Greetings from Hyperspace Studios!
The Scratch Art project is gaining incredible momentum; as of this week we've got over 100 boards from artists worldwide (see list below). They cover a stylistic range so broad that you would only ever see this variety in a field as dynamic as tattooing. The August 15, 2007 deadline is coming right up; if you are interested in participating be sure to contact us immediately so we can reserve a space for your piece.
WE HAVE RECEIVED SUBMISSIONS FROM THE FOLLOWING ARTISTS:
Davey A
Alex Adams
David Allen
John Ancarrow
Liz Anderson
Shahn Anderson
Brett Appel
Ash
Todd Bass
Nick Baxter
Aaron Bell
Jennifer Billig
Jason Bradbury
London Bellman
Larry Brogan
Bugs
Ryan Burches
Jon Clue
Sal Constantino
Mike Davis
Mike DeVries
Chris Dingwell
Dan Dittmer
Jeff Ensminger
David M. Evans
Joey Foote
Frankie Frieri
Jim Jack Gambell
Dan Gilsdorf
Sketch Grinis
Jorge A gWooki
Chris Haefele
Ezra Haidet
Roll Hardy
Haru
Shawn Hebrank
Emily Hefley
Megan Hoogland
Joe Huck
Nikko Hurtado
Shigernori Iwasaki
Jon-Jon
Junii
Jon Kelly
Timothy Kern
Tyler Kinnaman
Stephen Knight
Cory Kruger
Filip Leu
Titine Leu
Weldon Lewis
Eric J. Limas
Mike Magee
Y Maria
Clay McCay
Matthew McCord
Ricky McGee
Don McDonald
Jake Meeks
Pat Murdough
Miss Nico
Steve Morris
Pilipus Murdiganto
Nervio
Oly
Thaddeus Paskey
Richard Pinch
Leah Peters
Snir Rozensal
Chuey Quintanar
Tommy Rath
Kimberly Reed
Jack Rudy
Joshua Philip Ruff
Lizi Sage
Junii & Bill Salmon
Zsolt Sarkozi
Jennifer Schichi
Kelly Schwarz
Joanne Slorach
Zack Spurlock
Brian “Monk” Taylor
TeeJay
Peter Udvari
Marco Velazquez
Vanessa Waites
Dave C. Wallin
Rev. Chad A. Wells
Kurt Wiscombe
The scratch art medium is unique in its handling and its finished look. The variety of techniques we've seen coming in is as diverse as the art itself. If you haven't started your boards yet, here are some suggestions.
1) Be ready to throw away at least one board- a lot can be learned from a little experimentation.
2) Anything can be used for scratching, but the tools made specifically for the job are definitely helpful. Ampersand Art sells a tool kit at many art supply stores that includes a stylus, a curved blade for cleaning larger areas of the board, steel wool for soft gradients, a fine wire brush for making soft brush strokes, a coarse wire brush for random scratch effects and a tool that looks like a flat tattooing needle group. Tattoo needles are also good for scratching but handle differently from these other tools.
3) You can touch up small mistakes with black India ink; when the board is finished, a clear coat of acrylic spray will even out the black finish.
4) Ink washes can be used to create soft gradients over scratched areas, although these effects can be achieved through scratching alone.
5) The black board can be drawn on with light colored pencil; you can even use a projector if desired to lay out your design.
We can't wait to start laying the book out in September!
Also in the news this month, look for the September issue of Mac Life Magazine, which features Michele Wortman as a multimedia cyber tattooist. Mac Life has been featuring a creative person in each issue; their choice to feature a tattoo artist is a groundbreaking first. Subscribers already have the September issue in their hands, and newsstands will be carrying it this coming week.
In addition, we will be visiting the Hell City Convention in Pheonix, Arizona on August 24-26. Michele will be tattooing at this show, while Guy will be there to perform in a contest called "Tattoo Wars" with celebrated biomech tattooist Aaron Cain. This contest will be televised on TLC this fall. Michele and Guy will also be participating in ArtFusion Experiment performances that weekend, and will be signing copies of their art books Organica and Moments of Epiphany. It promises to be an event-filled weekend; if you plan on being there, come visit us at our booth.
We'll have two new shirt designs with us at the Hell City show, which will then be added to our online catalogue when we return at the end of the month. Both designs are by Michele Wortman, and include a men's and a women's design. Printed in vintage inks on organic cotton shirts, both are attractive contemporary designs for the tattoo fan.
We also have a new print available, "Rotator 1", which is a collaborative oil painting done by Guy Aitchison and renowned geometric tattooist Mike Cole. The original painting was just finished and isn't even dry yet; this new print is literally hot off the presses. We'll have copies of the print on archival canvas, signed by both artists, available at our booth. We hope to see you there. Have a great August, and stay cool!
Guy & Michele
www.hyperspacestudios.com