us by the throat , we can write and talk ourselves to death over it (as I did in college) but there will just never be an true understanding of the power of the “Art” on our physic.

This is why I create “Art”, to exorcise myself of my most powerful feelings (anger, want, nightmares, lust, etc.) and get them out there for others to see and interact with.  The basic human need to connect and communicate with others is something that we are all born with. Some of us are truly gifted with the talent of making music, using words, painting, and drawing to exorcise our self’s of personal truths/feelings and use it to communicate with others.

Working with others to communicate about my "Art" creations is most fascinating. Everyone sees something different based on their life experiences. The real understanding that both the "Art" creator and the viewer is that sometimes our “Art” of communication has more than one truth. The creator and the viewer each have their own personal experiences that they are both trying to use to understand the “Art” object and resolve into a personal truth that has importance to both of them. The best of us creators manage to use their talent to communicate with more force than others. Ernest Hemingway, Frank Lloyd Wright and others had this talent. 

Me? I'm just trying to get better at my communications with practice and yet more practice. There will never be an end point, since its almost impossible to communicate perfectly. 

“Art” is just a cry in the darkness for a truly meaningful communication with both the self and the audience.

A James Cameron kinda day.

Well been a busy day so far. Just doing a James Cameron kinda day.
Worked on this on all day and now I just need to get a proof done to see if its any good.

Titantic - Woodblock - 21 x 6 inches

Did the first proof, looks like all I have to do is more work on the ocean and then we are done!

Titantic - Woodblock first proof - 21 x 6 inches

Well while I had the ink out and the roller all ready I inked up the"The John Wilkes" block and did a second proof. Needs some minor touches but .... almost done. (Don't mind the tape mark, I will use right sized paper for the production run. 

Might make a good tee shirt also?

"The John Wilkes" - Woodblock - 22 x 9.5 inches

Trains! Love the old Art Deco streamliners.

Sorry so quiet on the art front but I have been working. Here is the first state of the woodblock plate of the Lehigh Valley 462 "The John Wilkes" steam streamliner.

"The John Wilkes" - Woodblock - 22 x 9.5 inches

Just got word that my order of Gamblin Relief Inks has shiped. I have been using the water based Speedball inks and to be truthful they really suck. Depending on the temp and humidity the ink is either too watery or too stiff. Its nice to clean up with water but.... I can't wait for oil based ink.

Here is an AP that I pulled of the "The John Wilkes" steam streamliner and a lot of the fine lines have been filled in and do not show. Grrrr.

"The John Wilkes" - First Proof  -Woodblock - 22 x 9.5 inches

Just an update on the Comet. I had to stop working on this one and give it up. I just could not resolve it to where I liked it. So.... I flipped it over and used the back side to do the "The John Wilkes" train instead. RIP "Comet".

Update on Lewis Hamilton - Vodafone McLaren Mercedes - 2010

I heard from my friend in the UK that I painted the "Lewis Hamilton - Vodafone McLaren Mercedes" below that he managed to find Lewis Hamilton and got him to sign my painting! Most cool.

Now if I could just get him to send me a pic of the painting with autograph .... Come on KEN!

(BTW If you click any of my pictures it goes to full size on your computer)

Lewis Hamilton - Vodafone McLaren Mercedes - 2010- 30 x 48 inches - Acrylic on linen  

Last time I saw the painting was when I hung it over my fireplace took the picture below. It was then taken off the stretchers rolled up in a mailing tube and sent off to the UK.

Lewis Hamilton - Vodafone McLaren Mercedes - 2010