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Raindrops on Roses
Nov. 6th, 2009 03:21 pmA few of my favorite things. And shit like that.
Recently acquired the Mother Lode o' MindStyle Stitch artists proofs (APs).
First, a bit of perseveration about what exactly an AP is. I didn't know this - or at least wasn't familiar with it as the People of the Vinyl use it. A proof, as it's used in printing, is usually a trial print they give to the artist, before they run off the full set of prints. I thought it was traditionally supposed to be different, but collecting being the big deal it is, I think the term might have loosened to just a batch of prints they set aside for an artist. One important thing: if you're doing a limited run, say 500 prints, the proofs DON'T COUNT.
Now, for vinyl toys, seemingly, it's similar to the latter conception, where they'll run off a batch of the regular toys and just give them to the artist in question. For the MindStyle Experiment 626 Project, four of the 5 artists on the first wave of figures (Ron English did two Stitches, but evidently hasn't participated so far) added some individual touches to their APs and sold them to collectors.
Now, I've said "sold" like it's something you go and buy. Actually, it's nothing like that. What happens is that the individual artist will announce that they've got a batch of APs ready to sell, or "drop" in the parlance. Word spreads, sometimes from their personal blog, sometimes from one of the toy collecting forums, or sometimes, it seems, via magical space aliens. The artist sets a date and time for the sale. Sometimes this is precise, depending on how mischievous the artist is feeling, and sometimes, it's approximate. You push aside any other appointments or physical dealings for the time period surrounding the "drop" time. Then you hit the artist's blog and start reloading their page. And reloading. And reloading. And then the APs are up. And then, just like that, they're gone. Usually within seconds.
Anyways, back to the APs themselves. The individual touches can range from tiny splashes of added color to a complete repainting of the item. I've attached pictures of two of my favorite APs from the artist Angry Woebots. The first just has a few dots of green paint added. The second is completely hand painted.
Anyways, I've spent a good chunk of Friday catching up on Project Runway, and setitng up a Flickr set here if you'd like to see more madness.
Recently acquired the Mother Lode o' MindStyle Stitch artists proofs (APs).
First, a bit of perseveration about what exactly an AP is. I didn't know this - or at least wasn't familiar with it as the People of the Vinyl use it. A proof, as it's used in printing, is usually a trial print they give to the artist, before they run off the full set of prints. I thought it was traditionally supposed to be different, but collecting being the big deal it is, I think the term might have loosened to just a batch of prints they set aside for an artist. One important thing: if you're doing a limited run, say 500 prints, the proofs DON'T COUNT.
Now, for vinyl toys, seemingly, it's similar to the latter conception, where they'll run off a batch of the regular toys and just give them to the artist in question. For the MindStyle Experiment 626 Project, four of the 5 artists on the first wave of figures (Ron English did two Stitches, but evidently hasn't participated so far) added some individual touches to their APs and sold them to collectors.
Now, I've said "sold" like it's something you go and buy. Actually, it's nothing like that. What happens is that the individual artist will announce that they've got a batch of APs ready to sell, or "drop" in the parlance. Word spreads, sometimes from their personal blog, sometimes from one of the toy collecting forums, or sometimes, it seems, via magical space aliens. The artist sets a date and time for the sale. Sometimes this is precise, depending on how mischievous the artist is feeling, and sometimes, it's approximate. You push aside any other appointments or physical dealings for the time period surrounding the "drop" time. Then you hit the artist's blog and start reloading their page. And reloading. And reloading. And then the APs are up. And then, just like that, they're gone. Usually within seconds.
Anyways, back to the APs themselves. The individual touches can range from tiny splashes of added color to a complete repainting of the item. I've attached pictures of two of my favorite APs from the artist Angry Woebots. The first just has a few dots of green paint added. The second is completely hand painted.
Anyways, I've spent a good chunk of Friday catching up on Project Runway, and setitng up a Flickr set here if you'd like to see more madness.
