Deco goes *Pop*

Sorry about the slightly-fuzzy quality of this photo. It's the last silkscreen project I tried before resigning myself to the idea that I Don't Know How to Silkscreen Well Enough Yet, to get the results I would find acceptable. Frankly, I'm a little surprised that I've even posted this picture, because I don't see it as a finished work (more of a sketch, I guess, if one can sketch in silkscreening), but I'd really like to hear some reactions to it (Phil won't say so outright, but I don't think he likes it).

Technical issues aside (and there are many), I like the composition. It was the impetus for the whole project, really. I took it directly from a photo I had taken of Phil on the trail, which I liked so much that I wanted to do more with it. I had in mind those old WPA-created National Parks posters from back in the day, which Paul Lanquist is doing such a good job of re-creating these days. My color choices were deliberate- partly the result of limited options (silk screen ink is available in six glorious colors: "red," "blue," "yellow," "green," "brown," "white" and "black", and is roughly the consistency of pudding, which makes it exceedingly difficult to get predictable results from mixing), and partly because of my Pop-Artist tendencies, which we've discussed before.

The technical issues I'm talking about are the edges, mostly. I had trouble getting each screen to register completely on the paper, so all of the prints of this are somewhat flawed. Each one is a little different because each time I printed, I would get ink flowing (er, not-flowing) to different parts of the screen. In this case, for example, you can see how the blue didn't get to the lower right corner, and the yellow didn't get to the upper right corner. You can also see (in the middle) how excess red ink made the screen stick to the paper, leaving a roundish spot of more-intense violet among the purple. Note: the blue and green border is the matte.

In the end, honestly, I love it. Flaws and all. Which leaves me in a position from which I am eager and willing to hear criticism (if I didn't like it, I wouldn't need or want to hear anyone else not-liking it). So, if you're so inclined, Fire Away with those comments and criticisms. I'm curious.