Happy New Year

                                                                                         --Rippee

"Is it my imagination or is this thing out of control"

                                                                                                                      --Rea


Bonus Feature:

Sam said he'd like to see a picture of Santa Claus riding a chicken. Who am I to deny my son a request?

HappyNew Year !

Larry's Cartoon Vault: Frank King's Christmas Cheer

This yellowed little clipping has been in the Vault a long time. Frank King, the great cartoonist who would later create the comic strip Gasoline Alley, drew this sometime around WWI. (Apparently things haven't changed too much).

Happy Holidays.

Larry's Vault: Miguel Covarrubias 1948

This installment of the Vault features one of my all time favorites: Miguel Covarrubias--caricaturist, illustrator, muralist, theatre set designer, author and ethnographer.

In the 1920’s and 30’s he was a major contributor of caricatures to New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Fortune and Time .  He traveled the world over and wrote studies of the art and culture of Mexico, Central America, Alaska and Bali. He painted murals for the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco and designed the sets for Josephine Baker’s La Revue Negre in Paris. It’s hard to believe he accomplished so much in just 53 short years. He died in 1957.

Here is a feature on Covarrubias by renowned illustrator Henry C.Pitz from the January 1948 edition of American Artist magazine. (For easier reading click on images to enlarge).

Postscript:

One of Covarrubias' books:

And some more of his lovely line work.

Land of Loose Ends

Here's my most recent print from the now-concluding Pressing Matters V: Printmakers Group Show at the San Geronimo Valley Community Center.

I made a linocut block print titled Land of Loose Ends. Here's the process and result:

I made this sketch in my mini pocket sketchbook.

I later made this larger drawing.

I redrew the drawing to tracing paper which I transfered onto a linoleum block.

I cut the block.

Here's a proof print.

copyright by Larry Rippee

Pressing Matters V Coming to an End

Time to say goodbye to Pressing Matters V: The Prinmaker's Group Show at the San Geronimo Valley Commnity Center. This year's exhibit is probably my favorite thus far. Here are just a few more parting shots from the show.

Gabriele Schwibach with her three color etchings from the show.

Katya McCulloch's impressive "Songbirds of Iraq" multi color reduction block--an extremely complex print.

Sirima Sataman's "Somewhere on Swanton Road" - a very large and nicely executed  block print.

Two figurative pieces, "Torso I" and "Torso II",  by Barbara Morris--both monotypes.  

Geoff Bernstein's  "Pictograph I" . Geoff had rubber stamps made of his drawings for his multi media print series.

Diane Cokely's mysterious etching "December Planet". 

"Deer Isle, Haystack" a lithograph by Jack Kamesar .

I also included my "A Mazed Minotaur Pt. 2"  two-color linocut in the show.

And my "Homesick James on Brown Paper Bag" block print

Another Zoltron silkscreen, "Yolandi Visser", this one printed on a piece of birch wood.

This sampling is still incomplete. I don’t have examples available of the other fine works by Bea Benjamin, Fred Lee Berensmeier, Geoff Bernstein, Martha Cederstrom, Diane Cokely, Dave Hunter, Katya McCulloch, Sirima Sataman or Xander Weaver-Scull.  Thanks to everyone in the show.

Special thanks to Molly for hanging the show with me.

(Check out the previous post for more prints from Pressing Matters).

Pressing Matters V: Printmaker's Group Show

The 5th Annual Pressing Matters: Printmaker's Group Show is underway.

This year’s show highlights the woodcuts, etchings, monotypes,
serigraphs, linocuts, lithographs and stencil art of 20 local printmakers.

Featured artists include Bea Benjamin, Fred L. Berensmeier, Geoff Bernstein, Martha Cederstrom, Diane Cokely, Danielle Fogel, Dave Getz, Dave Hunter, Elan Kamesar, Jack Kamesar, Katya McCulloch, Nancy Montoya, Barbara Morris, Elaine Nehm, Sirima Sataman, Gabriele Schwibach, Xander Weaver-Scull, Melissa West, Zoltron and me.

Here’s a sampling from the show:

"Creation" lino block print by Melissa West

"Permeable Form" a woodcut reduction print by Katya McCulloch

A linocut bt Elan Kamesar

Stone lithograph by Elan

The very talented Elan Kamesar in studio

"Strolling Ostrich Echoing Ancestors" an aquatint etching by Fred Lee Berensmeier

Here master printmaker Fred Berensmeier is showing the original plate for his collograph

"Ancient Raven Spirits Untangle Modern String Theory"

This beautiful hand painted Sumi in stencil print by Xander Weaver-Scull is huge.

Xander's "Gray Wolf (Endangered)"

Xander discussing his printing-stencil techniques. (For the print he is holding up he made his own ink from blueberries).

"Hide & Seek" a color etching by Gabriele Schwibach

Here is the original printing block by Nancy Monyoya (I like that the wood still has it's bark).

"Virgen de Guadelupe" lino cut also by Nancy Montoya

"Our Lady of the Redwoods" lino block print by Melissa West. 

And yet another fine piece by Melissa West,

"Surveillance"

This year we had quite a few silkscreen prints.

Here's a nice one by Dave Getz

And a silkscreen poster by Dave Hunter

Zoltron's "Willy Wonka" silkscreen poster

I really like this Primus poster by Zoltron

The enigmatic Zoltron himself

The Valley Room

Danille Fogel's "Study Spring and Summer: Animals, Alchemy & John Keats" and "Study Fall and Winter: Animals, Alchemy & John Keats"

Elaine Nehm's print table at the opening

Elaine Nehm's monoprint "On Newsprint 12"

Gabrielle's Schwibach's color etching "Let's dance"

There's much more and perhaps I'll get some more photos up later. The show runs until the end of November in the Maurice Del Mue Galleries of the San Geronimo Valley Community Center.

Artwork copyright the respective artists