Sleepy Dan Brand

COLLECTIVE STATUS

Mon, 28 May 2012 20:23:00 -0500

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!

PRINTED THREADS

Thu, 24 May 2012 22:57:00 -0500

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!

SERIES 2 RELEASE - PLUSH

Sun, 20 May 2012 18:44:00 -0500

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!

CHINGO BLING TACO TRUCK

Wed, 09 May 2012 22:36:00 -0500

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.

SLEEP BOOK

Tue, 08 May 2012 19:20:00 -0500

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…

DOUBLE WIDE CREATIVITY

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:48:57 -0500

A staple bar of Deep Ellum is the Double Wide and the up an coming staple muralist in Dallas is Justin Blanks and his Howdy project.

I had the opportunity to catch him in the middle of the newest mural addition to the Double Wide… So I just had to share some pics!

When you get the chance, you gotta check out the courtyard final… Another amazing addition to the Deep Ellum!

ZIPPY MOLDING RECAP 2

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 13:17:00 -0500

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…

DALLAS ART WALK

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 22:54:00 -0500

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!

STICKER ROBOT

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:38:53 -0500

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!!!

BATCH TWO RELEASE

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 21:21:00 -0500

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…

POCKET NOTE PADS

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 23:25:00 -0500

Cutting up a whole bunch of pocket note pads for the Sleepy Dan fan packs, they’ve got a whole bunch of surprises… The pads have un-ruled pages great for drawing or writing notes. I always have one of these on me!

Sleepy Dan fan pack has it all…

DEEP ELLUM ARTS FESTIVAL

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 23:34:00 -0500

The annual Deep Ellum Arts Festival was this weekend, from Friday till Sunday. Since this is my hood, I just had to hang with some friends and share some pics. One of the best turn outs I’ve seen so far, we heard there were 10,000 people attending just the first day!

A beautiful Dallas day, dozens of local and national artists, four band stages, drinks and Texas’ fried food = an amazing event to check out every year!

Rock, Blues, Country, Punk, Folk, Indie Pop, Reggae, Ska… Several days of four stages gives lots of room for so much! Check out the band list

Artists like John Hung Ha were traveling from as far as Brooklyn to set up. Loved his small character designs… All original paintings came in several sizes, every one different, and covered in a clear resin so they were very brignt. Great addition to any collection!

Amazing local artist friends like Sara Zamora get to show off all their hard work and meet so many new friends! She created her own private studio this year. An artist with a message like hers has become a jewel in Dallas arts culture.

I ran into another artist friend Tyson Summers who painted a panel for last year’s Sleepy Dan launch party. He’s a local legend showing off his mural skills on many of Deep Ellum’s walls. Now creating smaller murals you can take home!

Then I ran into the HugBox, spreading something… Not sure what was going on here, but ladies getting into the spirit of the event didn’t mind sharing PDAs with a stranger in a box offering free love!

Painters getting to know the fans created on a live surface too!

The greatest artist of the day had to be David Pound from Tennessee. His TwentyHeads.com project was on display. His tiny monster head sculptures were amazing, and each inside it’s own wooden shadow box…

David has pics uploaded to his facebook page, but nothing close to what he had at the event… Just gotta keep in touch with him and find out what he has. Hopefully we can get him to contribute to our next Vinyl Thoughts event?

ZIPPY MOLDING RECAP 1

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 23:17:00 -0500

The custom Zippy project was all hand made with the help from my great friend Scott at Monster Bot Studio, now I get to share a behind the scenes look at the process! It’s been a challenge sculpting for the vinyl shows, so it was time to make some Sleepy Dan zipper pulls!

The first step is sculpting the pillow logo and alarm icon out of Sculpey. The zipper pulls have to be very small, so the details had to be sculpted with Scott’s expert tools…

The sculpting process had to be perfect… The original pieces were sculpted in several sittings, adding and removing more material to get it looking as close to a final before the molding process can begin.

After they are finalized and baked to be solid, the pieces are super glued to a ceramic tile, then a cardboard barricade is hot glued to the tile to create the border of the mold.

The mold material is a two part mixture that has to be measured exactly. If not exact, the mold will not solidify completely.

Then they are mixed completely till they are solid purple color. The mold material takes 24 hours to cure 100% so we had plenty of time to mix then pour over the original zippy designs and into the barricade.

The mold material is very thick like glue, so it traps bubbles very easily. Scott owns a pressure pot, which is a necessary step to remove the bubbles from the mold, or the castings could have bubble imperfections. The pressure pot is basically a vacuum pot hooked up to an air compressor, which forces the air bubbles out of the mold.

Success! We have a first mold… The sculpey designs are broken during this process to protect the first mold when removed. This first mold is then used to create a dozen original castings that can be perfected more before the production casting. The red areas mark some problems on the first castings that were corrected before the production mold is made.

Stay tuned for the Zippy Molding Recap 2 to see how the process is completed…

ONE YEAR STRONG

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:15:00 -0500

Sleepy Dan is coming up on the first year anniversary with a Spring line release… Been a crazy year meeting new fans and making friends with clothing brands locally and internationally! I’m happy to help with advice or sharing production contacts, I believe artists should be competing with their art not who they know. Brands are sending me shirts to say thanks for the help, so I had to share this one since Sleepy Dan will be officially joining the first year club this Spring!

It’s something to be proud of to celebrate the first year and this shirt was designed as an homage to that success. So congrats to HateMale Clothing and best wishes for every year to come… I’ve got my ticket to be there with you. No matter how strong you think you are, your friends will always be there to help give you strength to push on for next year!

VINYL THOUGHTS RECAP 2

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 01:13:00 -0500

Just had to share some more recap pics like this one! The line to get into the Vinyl Thoughts event was so much longer this year and we’re sorry about it. So this coming year the event will be moving to a much larger event space…

Lots of new custom vinyl fans in Dallas! Double the amount we had last year and the show had double the sales… So it’s gonna be amazing to see what happens at the next event with proven success like this.

New artists create new ideas for the event! A great friend of mine Adrian from Black Sheep Limited brought this amazing addition to the show. A Japanese capsule machine that had branded keychains and buttons to promote the event. There was a golden ball in one of the capsules, so when it was found you won the prize! At $1 per capsule, this was an amazing success.

Our great friend Sam (with the hair) worked on this Pac Man themed custom mold project with custom boxes for each character!

MotorBot created this realistic Piranha Plant, another big fav of the night.

What makes this event so great is the multitude of new artists testing their sculpting skills with smaller characters. The size is equal to the price, so they are not out of your price range if you can’t leave without one!

New vinyl fans were diggin on the Sleepy Dan shirts too! I was handing out pillow key chains all night long…

Just had to take pics of Sleepy Dan fans with their new shirts and pillow boxes.

Pretty much everyone was walkin around with bags of new purchases. Free drinks are just the icing on the cake!

Friends are easy to spot, especially when they’re wearing custom Mario 3 dresses. The style continued from the vinyls to the what everyone was wearing!

Special thanks to all the sponsors and attendees that made this event so amazing. Artists love workin hard, especially when we get this kinda recognition. We’re just gonna outdo ourselves again next time! What surprises await you?

SOUTH BY SO WHAT

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 23:43:00 -0500

On March 17th I went to Quick Trip Park with Alexa Machine to print some event shirts for the South By So What festival. One day event with 30+ hard core bands! Beautiful weather and bad ass music makes an amazing day with friends!

Live screen printing at the event meant someone that wanted a shirt could see their shirt get printed for them right there…

Sleepy Dan did not set up a table at the event cause I was helping the team print, but just so happened to run into the Loyal KNG team with Captain Panda!

The crowds grew all day and the main stage mosh pits were movin no matter what band was playin…

There were three stages set up in the middle of the baseball field. All day into the night, as soon as one band ended another was already starting up. So the crowds just migrated around the field.

So much action means sometimes you gotta crash… On the time on and off the road pushes the limits of sleep, a story I know well. Planking has been around for a couple years now, maybe it just needs a little reality refresh to sleeping!

Reality is… it’s a music festival, so I’m not sure if guys like this are passed out, peaking, or just taking a break from the mayhem on the comfy outfield!

When was the last time you were so tired you could pass out face down on concrete, in the middle of a rock concert, on a very windy and sunny day?

Napping has got to become the next planking!

VINYL CHARACTER SCULPTING

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 22:41:00 -0500

Immersed in the Dallas vinyl toy culture, I’ve been diversifying my style by learning to sculpt more creatively. The process of sculpting has many prep steps to master in order, or there are problems before the end. So I’m gonna share some pics of the Bald Bull and King Hippo character creation!

Whatever vinyl blank I use, the smooth surface has to be sanded down to create a rough texture for the Sculpey to bond best with. The first step is building the character’s facial structure. The process is easier if I have some reference images and sketches to look back to during the sculpting.

After Bald Bull’s huge cheek bones and eyebrows are placed, the fun part is creating the finer details on top. I was given a great set of sculpting tools by a friend, but the tools are mostly used to created details, not the base structure. The same with King Hippo’s structure, gotta build the base first! Might not look like him yet, but I have a plan to stick to if it’s gonna turn out right…

Every time creating a new project, I have to make mistakes along the way to learn the process. This time I had to learn the hard way that you can’t build the Sculpey deeper than 1 inch deep, or it does not cure 100% when you bake it. Which means it will not be dry when you paint it, so the paint will not dry… So I had to use a heat gun to fully cure the dome head on both characters.

After two very late nights, I thought I was done sculpting, so they are baked in the oven for 15 minutes to cure the Sculpey. Can’t over bake or I get cracks, so I’m hoping for the best every time… Or it’s back to the beginning!

After I fixed the clay curing problem, they are base coated and ready for the detail painting fun part… Custom padded boxing gloves and satin shorts with elastic were stitched to fit the toys, to complete the character design! Then the original packaging was modified and revised to fit the new head shapes. I even printed some custom Mike Tyson’s Punch Out graphics for the box sides! Details of the packaging are just the cherry on top!!!

VINYL THOUGHTS RECAP 1

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 22:20:00 -0500

This year’s event was a complete success, so many new fans that we’re gonna have to move to a new larger event space! VT is quickly rising to the top as Texas’ largest custom vinyl toy event.

These are the two characters I created for the vinyl event this year! My event t shirt design had a Donkey Kong theme, so my vinyls are an homage to another favorite game from my youth… Mike Tyson’s Punch Out

I created a design for the box to continue the theme to the packaging. Bald Bull and King Hippo are getting some high society travel quarters…

The satin shorts and padded boxing gloves were stitched especially for this project. This is my first time sculpting character faces, now that I have the confidence to create, Sleepy Dan is gonna bring some print graphics to life!

Some favorites from the show were this bad ass original NES tribute.

An R2-D2 stand for your iphone, complete with a Star Wars droid game.

This Mario design was amazing. The weathered detail set off the lost life theme.

Sleepy Dan set up a merch table at the show and met some great new fans!

Naturally the Sleepy Bowser shirt design was a favorite for the night. All shirts sold at the event came with the pillow apparel box.

The event was packed! The building was at legal max capacity all night, so the line outside was given lots of free stuff… The raffles were amazing too, so much fun to have a successful free event with free drinks!

Luigi finally saved the princess! So much fun when fans come dressed to honor the event… Recap 2 coming soon

VT2 EVENT SHIRT PRINTING

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 22:01:00 -0500

An inspiring night requires an inspiring shirt design… The theme of the Vinyl Thoughts event was Next Level. A tribute to retro video games, so I had to create something using one of my favorite games growing up, the classic Donkey Kong! With the help of Alexa Machine this shirt printing went perfect.

To line up a four color print on the press, you gotta tape one of the films to the pallet in the same spot you want all the prints. So you can line up all the screens in the press to that film, this is the basic registration of the print.

You will be able to see the film thru the negative space of the emulsified screen, and just gotta line them up perfectly and tighten the screws on the press…

Once all four screens are taped off on the back and loaded with the correct ink color, the printing begins!

This four station, six color manual press is perfect for two people to print at once. Just gotta print the colors in the correct order and communicate so no mistakes are made. Check out the final color printing

Then you get perfect prints like this! I wanted to design something with huge letters, so the levels of the Donkey Kong board were a perfect large surface area.

Hot off the press, I picked up the shirts and rushed over to the event where all the shirts sold out that night! I am reprinting some more shirts now, so they will be available on my Sleepy Dan web shop this week.

The two color back design showed off all the sponsors for this year’s event. Now you know why the show was packed all night and has become such a hit for the up and coming Dallas vinyl arts culture.

Happy St. Patty's Day

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 11:11:00 -0500

Show Big D some love! Pinch anyone not wearing green, kiss an Irish ginger, and have a green beer on Greenville Ave. Get out and have fun, its a beautiful day in Dallas!!! But stay away from the shamrock shakes, they’re addictive…