Recently visiting Austin I had the chance to check out one of the hottest boutiques in the south! Inbetween takin care of the purchases, the boys at Collective Status took the time to talk about their great success over the past couple of years… Hosting some bad ass performers for their parties has definitely helped grow their fan base quickly.
Scrooge McBuckz and Zen Dutchmaster manage the Collective Status boutique and DJ their own parties. The shop is located in the middle of 6th Street, with great exposure and a perfect lookout over the busiest part of Austin nightlife.
Perfect layout, they make you feel like you’re right at home in you’re own closet.
Some top brands in shop, definitely check it out whenever you’re in Austin!
Thanks to Petey at Printed Threads, a new edition to Sleepy Dan gonna release next week! A little icing on the cake for the Series 2 line release next month…
You can take it from me, the creative team at Printed Threads is one of the best in Dallas! The shop is ultra clean and organized to maximize production quality.
Petey is printing some serious quality on both automatics and manual presses. There’s more than just shirt printing coming out of their shop, just could not show all the tricks up their sleeves…
Printed Threads ink mixing and application technique is pretty serious. They’re located in Keller so they have lots of room in the shop for working surfaces… You will see on the next Sleepy Dan project that their printing quality is amazing!
Saturday, June 16th from 6pm-9pm it’s going down! If you missed the gallery launch party for Sleepy Dan last year, here’s your chance to take part in another year of history. The series release party is the biggest event I throw all year, so you’re gonna have to wait another year if you miss it…
The Plush Gallery is located in the heart of Dallas’ design district. It’s a perfect venue for all the activities planned. Another huge group of artists painted themed panels for the gallery show, I will be doing some live screen printing of an exclusive design which you get for free if you purchase a shirt from the new series that is releasing the night of the party. Remember… You Snooze, You Lose!
Every once in a while I have the opportunity to create a design for musician friends. Chingo Bling has been a great friend since wearing Sleepy Dan shirts in his music videos last year. This design was too sweet not to share…
I’m proud to say my favorite lunch comes from a truck, now Chingo Bling gonna give the taco some style! You can buy a shirt from the Chingo Bling site.
Hopefully he’ll be printing the script design and adding to the Chingo Bling shop soon… Better cop your size while they last, it released today just before hosting the Latino music festival Pachanga Fest 2012 in Austin this weekend.
Whenever I see someone yawn, I am immediately yawning… Did you yawn when you saw the cover of Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book? Fans see Sleepy Dan and think I’m tired during the day so I must be lazy. The truth is I barely sleep because I’m workin all the time, that’s where my passion and creativity is born!
I love the abstract character design of Dr. Seuss’s, he created this book as a visual representation of why I love sleep so much! I learned you should never judge a book by it’s cover but Seuss’s style is an artform!
Sleep traditionally takes place at night but all I need is a comfortable spot to lay my head… In a bed or on a chair, I can fall asleep anywhere!
Do you have a comfy memory before going to sleep? Like reading Dr. Seuss…
Whatever Dr. Seuss book was your favorite, they’re all classic for bedtime…
Time to finish up the Zippy molding recap! I hope you liked the first one, that was the easy part… Now it gets a little more difficult. Steps need to be followed exactly and measurements have to be perfect when mixing the casting resin or you get a pile of snot!
I left off just after the first mold is complete and able to make the first castings. This resin material is a two part mixture, so I have to measure out two exact amounts in clear cups to be precise.
After the two cups are mixed together, they’re poured quickly into the mold without air bubbles or there’s imperfections in the casting. Once the two parts are mixed, the chemical reaction that bonds them creates heat.
The purpose of this first casting is to make an original set that is a near perfect match to the original Sculpey design, so multiple production molds can be made. Imperfections in the first casting set can be sanded and corrected at this stage before the production mold is poured.
Once the first casting set is perfect and the Eye Pins are inserted correctly, the production mold is set up. The first casting set can be used to make multiple production molds depending on how many total castings will be made.
Each production mold has a lifespan, only able to make 10-15 moldings before the mold details begin to corrupt and create too many imperfections. Then a new production mold is poured around the set. The first castings can make as many productions molds as long as they are kept safe…
Once the production mold is ready, the eye pins are inserted pre-pour so the production casting is secure to the eye pins.
Then the production casting begins, again mixing precise amounts then adding the dye to create the desired color… Only a couple drops of dye are necessary.
Pouring techniques are just as important as the mixing, this helps cut down on bubbles getting trapped in the mold while pouring.
Both parts are clear to confirm correct mixing, when they are mixed with the dye they’re still clear. When the chemical reaction begins after poured into the mold, the clear material turns cloudy slowly then becomes entirely opaque.
The process is repeated after the molds are cleaned out and prepped again. These materials are hazardous so rubber gloves and cardboard are used everywhere to keep the working area clean. Lots of trial and error and Zippys are born! A limited amount were made so get a pair while they’re here…
I’ve got a little present for you! The Dallas Art Walk was today, so I visited a bunch of local CADD and DADA galleries that were opening their doors to the public and sharing some beautiful art on a beautiful day…
This wrapping present at the Craighead Green Gallery was so realistic, I almost had to touch to test… Almost got a hand slap!
The impressionist detail of this painting was amazing. Visiting the galleries in the morning made me think about the ripples in the pond. I had a great day visiting the galleries, so one great stone throw was effecting my whole day positively.
These four panels were 6 inch x 3 inch with so much small detail they left a magnifying glass to really check them out!
Abstract character art is always a fav of mine. Both of these were from the same artist… Beautiful style and I’m sure would make a great stand alone show!
Brad Albright had some pieces hanging at Kettle Art so I had to hang with him to end the night… Love his detailed pen & ink design! Brad is already workin on a Sleepy Dan panel for the Spring line launch party next month. Will have more details about the release date and spot soon!
It was a long day and I traveled to dozens of galleries. The Dallas arts culture has lots to offer so visit a gallery with some friends or for a great date night!
Special delivery from Sticker Robot, just got the new Sleepy Dan stickers! So if you buy a fan pack you are getting the new Wake Up sticker too…
The first year stickers were ordered from Sticker Robot, but I did some crazy research and still found Sticker Robot is the best quality for die cut stickers… They’re screen printed and UV coated to last a lifetime is stuck in the right spot!
There is just no beating how easy it is to order from their website and they have the fastest shipping time. I love you Sticker Robot… You’re my hero!!!
Last night, my great friend Joonbug from Fresh Kaufee had his second release party at the Opening Bell coffee house in Dallas. Great event and as always and he delivered some creativity to entertain!
Joonbug is an amazing character artist, this screen printed poster design is the introduction of the Doughnut Darryl character! Nothing goes better with coffee than doughnuts…
All the posters were numbered… It’s great to see more designers learning how to screen print and create prints to sell on their own! Once you learn the process you can print on anything.
He hooked up with some local friends the Lunch Buddies, to work on the large scale poster printing. Amazing job as always, it’s so fun to see a behind the scenes look too.
Going to an event with Fresh Kaufee means you get to experience everything like you’re in Wonka Land… He packages all his shirts in printed coffee bags and even the shirts smell like freshly ground coffee!
The coffee shop was packed all night but Joonbug shared some of his Fresh Kaufee sketchbooks so you could see his design process. He is a great guy to hang with and always willing to sketch something silly for you. Everyone got to take home an original of their own!
If you came out to the event, you could get a custom printed Bean Pack that had a bunch of stuff including a random original doodle from Joonbug. I got there crazy early so I was helping stuff the Bean Packs with some friends…
DJ Jay Clipp was there to mix it up! Hopefully you will be seeing him at lots more events coming up…
