Valentines Day.

Above is another card made this weekend, Sorren's Valentines Day card. It is by far my favourite and I think the funniest. Sorren really makes me feel dirty. All the time. It's great.

Happy Birthdays.

This weekend marked two friends' birthdays. Being the week before Valentines, I was already in the card making spirit- if that is a known spirit. So, I went to work creating two cards- these in addition to Sorren's Valentines Day card and a special animated gift for all of you out there; on the internets.

The cards were both ideas I had earlier but never could right. The mermaid was something I thought about but every time I tried to draw her I found there was something missing. I tried a shell bra, a large chin, more barnacles- nothing worked. Believe it or not in the end it was simple lines for hair, which is supposed to be seaweed, that made the whole thing come together. I am always surprised by the way a simple line or a very obvious idea can make something come together, but I guess I should be more surprised at how I can just be totally oblivious to the answer.

Also, this has erupted a new passion for me- hand lettering. I was always struggling with fonts, trying to create my ideas of type with these rigid, wrong fonts and wondering, how can I get the emphasis I want? Now I know- spend three times as long doing it myself. It was a great experience.

I really loved the end result. Lately, I have been working overtime to master screen printing and, if you read my last post, I have been having trouble with getting the quality I'd like. This time I decided to simply create the cards and then have them printed. I love what I got. I always assume that you can't get a quality print from a home printer but these cards proved me wrong. The color isn't 100% but who am I to complain, I didn't have to smash anything or get so frustrated I had to surrender.

Failure.

I created this print for Sorren's work's Christmas Party Auction. I was really excited, I had a great idea for a print and a lot of time to do it. I wasn't being paid or anything but I thought this would be a great way to put together something fun.
I started with the idea of the magician and the magic pouring out of his hat. Next came the part I really liked, out of the bottom of the hat comes another magician sombrely pulling a rabbit out of the hat. This is the sort of seemingly easy part of the print that made me feel really great about the print. I had once read a biography of Philip K. Dick and it said he couldn't avoid adding that twist at the end, just something that sealed the story and added that dark joke at the end. That's where 90% of my joy for this print was derived- rabbit, magic sure sure - but the bottom of the hat revealing a magician with a single rabbit was where all my attention went. I even like to imagine unimpressed children not paying attention, or worse just crying and screaming for cake.






After two weeks of working and getting this together, this is the best I got. My lines were too thin, I also think my screens mesh is too loose to get the line quality I want. Mounting issues made me miss my deadline and extend it to the night before it was due. As I worked on it again, I decided to get rid of the canvas and just do it on a piece of paper. I tried it printing the magic gradient at the top, it didn't work. I was so frustrated I smashed my screen while cleaning it for another go; don't worry I can fix it. But I realized for this one I am the bottom magician, trying to get the trick just right, and still not feeling the magic.

YAH GIFS!

I guess my problem has always been, I love animated .GIFs, but hate people who make them. Self loathing aside. Above is something I whipped up, by accident, at lunch- thought I would post it. Now I’m thinking of making an animated banner, but that I'll leave to another day. Feel free to decide whether you hate me now or not, I wouldn’t blame you if you did.

Below is a pick of the prints I did for my friend's birthday. I taped the second layer of the print to the screen and I think that's why I got the smudging. You can see it to varying degrees in on the image below. Particularly the yellow/red combo, which was a shame because out of all of them that was the most gruesome.

I am working on another print right now and am learning more and more about this antiquated method of printing.

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Print.

Happy New Year.
In honour of the New Year, and my friends birthday, I created this print. Adam, the lead in GGMU (the band I do all the graphic work for) was in need of a birthday present and I decided a print was something he'd enjoy. The great thing is Adam also understands the amount of work, sweat and tears that can go into print making. So the card, along with a couple of burnt compact discs - the latest in antiquated media - was more than enough to satiate the birthday gods - in fact the print is all about that. I wanted the card to really exemplify our relationship so I created a sort of anagram on his name and an image that shows symbiotic nature these sorts of relationships. I give my guts- he gets a card. SYMBIOTIC.

ZOMBIES!!!

Below is the finished video for ZOMBIES!!! The video I directed for my friends in Glory Glory Man United. The cinematographer was Steve Martella, and the Production Designer was Ash Pringle. Sorren Isler was the producer, it was shot in Blair Young's backyard and Glory Glory paid for the experience. It was awesome and I think it looks stellar.

Thanks Everyone,

Zombies!!! from Jack Carr on Vimeo.

Glory Glory New Poster

My friends, Glory Glory Man United, asked me to make them another poster. I think this makes the count at a million, but it's ok, because I love it.



This poster is channelling my love for all things old-timey. I wish that this could have been screen printed but this show is in PEI and we would have to send the poster via the mail and end up costing more that the show itself. Promotion is like a shouting at an echo. Wait no it's not.