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David Sandlin & Screen Printing

By Peggy Roalf   Friday November 9, 2012

On the way to lunch during the AI-AP Big Talk yesterday, I ran into David Sandlin, who was on a break from teaching at the School of Visual Arts, and we had a chance to catch up. Among the many things on his to-do list for this week is to finish producing a limited edition book in time for the Brooklyn Comics & Graphics Festival on Saturday. This understandably led to a few questions:

Q: What is the subject of your new book and how did you come to envision it in book form?
A:  A while ago I started a series of large paintings entitled Ooo My Son, All of This Is Yours. The book is a way to collect these images together in the form of four small posters along with a series of drawings I did concomitant with the paintings.

Q: What is the format of the book? How large is the edition?
A: The book is 11 by 17 inches, with a wrap-around cover and a stapled Japanese binding. The edition is 100.

Q: How are you printing it?
A: The printing is a combination of four-color silkscreen—the cover and several inside pages; the rest of the pages are black and white on heavy stock. I think it’s about 30 pages.

Q: What is there about the silkscreen process that makes it suitable for your art?
A: Silkscreen helps me to limit my color and tighten my drawing. I have always loved silkcreen for the richness of the ink on paper.

Q: Will the book be available for sale after the BC&GF?
A: Ooo My Son will probably be available at Desert Island in Brooklyn, at Printed Matter in New York, and in a few other places. 

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Wrap-around cover of Ooo My Son, All of This Is Yours. You can see the book itself at The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics festival on Saturday.

Q: When you do a self-publishing project, what is your process of preparation and make-ready before you get to the printing studio?
A: I make a dummy book to figure out dimensions and streamline the narrative with my images. I also prepare as many separations as possible before I go into the print shop. I still do a lot of separations by hand, but lately I’m using the multichannel mode in Photoshop more and more.

Q: Are there any membership silkscreen studios where artists can edition their projects?
A: Yes, there are a few in Brooklyn, such as the Gowanus Print Lab. Artists also take SVA’s continuing education printmaking course to have access to the printmaking facilities there. It’s also worth trying for the keyholder program at the Lower East Side Printshop.

David Sandlin will be at Brooklyn Comics & Graphics Festival on Saturday.

Illustration Week continues with The Party tonight at the Angel Orensanz Foundation, 172 Norfolk Street, NY, NY. InformationRegister $50/$25/$15/Free.
On Saturday, there is a 1:45 screening of Far Out Isn’t Far Enough | The Tomi Ungerer Story, a 98-minute film combines traditional documentary storytelling with original animation from over 70 years worth of art from the renegade children's book author and illustrator. SVA Theater, 333 West 23rd Street, NY, NY. InformationTickets $16.50/ $14.50/ $13.50.


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