Today I am working on putting together a prototype for a variation of one of my Art-o-mat
series. Even if it is a series you have been doing for a long time, when you make a major change you need to do a new prototype.
A few years ago I started an Arto-series called "Penciled In". It was a colored pencil drawing on a smaller-sized version of the MDF block, packaged in an Artists in Cellophane box. Back then I did the series myself. I liked the series a lot, but we all know how I feel about coloring things...choosing the dominant color and then selecting the coordinating and contrasting colors while not losing the main object in the picture...I'm just not that good at doing it and I don't understand shading very well.
My artist friend Juana Moore hadn't done an Arto-series yet and we started collaborating on Penciled In. I transferred the drawings, Juana colored them, then I finished them off with painting the sides and making little twisty wire hangers for the backs. It went really well. We did several editions of the series and I added more characters. Juana started adding more of her own touches to the characters and it really made a big difference...they were great!
In between times, Juana did her own series for Art-o-mat called "Queens O' Scream" -- wonderful individually hand drawn portraits on MDF blocks of the horror film actresses she is so fond of. That went really well and she did a second edition.
Then we both started getting busier and Penciled In was set aside for a bit. We had done a LOT of those little guys! I really love collaborations and Juana and I agreed it would be cool for me to ask other artists I know if they'd like to do an edition with me, for a change of pace. Right now artist friend/fellow Arto-artist William Hessian is working on a set of 100 pieces, putting his spin on them. William is an incredibly amazingly talented and busy guy...check out his blog!
In the meantime...in order to keep true to my goal of making plenty of Art-o-mat art this year, I thought I would have a go at making a new kind of collaboration for Penciled In.I have been feverishly tweaking drawings, working things out on the computer (not one of my strong suits) and putting the prototype together. You would not believe the ridiculous things I need to do in order to make something as simple as a border and print it out in the correct size...LOL. And re-sizing things? HA! I don't do this sort of thing very often, so that kind of compounds the "problem" and add to that the fact that I am in no way interested in taking classes to learn how to do things on the computer. I get by just fine most of the time...I know there are much easier and simpler ways if I would just take the time to settle down and learn how...but honestly, I would most likely forget how to do it the next time I sat down to do it again anyway...I just don't do computery things very often...and have little interest in it.
Wow -- okay, that tirade is over. Whew. Where was I...oh yeah...
What I plan on doing is making transfers on the blocks (as usual) but the collaborator will be the person who purchases the "kit" from an Art-o-mat machine. I will paint the edges of the blocks, include three teensy colored pencils, three blank coloring cards (on card stock) of characters from the series, and an information sheet on how the new owner can get their colored in block listed at the Penciled In blog.
This would be the placard for the series for the machines.
This is what the box would look like.
And this would be what you'd get inside the box (except I haven't done the info insert or end label for the boxes yet).
I have chosen ten of my favorite Penciled In "The Youngsters" characters, young versions of: monster, dog, cat, robot, giraffe, panda, rabbit, bear, yeti, and Wolfy, Jr. (who can also be colored in as a fox).
I will finish all of this up tonight and mail it out tomorrow. I am really liking this prototype -- I sure hope it gets approved!
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