Danny Askar, also known as ohdanielsan, is a screen printer, graphic designer, and web developer.
He would like to screen your prints, design your graphics, and develop your webs (but not all at once, please).
One of my favorite things about screen printing is that you never stop learning. In fact, I’d have to say I learn new things every time I print something. This latest run of polybags for my good friend Nate at Naylor News was no exception. It was my first time printing something that wasn’t some kind of absorbent material (i.e. paper, wood, fabric, etc.), and with that came a few unknowns that I thankfully overcame.
Polybags are pretty similar to standard plastic bags, so their non-porous surface requires a type of ink that I haven’t used in a while: Nazdar 2700. It’s a water-based ink, but it contains a sort of enamel-type component that allows it to fully dry on many substrates that a standard water-based poster ink cannot. The downside of 2700 is that it dries very quickly in the screen, requiring lots of caution and constant cleaning of the stencil (aka Headache Central).
Another aspect of this run that was new to me was the concept of printing on something that has more than one side - meaning, the bag has two sides, so instead of just one surface that touches the printing table, there is also the side that is printed on. This allows a small air cushion to form between the two layers, spelling potential disaster if that air causes unevenness (air bubbles) on the side to be printed. So, to get around this, I had to burnish (rub out the air with a rag) each print before laying the ink down.
All in all, it was a success as well as a great opportunity to break away from posters for a day and expand my versatility as a printer. I welcome more polybags in my future any time!
This once-temporary blog of mine has become more resident than I had planned. So, after coming to terms with the fact that it will probably be even longer before I build myself a proper site, I decided to put a little effort into at least sprucing the place up a bit. I don’t know that it meets any grand vision of mine, but at least it’s no longer a default skin!
Oddly enough, this blog-renovation aligns perfectly with the space-renovation that’s been going on in my studio over the past week. I finally finished it today, and not only did it shape up quite nicely, but I managed to get it done just in time for some big work that’s just over the horizon.
I’d love to post some pictures of the renovation and new equipment I built, but let’s just say my procrastination to build a website is no match for my procrastination to take photos. So, for now, I will just say, “it looks great!”
I just finished printing another poster for Kevin based on the Jimmy Eat World poster we printed not too long ago. This time, Kevin took out the text, so anyone who was interested in the original but not into the band enough now has a chance to buy the de-Jimmified version. Limited run of 50, so act now!
We’re back from Flatstock 20, and we had a great time! It was exciting to meet and talk with some of the movers and shakers of the gigposter community, as well as some of the more up and coming poster artists. It felt surreal walking down the aisles of the Austin Convention Center and being absolutely surrounded by such amazing talent.
The entire experience was a major success, and it felt good to finally be rewarded for all of the hard work we went through to make it happen. Austin was a great town as well, and I wish we had more time to enjoy the city, as well as the other events happening at SXSW. We did get a chance to check out some of the music, but the majority of our time was spent taking care of business for Flatstock.
I want to spend a special thanks to our good friend, Lad, at Poster Cabaret for taking care of us and giving us a place to crash every night. His kindness will not soon be forgotten.
Kevin posted all of the photos he and I took during our trip. Be sure to check them out.
In the final moments before our departure for the upcoming Flatstock 20 convention, I printed a very special run of limited edition art prints by Kevin entitled Always to be debuted and sold at the show. It’s a series of four prints all based around a common image. Each variation is set in a different season, so while the image remains constant, the colors change, and there are small differences in the art. This was a new experience for me, as I normally don’t do art prints, and I certainly don’t normally agree to print multiple versions of the same print.
This is where screen printing and digital printing really differ. When you want to change a few things about an image and print them out on your home printer, no problem; just mess around with a few things on the computer, and hit print (ok, I’m over-simplifying, but nonetheless…). However, in the screen printing world, you almost have to think of it as doing four different posters all together. Ink has to be pulled off each screen, and the new color needs to be applied for each color of each variation. In total, I’d say that this was anywhere from a 14-18 color job (I should know the real number, but I really don’t want to think about it). While this isn’t something I’d normally print, it was a unique experience, and the results are amazing.
Normally, I don’t like to get too personal when I talk about a poster job, but I’m willing to throw convention away for a moment to say this: some posters are a challenge to print, and then others are almost impossible. This was one such poster. Believe it or not, this is a 5-color print. Kevin came up with some pretty advanced overprinting ideas, so we were actually able to make it look like an 8- or 9-color print. This was also the first job we had printed with this new brand of ink we just bought, so it was a scary experience. I have to be honest: by the time this run was over, I was sick of looking at it. However, I took a step back, turned on some Enya, lit some vanilla-scented candles, and came back the next day only to find a new appreciation for it. It really is a great poster, and I highly recommend clicking on the image below to get a better view of it.
We actually had the pleasure of going to this show. I have never been into Jimmy Eat World, nor have I heard the Clarity album that this tour was based around, but I’ve been a huge fan of the opening band, No Knife, for years. They’re actually one of my favorite bands of all time, and have pretty much shaped the way I think about music. So the opportunity to see them perform live after many years of being broken up was well worth any blood, sweat, or tears shed over this poster.
Here it is! The Flatstock 20 poster Kevin designed and I printed. Flatstock posters are like the coat of arms for any poster artist/team because you represent yourself to all the other vendors there by trading them and giving them to the great people who put Flatstock conventions together and make it all happen. So, generally, they’re only sold if there are any left after giving them to/trading them with your fellow peers.
I loved this design so much that I printed a “remix” version of it entitled Falling, in which I swapped out the original colors for a darker, less optimistic red/copper/black color palette, and left out the happy ghost-people. These will be done in a limited run to be sold at Flatstock, but we will consider selling more online if we have any left over.
Kevin and I are doing Flatstock 20 over at SXSW in Austin, Texas at the end of March. We’re very much looking forward to taking part in the 4-day-long portion of the festival and meeting all the other poster-people there. I have never had a booth at a festival like Flatstock before, so this will be a new and exciting experience for me. Best of all, I’ll be screen printing poster-sleeves/bags there, as sort of a demo and excuse to show off. Can’t wait! Kevin is designing a poster for Flatstock, so I’m sure I’ll be posting about it soon. Hopefully it wont be as belated as all this other info was!
In this episode of Let’s Play Catch-up, I present the most recent poster to come out of the ohdanielsan-Kevin Tong printshop:
I know, I know - it’s another non-rock poster, but don’t worry, we aren’t getting soft…er. This one is for a dance festival at Lonestar College in Texas. 3 colors, 13x22, edition of 60 on Railroad Board. What is Railroad Board? I have no idea, but this was the first time I’ve printed on the stuff, and it was pretty impressive.
