Weekly IP Blog#20

What I did

Sat.  3/10/12: 1.5 hours talking to printers, getting better discounts and plexiglass options. 2 hours digitally painting my volcano.

Sun. 3/11/12: 3.5 hours digitally painting.

Mon. 3/12/12: finished my SAS Grant application.

Tues. 3/13/12: Spoke with Stephanie and Juliet about my new volcano’s perspective. Talked more with Kevin from G & B Graphics about better printing options and emailed him some files of my work. Talked to Sign and Stuff and got new printing quote.

Weds. 2/14/12: 2 hours digitally painting and getting feedback from others on how my volcano drafts differ. Learned what aspects to keep and get rid off.

Thurs. 2/15/12: Meet with Mark to talk more in depth about my project and how we can get my prints set up and mounted on the walls. Heard from Kevin about using new banner material for printing to get cheaper price and more transparency. Reflected 2 hours on my work this week and printing order options.  

What I accomplished/discovered/encountered

Nearing the end of my project really hit me this week. I’ve been in contact with two of my top printing companies, G & B Graphics and Sign and Stuff. They are both doing what they can to get my prints on 40x60 on plexiglass. G & B Graphics is the nicest and the cheapest so far, giving me a new quote today of $126 per print! They want to use a translucent banner material and use adhesive to get it on plexiglass, they will be running a test print for this weekend and I will be visiting them Monday or Tuesday of next week. I feel much better with these cheaper, and kinder, printing companies.  Paragon was too expensive for what they were offering me, just photo paper prints mounted onto plexiglass. Sign and Stuff wants to use vinyl printing paper that already has adhesive on the back, causing the glass to be set behind the print but also be more expensive. Each print with the plexiglass behind would be about $244 each, saw cut sides, and $20 per test print. I think having the glass behind the prints would be neat, especially with vinyl paper but Im still unsure about it. G & B Graphics has the risk of having bubbles on my work, but that’s because they are using the cheapest methods to help me out. The test print from them will defiantly determine if their method will work! If not, Sign and Stuff will have to do.

Working on the final of my volcano has been both exciting and difficult this week. I got feedback from Doug Hesseltine, learning not to overwork my volcano! Doug and others I’ve been asking for feedback all week like how the perspective of the volcano is not obvious. I think keeping it like that will help my volcano being cheesy. People really like my fire effects and glowing textures I created. Im working my very best to get my volcano done and final edits on my hurricane completed! I can’t wait to see all three of my prints done; even thinking of the test prints is giving me goose bumps.

I discovered that taking away the hole and sky from my volcano is more interesting and less confusing. I needed to work more on my foreground and background aspects. Stephanie and Juliet were very helpful Tuesday giving me advice on what looking down at the volcano would do instead of looking out from inside it. That’s what Im still working on, I think my most recent version below has the yellow sparks too overworked in the attempt to put the fire and explosion more in the foreground. I know what I have to do to push back the rock textures and fire forward with shadows; it’s just harder to actually paint. Im doing my best to get my volcano where it needs to be!

I spoke Mark Nielsen today about my final work. He’s known what I’ve wanted to do and liked the new printing options I’ve been looking into. We talked again about the screws that would give my prints 1inch and ½ space from the walls. He is not totally against the bolts the printers are offering for mounting my prints on the wall, but the screws sound like a cleaner option. Also submitting my SAS grant application was a great accomplishment today in stretching for final printing funds.

What I think I should do next

I’m already planning to have prints ordered by next Friday. Im leaving a week to get all three of my natural disasters test printed, checked, and finished before April 1^st. That way if anything goes wrong, I’ve got time to fix it. The colors are what I’m worried about, so not matter what I will be paying for test prints to get done. So I plan to have my volcano finished by the middle of next week, showing all three of my natural disasters next Thursday for a final critique. Im going to digitally paint even more now, but take more breaks so that I don’t over work my volcano. Speaking to Mark today was also great! I’m going to keep him posted on the printers I decide to go with the mounting options. I also plan on making a request for showing my work at Work Ann Arbor, the window space would really complement my prints. Super excited to get my volcano done, Im motivated and ready to get my natural disasters printed.