Team 8 Press

We've moved...

2011-07-07T09:32:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody still hanging with us here. We've been pretty MIA for a reason. We've been busy making Team Eight our lively hood and we finally have a bit to show for it:

TEAM-EIGHT.COM

We'll be sharing recent work, news and the rest of the good stuff at this new site from now on. As a result, we'll no longer be posting here very often. Onward, into the future!

"Mind Over Matters" Comic!

2010-12-06T20:10:00.002-05:00

"Mind Over Matters" Comic!

Alright, so here it is! I'm super excited to be able to present the first chapter of a comic book series that I've been working on. It's part of an advertising campaign for Benefix, a drug for people with hemophilia. This has been in the works since March, and I just finished drawing chapter three. It's also been turned into a mobile game (which hopefully I can find a link to).Enjoy and hopefully I'll get to post chapter two soon. Click below to check out the whole thing posted on the web:

http://benefix.com/mindovermatters/

Peace!

Barry

www.barrybruner.com

Prints!

2010-11-20T11:09:00.001-05:00

Hey all!

I just got a bunch of prints made in 11"x17" and 8 1/2"x 11", and they will be for sale via my website (or just send me an email) or at the Bizarre market holiday show which is at Chop Suey books in Cary Town, Richmond, Virginia. There will be a lot of other fun stuff for sale so come check it out. The work will be up for all of December, so come and check it out and buy some stuff!

Barry

Puke Breath

2010-10-11T11:15:00.000-04:00

Hi all! Here's a new one for the upcoming Time Out Chicago Sex Issue. The article I illustrated was a collection of submitted stories about many awkward and unfortunate ending sexual encounters. The one I chose to illustrate was about a guy queasy, yet lustful, guy who was persistent in making out despite having just vomited. Yeah it's silly, but it was a lot of fun to work on, and it ended up looking sort of psychedelic in the end.

And, oh yes, thank you Cody for having a similar story in your arsenal, and inspiring me to steal photos of you on Facebook to use as reference. There's a slight likeness but I don't think anyone will recognize you on the street.

Thanks!

Work: The 2010 Harnett Biennial

2010-09-26T10:36:00.003-04:00

Bizhan Khodabandeh has a screen-printed piece in "The 2010 Harnett Biennial of American Prints"

This is the University of Richmond's ninth national celebratory exhibition of contemporary print making. The exhibition juror, Laura Kruger is the Curator of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Museum in New York. Forty six artists from twenty states were selected.

The exhibition opens Oct 21st and is up till Dec 5th. in the Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art.

Harnett Museum hours:
Tuesday - Sunday between 1 and 5pm
Admission is FREE

Also opening during this time is "Eye of the Collector: Works on paper from the Sigmund R. Balka collection." This is a selection of works from the Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion Museum in New York and is also curated by Laura Kruger.

Bizarre Market

2010-09-17T12:59:00.000-04:00

I just finished making the poster for Richmond's Fall Bizarre Market. What's the Bizarre Market you ask. Well, its a recurring event that consists of local artists, crafts people, and others selling all kinds of stuff like baked goods, jewelry, greeting cards, and anything else you can think of.

The first Fall market is on Saturday, Sept. 18th at The Visual Arts Center (1812 W. Main St.) from 12-6pm. I think I'm supposed to be doing portraits or something like that for it. Ten percent of all proceeds benefit SOHO (a Space of Her Own), a mentoring program for girls from Gilpin Court sponsored by the Visual Arts Center of Richmond. For more info click here.

As far as the poster goes- I hand made two type faces for it, which is something I've been playing around a lot with lately. I think I'll make a post soon featuring all the type faces I've been messing with. Overall it was a ton of fun to work on and I'm looking forward to seeing it hanging around town.

Barry

www.barrybruner.com

Big Boi and Yoko Ono

2010-07-13T12:23:00.002-04:00

So, I really like Outkast, therefore I was thrilled when Time Out: Chicago contacted me to do a full page illustration of Big Boi for the upcoming Pitchfork Festival. In the tradition of hip hop stars Big Boi is quite polyonymous, and that's what Time Out wanted to see. His aliases are Sir Lucious Left Foot, Daddy Fat Stacks, Hot Tub Tony, Billy Ocean, and Francis the Savannah Chittlin' Pimp. I had a lot of fun with this one. Hopefully some more hip hop jobs are on the way.

In addition Time Out wanted me to do a quarter page illo about a previous Pitchfork festival incident. Yoko Ono performed in 2007 and was being somewhat difficult in the rehearsal. A dust storm formed in the adjacent baseball field and the Pitchfork team had to soak the field with bottles of water so she would perform.

Check back soon. Hopefully I'll be able to post something related to the long-term project that I've been working on. Thanks!

-B

3x3 Annual!

2010-05-26T14:10:00.001-04:00

I got something into the 3x3 Illustration Annual! It's the Anatomy of a Richmond Murder piece I did for Richmond Magazine several months ago. The annual should be available sometime in the Fall. Click herefor a list of everyone who got in this year.

Galvanized Monstrocities

2010-03-23T13:30:00.001-04:00

A three person exhibition of works by James Callahan, Matt Deans and Bizhan Khodabandeh. These illustrators have been highly influenced by sequential art, an art form beginning to receive recognition through long standing institutions such as the Eisner Awards, established in 1988. Galvanized Monstrosities moves sequential art and illustration from their origins on newsprint to the art print and installation.

7-10pm Friday, April 9th
At Black Hand Coffee Shop
606 North Sheppard Street
Richmond, VA 23221-1712

Artist BIOS

El Aquador

James Callahan, creator of Barf Comics, is an artist and writer for a host of international publications including his own graphic novel "Rotting in Dirtville", and the comics Booyah the Oblitorator, and the Barf Comics annual. In addition, he is art director of the skate magazine Born Ugly, owner of Nowhere Skateboards, and lends his skills to a bevy of commisioned illustration projects. Known as a connoisseur of cookouts, purveyor of comedy, and antiquarian of wasted time, the man known as Barf is currently on the "no entry" list to multiple countries and nation states.

Gills And Wings

Matt Deans is a full-time digital printer, part-time screenprinter and part-part-time illustrator. When the world was young in 2004, he started a screenprinting art club with some like-minded friends and it was called Team 8. Under the monicker of Team 8, he has contributed art for several t-shirts, album covers, poster, websites and public restroom stalls. Team 8 currently exists as an independent small business specializing in hand-printed gig posters and art prints. In 2008, Team 8 and Velocity Comics published a series of minicomics, one of those said minicomics being Tom Batten and Matt's La Viande est Mauvaise, which received outstanding critical praise from Matt's mom.

Nong Toom

Bizhan Khodabandeh is a visual communicator who moves freely across the professional boundaries as a designer, illustrator, artist and activist. His works vary from small graphic art projects to major public campaigns such as the internationally recognized, "I Dream of a Richmond . . ." project. Khodabandeh is particularly facinated by how art and design can be a catalyst for social change.

He was recently honored as one of the "Top 40 Under 40" Class of 2009 by Style Weekly Magazine. The descriptive article included....."In a town filled with noteworthy visual designers, Khodabandeh is one of the most influential — and prolific."

The work included in Galvanized Monstrosities, exhibits some of his illustrations and fine art prints. These prints exhibit frustration as dissent and surrealistic environments as escape. Most of the work is a combination of traditional and digital media, walking the fine line between commercial and fine art.

Khodabandeh is currently working on a graphic adaptation of Samad Behranghi's, The Little Black Fish, a children's story about questioning authority and finding the answers through exploration.

He teaches at Virginia Commonwealth University and Appomattox Regional Governors School. He is also the Design Director of Gallery5 and freelances under the name, Mended Arrow Design.

Prints at Park

2010-03-15T14:56:00.005-04:00

A collection of Team Eight’s work is adorning the walls of Richmond’s Park Group this month. Special thanks to Dawn for inviting us in and helping us set up! But, unless you are a client, the show is unfortunately not open to the public. (Womp Womp) If you feel as if you too need to stare at the great works of this groups screen printed genius, then contact Spencer to get the details of how to make this dream a reality.

Anatomy of a Richmond Murder

2010-02-10T15:14:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone, I just finished two illos for Richmond Magazine. The story they accompany was a series of noir-esque, first hand events that took place in the familiar setting of Richmond. A body is found on the shore of the James River, the police seem disinterested, so the writer takes upon himself to find out what happened. Interesting stuff.

I based the image off of Saul Bass's classic poster for "Anatomy of a Murder." I realize he (when he was alive) got very testy when his style was emulated, especially in the case of the poster for "Clockers." So I think to myself, "Maybe I can join the ranks of Saul Bass rip off artists!" I don't know, but I feel like his style has become so iconic that it's entered into our visual lexicon, so I had no qualms borrowing imagery. I separated the hand from the arm b/c allegedly the body was found wearing only one glove on his right hand which is important later on in the story.

Also the body isn't centered b/c the the left hand side falls across the gutter of the magazine.

The second image is a spot that depicts the protagonist discovering evidence and the place of the crime.

Lots of Little People!

2010-02-04T23:51:00.001-05:00

I just did a portrait of Meredith Whitney for Globe and Mail's Report on Business, a Canadian publication. Think of it like the USA Today of Canada. Mrs. Whitney is a stock analyst who regularly appears on TV news speaking her mind about the state of the economy and and the the stock market. She's known for being very outspoken and having a much more dire outlook than many of her colleagues. So I decided to draw her confidently walking through a sea of her peers. Drawing all the little people was a challenge and a lot of fun.

Here are some details:

3x3

2010-02-02T11:21:00.004-05:00

I totally forgot to mention that I got piece into the 3x3 juried annual that is currently on sale at bookstores. There's a lot of good work in this year's annual, so I definitely recommend taking a look. Enjoy!

Also the call for entries for the next annual is coming up on March 15th. Click here if you're interested.

Thanks,

Barry

www.barrybruner.com
http://barrybruner.blogspot.com/

Loose Limbs - share, discuss, and collect local RVA poster art

2010-01-19T14:49:00.002-05:00

Check out Loose Limbs, a new site built to showcase show poster art in the Richmond and surrounding areas. They're just starting out, but they're beginning to gather an impressive collection of local show poster art that you can peruse. You're invited to help the effort by adding your comments and critiques to the posters as well as share your stories about the bands and the shows depicted therein. And more importantly they need your posters.

If you've collected many, a few, or even just one of your favorite show posters from the area, send it in with your comments, so they can add it to the site.

Oh, and they've got a show calendar that is ambitiously attempting to provide most, if not all of the local show dates, times, and places. You can contribute to that, too.

loose-limbs.com

New Work: Bizhan Khodabandeh

2009-12-29T18:09:00.005-05:00

Some recent projects I have been working on.

Click on images to enlarge.

Poster design for a film showing of Beautiful Boxer. The film is based on the famous Thai boxer, Nong Toom. The academy I train at, Richmond BJJ Academy, will perform a Muay Thai demonstration before the film.

Film info:
Free February 9th at Gallery5.
Potluck begins 6PM
Muay Thai demonstration 7PM
Film showing begins 7:30PM

Posters for the SAYLOVE exhibition at Gallery5. The exhibition's mission is to present different perspectives of Love & Hate. The exhibition also involves audience participation in defining both Love & Hate. Designing an interactive poster was the best solution. More info can be found on Gallery5's website.

Exhibition info:
Opening reception 7PM January 8th
Say Love is a project that celebrates the triumphs and struggles of the LGBT community. This month-long event, exhibition and public-arts project is about inclusion and will showcase regional and nationally known visual and performing artists. This event will partner with numerous community organizations, non-profits and businesses to bring awareness to our under-represented GLBT community. This event is intended to not only express ourselves through art, but to inform all demographics across the board of the passions, struggles and triumphs we face.

Say Love is proudly brought to you by:
The Say Love Project
GayRVA
Gallery5
WRIR 97.3
The Rainbow Minute
Gay Fathers Coalition of Richmond
Taboo

Featuring Works by:
James Robertson
Aaron McIntosh
Lilly McElroy
L Weingarten
Kristina Willemse
Jesse Finley Reed
Eric Russell
William Davis
Kevin Orlosky

First two fully colored pages of The Little Black Fish. I still might make some changes. This is just the beginning stage of the coloring process. Out of the three approaches to coloring I have tried so far, the above version seems to work best. I am also thinking about using Art Rage as a method of coloring with more texture, but I am not sure yet.

The top logo is one of the versions I like, but wasn't appropriate for the client. We decided on the bottom logo since it would be more versitile by only using one color. The color choice is still undecided.

Ben Bernanke and Bear Troy

2009-11-23T13:44:00.001-05:00

Here's a new one for Stocks & Commodities. What we have here is Ben Bernanke using some crafty techniques to do battle w/ the economic crisis. I'm a huge history buff so naturally this was a lot of fun to work on. Hopefully it'll be on the cover some time next month.

Some details:

Barry
www.barrybruner.com

Call for entries!

2009-11-19T12:18:00.001-05:00

REPRESSED V: FREE TO SPEAK May 2010

José María Heredia - poet: inspired the Cuban people to stand up and fight against Spain.

Seymor Chwast-designer - illustrator: his anti-war poster "End Bad Breath" indirectly encouraged the anti-war movement
of the 70's.

John Lenin and Yoko Ono - famous musicians/artists: created the powerful anti-war campaign stating "THE WAR IS OVER...if you want it to be."

What makes statement driven art so emotionally powerful? It being witness to a piece of work that creates a bond between you, the viewer and the creator of the piece. A bond that can change the direction of thought and purpose.
A successfully executed statement driven piece can be the catalyst that inspires the average person into an active agent for change. Art exists in societies to create shared dialogues and experiences. No matter the medium, art and artists can be the spark to establishing a commonality, to allow us to empathize with each other and encourage altruistic pursuits for the greater good.

Dedicated to social awareness, Gallery5 invites visual and performing artists to submit their statement focused work to Repressed V: Free to Speak.

More info and an application can be downloaded here.

Sleight of Hand II: National Juried Contemporary
Craft Competition.

The Sleight of Hand II exhibition at Gallery5 seeks craft-makers who push the boundaries and definitions of craft. Craft-making is too often pigeon-holed into traditional definitions of basic utilitarian objects in clay, glass, wood, or metal. In reality, most craft-makers are not unlike fine artists in many respects. They push new concepts, introduce new materials and techniques, expand old techniques and use traditional materials in new ways. Gallery5 invites craft-makers fitting this criteria to submit their works to Sleight of Hand II.

Artists must be a resident of the United States

Up to $1000 in prizes
Jurors: TBA

Submission Fee: $20 for up to three works, $5 each additional work.
Submission Deadline: Wednesday, January 6th.
Notification of Selected Artists: Saturday, January 9th

Accepted artwork must be delivered to Gallery5 no later than Friday, January 29th.
Artwork must be packed in reusable packaging with return shipping label included.

Opening Reception and Award Ceremony: Friday, February 5th.
Exhibition Ends: Friday, February 26th.

Application can be downloaded here.

Goulash: You missed the opening

2009-11-18T12:01:00.002-05:00

Here's photos from the opening of our current show at GallowLily's. Thanks to Russ for the images here and the earlier process images.

Goulash: more process pics

2009-11-18T11:18:00.010-05:00

Here's more images of us setting up for the current show at GallowLily's.

Goulash follow up

2009-11-16T18:44:00.004-05:00

Our current show at GallowLily's entitled Goulash is still up until the end of the month. The opening was back on the sixth of November and was extremely packed for the tiny little space. I'll have a bunch more pics soon from the opening, but for now here's some images of Matt screen printing and prepping the walls before the art was hung.

ENDLESS BUMMER: THE ART OF BARF, Melbourne, Australia

2009-11-03T07:33:00.004-05:00

Team Eight-er James Callahan recently had an art show in Melbourne, Australia in the gallery Until Never. Read more about the show, entitled ENDLESS BUMMER: THE ART OF BARF. Featured in it was our very own Cross-Corporate Synergetics huge collabo print. Among many other of Barf's screened posters, a few skate decks and some album covers.

Oddly enough the show got some sweet coverage by American artist Jeff Soto, who was also in town to do a talk for Semi-Permanent. See it here on Fecal Face Dot Com (scroll half way down).

Hair'em Scare'em

2009-11-02T14:17:00.001-05:00

Some of my art is included in a book released this month by Gestalten. It's called Hair'em Scare'em, and it's dedicated to contemporary art and design themed around hair. Here's the publisher's description:

Hair'em Scare'em presents an extraordinary exploration through the fascinating beauty and inventive possibilities of hair as a medium for artistic expression in contemporary art and design. The book documents this palpable trend into a visual sourcebook that presents a captivating collection of hairy works in graphic design, photography, illustration and art as well as interior design, fashion and jewelry design. The extraordinary works featured in this book are the best indication of trends in hair outside the mainstream.

Here are some of the featured spreads from the book's website. Click here or on any images to be redirected there.

SI deadline

2009-10-26T12:05:00.002-04:00

For all those interested the Society of Illustrators Juried Annual Show's deadline is the Friday, Oct. 30th. Here's more info for all those interested:

Upcoming Team Eight show at GallowLily's Nov.6th-27th

2009-10-23T10:38:00.004-04:00

For those of you that don't know, GallowLily's is the small gallery located upstairs in Gallery5 next to their main gallery. We're planning to set up our screen printing equipment and help passersby pull prints all night, so don't miss the opening. Friday November 6th. 7pm.

New Work

2009-09-08T21:23:00.008-04:00

I'm super excited since my first illustration I did for The Progressive just hit stands. I've been dying to work with them because I love what they do and they use great illustrators. Here's a sample from the magazine:

click here to see a larger version of the illustration on my blog.

Here's another illustration for them about New Orleans unemployment. This one will be in their next issue.

Finally, these portraits are for a regular gig I've been doing for Time Out Chicago. They're for a column called "The Hot Seat" which features a notable cook from the Chicago area every week. More to come.

Also, good news! For all those interested, The Progressive was able to raise the funds they needed to stay afloat.

Best,

Barry

WHEN DINOS RULED RVA!

2009-08-30T17:25:00.002-04:00

Seen above: screen-printed poster to be cut vertically.

Seen above: select ceramic bones.

Friday, Sept. 4th
7PM-11PM
at the Lucent Phoenix Resource Center
located in Gallery5
200 W. Marshall St
Richmond, VA 23220
804 644 0005

When Dinos Ruled RVA! is a publics arts project as faux archaeological dig. There Once Was A Rebellion's (T.O.W.A.R.) Public Arts Collective has buried 20 sculpted ceramic "dinosaur bones" around the city of Richmond. Maps of the bones' whereabouts will be placed near the dig sites - as well as The Lucent Phoenix Resource Center - with clues to help the People of Richmond find them. People are then to take the bones to the Lucent Phoenix before or during the opening reception, Friday, September 4th, to receive a prize. The opening reception of When Dinos Ruled RVA! will include dino themed refreshments, cartoons, prizes, shirts, posters and more! Please joins us in this fun adventure to promote the public arts and acknowledge our magnificent predecessors whom have shared our planet earth.

Below are jpgs of the maps to find the dinosaurs. Just click on them to see a larger image. X MARKS THE SPOT!

The Progressive is in trouble!

2009-08-17T14:12:00.003-04:00

Many may already know about The Progressive, but it's a very old non-profit, liberal news magazine that showcases tons of great illustrations. This year is their 100th, but it also may be their last, since along with many other publications they are having difficulty staying afloat. But YOU can help. You can easily make donations on their website. I realize that many of us artist types are broke as crap right now, but even small donations can help. It would be terrible to lose such a great magazine like The Progressive. Give back to an organization that has supported illustration for so long. Donate here!

Barry

Singles

2009-08-12T19:44:00.004-04:00

After some delay Rebecca's animated short has finally made its way online!!

The film has just started to be shown in festivals and has already received many accolades. Including the award for best Experimental Film in NYC's Animation Block Party. She is currently working on Pug Davis, which will soon be hitting comic stores with its first collected volume.

blurg!

2009-08-03T16:03:00.002-04:00

please come check out my new blurg showcasing the best of the best in vomiting!

AMOSHIMASHA Artistries Group

2009-07-13T00:15:00.000-04:00

My best friend, otherwise known as Amosh, will be documenting his journey from China to Israel on a unicycle. Reality poetry will be accompanied with illustrations by your truly. Follow our blog here!

Those That Is Damned

2009-07-04T16:51:00.011-04:00

While digging around at the Comic store this weekend I was extremely surprised to find Rebecca's three page backup and my eight page backup both in the newest Goon trade. These shorts are well over a year old, but its still extremely exciting to have another book of the shelf at the comic store. So if you're like me and too lazy to hunt down back issues and too weirded out to buy an anthology with Myspace in the title, this book might be for you.

Nominated for Cause/Affect's Peoples Choice Award

2009-07-03T13:26:00.002-04:00

Taken from Cause Affect:

"Repressed IV: May Day was a self-initiated exhibition on workers’ rights that Mended Arrow co-curated and opened on May Day or International Workers’ Day. The promotional materials for the exhibition included a silk-screened poster that paid homage to the appalachian coal miner’s Union or “Red Necks”; whom wore red bandanas as a form of solidarity."

Please vote for me: here

2009-06-30T08:20:00.008-04:00

Can't wait for this movie. In the meantime, I've been reading In Defense of Food and the Omnivore's Dilemma, both by Micheal Pollan.

Food Inc. the movie

the Omnivore's Dilemma

Dinosaurs!

2009-05-22T11:32:00.004-04:00

Working on these four illustrations for an interactive exhibition coming up.

The idea is to:
1. Sculpt several dinosaur bones and bury them in various places in Richmond.

2. Hand out "treasure maps" for people to find them and bring them back to the exhibition. (The bones will have an attached tag explaining the project and exhibition details.)

3. Participants will receive a prize if they bring the bones back.

4. Bones will be exhibited in their respective places on blown up dino-illustrations.

Anyways, not completely happy with these yet. Still working on how to compose the stampede and imply depth with a limited color palate. A composition similar to this will be screen-printed in 3 colors for the exhibition poster.

Exhibition is yet another project from the There Once Was A Rebellion public art collective.

Birthing Ugly

2009-05-08T08:17:00.003-04:00

Brewed in the bars and backyard ramps of Richmond Virginia, Born Ugly Magazine is the voice and visual of the everyday skateboarder. With content focused on the lives of people that skateboard for the love of it, and not a paycheck, Born Ugly sets itself apart from the homogenized glut of skateboard mags currently saturating skateshop counters. Add to that layouts infused with illustration soaked in masonite dust and beer sweat, and you’ve got Born Ugly.

*spoiler alert* - This new local magazine features tons of illustration and other contributions from our very own JimBarf Callahan! And apparently you can be there tomorrow to witness the nasty nasty event of its first issue being, well, born:

Russ Has Been Busy.

2009-05-08T08:02:00.002-04:00

Russ - remember that guy? - has effectively been living in a cave for the last few months with his puppy and his computer toiling away on a premiere motion piece for Release the Hounds and their client Nooka. Its finally done and its pretty stunning.

Dangerous $hit

2009-05-07T11:51:00.003-04:00

www.dangerous-shit.com

The menu bar isn't up yet, but it will be soon. Content is slim but the posts will keep coming in the next couple of weeks. I didn't tell Frans that it was going live until after the fact--so I hope that he is properly mad at me for lighting a fire under both our asses to speed up the workflow.

If anyone feels compelled to contribute to this goof-off blog just let me know. It's purely for fun and celebration of clean line-art and Miller/Darrow ultraviolence in sequential satire.

May Day Poster Printing

2009-05-07T10:42:00.003-04:00

These came out so well people were not aware that they were hand screened. We also printed the same bandanna from the illustration.

May Day poster design. (Sorry don't have scans of the actual print yet.)

Printing the bandanna

Wearing the bandanna.

Polysics, getting me through the day

2009-05-06T11:11:00.002-04:00

OMFG!!! This is what is getting me through work right now. That girl owns that bass guitar!

Spread the Word

2009-05-04T12:52:00.002-04:00

Here are two new ones I did for Santa Barbara Independent and for BusinessWeek. The first Illustration was sort of difficult in concept since it's about religion in schools, but I was not allowed to use any kind of iconography (i.e. crosses, bibles, churches, etc.). The client decided to go with the sketch that showed how religious organizations are trying to get young kids into their after school groups which is through peer pressure.

The second illo was a quick one in that I had 24 hours from sketches to finish. Luckily it was conceptually simple and the client just wanted a few narratives. The finished piece shows several ways that companies are are creating incentives for those who have been laid off. What's shown below is a very savvy man who is taking up these businesses on their offers of refunds for recently purchased items and clinics not charging for medical bills.

-Barry

www.barrybruner.com

Spencer's Revamped Site.

2009-05-04T08:27:00.007-04:00

I recently revamped my website. I actually had fun doing it. I don't know if that means there is something wrong with me, that I enjoyed tweaking code or if it just means I like myself too much because I enjoyed looking at my own work over and over again.

Either way the mouse over scrolling fields I built on either side of the portfolio sections are a blast!

Check it out at team8press.com/print.

BusinessWeek Illustration

2009-04-20T11:43:00.001-04:00

As of late I've been doing some work for BusinessWeek. Here's a recent one about marketing towards Hispanic consumers.

-Barry
www.barrybruner.com

Screen Printed Show Posters, will the fame go to their little heads?

2009-04-16T06:54:00.000-04:00

Since the late 1990's (remember when?) we've watched the return and rise of the screen printed show poster in a big way. By the mid-2000's (or mid-oughts) design outfits were popping up left and right who were able to make it by doing almost exclusively screen printed show posters. Show posters tend to be wildly unlimiting for the artist and designers creating them, so of course this produced tons of amazing examples of art from the last decade or so that also happen to be show posters. Its become a movement of sorts, spawning things like websites dedicated to only show posters, see Gigposters as well as their very own convention called Flatstock.

All this and outfits like Aesthetic Apparatus and the Bird Machine definitely played a role in exciting and inspiring us enough to kick off Team Eight in the first place.

Well these posters have come a long way and its not unlike witnessing one of your favorite bands finally make it big. I don't know who watches music videos anymore, compared to a live show or listening to an album, they can't help but seem a little cheesy, forced and awkward. Maybe we're all too busy enjoying the screen printed art instead. Either way the Thermals have a new video up, you can see it here: Thermals on Pitchfork. Its one of those bands-in-a-box videos, but plastering the walls are tons of amazing screen printed show posters! Talk about hitting the big time, they practically steal the show (the posters I mean). I can spot examples by tons of my favorite artists from the previously mentioned Aesthetic Apparatus to our good friend El Jefe (thanks for pointing this video out by way).

I guess we can expect to see posters going into rehab, shaving their heads, or trying to adopt babies soon. Or whatever it is you do when you're famous now a days.

Here's a probably illegal screen capture from the video. (don't kill us pitchfork):

Repressed IV: MAY DAY

2009-04-15T07:34:00.005-04:00

An art exhibition on worker's rights

At Gallery5
200 W. Marshall ST
Richmond, VA 23220
804 644 0005
www.gallery5arts.org

Exhibition opens:
May 1st 7-11pm

Up through:
May 29th

My VCU Imaging II students will have screen printed and stenciled posters at the opening. A taste of their work can be found here

More info about the exhibition can be found here

There is also a May Day Parade in conjunction with the exhibition. Come recognize the past and present struggles of workers around the world.

Parade info:
Friday May 1st, 2009
Join us to recognize the past & present
struggles of workers all around the world.

Meet: 7:00PM Clay Abner Park
On the corner of Clay & Brook Rd. in Jackson Ward

March: 7:30PM On the First Friday Art Walk

More info about the parade can also be found here

Singles

2009-04-09T20:41:00.007-04:00

A few weekends ago I got a call from Rebecca Sugar to see if I could help ink some scenes for her latest animation. Delighted to take a stab at this mammoth of a project I rushed over for a full day of work. I was really honored to be able to see so many different parts of the film in progress most of which I hadn't seen at all.

Rebecca has been putting an insane amount of work into this short and is currently putting the finishing touches on it. She should be finished with in the month so look out for some clips soon!

Show Posters - An update from Loose Limbs

2009-04-07T17:17:00.009-04:00

Whew! Its been a busy first quarter of the year for Loose Limbs Press - Richmond's silk screened show poster factory.

Here's a few that Brandon and myself have cranked out in the last few months. Watch out cuz soon you'll wake up to see your favorite Team Eight artists being smuggled over to do some posters with Loose Limbs.

- Spencer Hansen

Due Process at Gallery 5

2009-04-06T11:26:00.008-04:00

It was a busy weekend! Thanks everyone who came out Friday night to Gallery 5 and gave screen printing a try. And I do mean everyone. We brought over 300 sheets of paper for folks to print on and we ran out by the end of the night. We didn't even have any samples left over. So thanks and I hope you all learned a little bit about what a silk screen is.

For those of you who didn't make it out, here's a recap. Kevin Orlosky of Art on Wheels curated the show Due Process which opened last friday night at Gallery 5. He asked us create an original piece for the show as well as conduct a screen printing demonstration for the crowds that inevitably pour in on a First Friday on the Artwalk. Here's our print, "Cross-Corporate Synergetics" by Matt Deans, Spencer Hansen, James Callahan, Rawn Gandy, and Kelly Alder, displayed alongside the transparencies, a few of the layers, and the actual squeegee and screen we used:

For the demonstration we thought we'd keep it simple. We took a character from each artists' section of the print and enlarged them and threw each on a screen. Passersby were invited to choose one of the five characters to lay down over the first silver layer that had already been swiped. It was a hit. People got real excited to pull that squeegee and then lift the screen and see the results right there on the paper. Pure magic! We're definitely planning to incorporate demonstrations like this wherever possible.

Our setup at Gallery 5:

Professor Rawn instructs an eager participant:

The eager participant registers his paper:

The Magic happens!

Here are the prints all those lucky participants printed themselves and took home to hang over their fireplaces:

artist Matt Deans:

artist Spencer Hansen:

artist Jim Callahan:

artist Kelly Alder:

artist Rawn Gandy:

Special thanks to Rawn Gandy and Barf Callahan for manning the tables and offering their expertise to all those inquisitive and adventurous minds.

Noah Scalin - Camino Real Show Poster

2009-04-05T23:09:00.001-04:00

Noah designed this poster a little while back for a theatre up in NY. I love the classic color scheme, reminiscent of the WPA. He let me screen this one. 12.5 x 19, five colors, including the gold heart. Thanks Noah! Keep em coming! See more of his poster work at Another Limited Rebellion.

See us at the MacRock label Expo

2009-04-02T19:42:00.001-04:00

Saturday April 4th.
Harrisonburg, VA
Noon - 5pm

We’ll be set up with our posters, shirts, and comics and our buddies at Loose Limbs Press. See us there and catch a ton of sweet bands Friday and Saturday.
For more info, or a list of bands playing, visit macrock.org!

Upcoming Show: Due Process at Gallery 5

2009-04-01T23:22:00.004-04:00

Friday, April 3rd
First Friday Opening Reception

Due Process: An educational exhibit about the many processes of printmaking
Curated by: Kevin Orlosky
First Friday Opening Reception April 3rd 7-11pm
Gallery 5 RVA

Exhibit runs through April 28th

Printmaking is one of the most versatile forms of art making. It has been used by artists for thousands of years. It has had tremendous advancements over the years while the traditional techniques are still being used. Artists are usually drawn to its methodology, intimacy, and subtlety. One advantage to printmaking is that prints can be editioned so that multiples of the same image may be sold. Because of this, printmaking has been used in the reproduction market. Unfortunately outside of the fine art and collector world, a reproduction is what is generally thought of when someone mentions the word "print." This is mostly due to the size of the greedy art reproduction industry. "Due Process" aims to end this stigma that has hindered the reputation of fine art prints to the general public. Fine art prints are original artwork that has been produced by the artist's hand.
Due Process will showcase not only the end result of the artist's works, but will exhibit and explain the steps, tools and materials involved in each print process.

- Gallery5arts.org

We worked very hard on our submission for this show and it turned out pretty well. I didn't have time to photograph the final print properly, so here's the digital version. You'll have to come to the show to see it in person. It's a whopping 40in x 26in! Way too big. Never again! Come to the show this friday anyway and you can swipe you're own exclusive Team Eight Press print during our live print tutorial. Five designs to choose from, each one from a different artists involved in the following piece. I'll post how they turned out after the show.

So here's the skinny on this big-ass poster. Five of us contributed to the illustration, Matt Deans, Spencer Hansen, Jim Callahan, Kelly Alder, Rawn Gandy, and some consultation by Russ Guatier. It should be self explanatory the chaos that ensued.

This poster is titled "Cross-Corporate Synergetics"

Details, clockwise:

Matt Deans:

Spencer Hansen:

Jim Callahan:

Kelly Alder:

And Rawn Gandy:

It was epic, so come out and see it in person.

INDIGENOUS RESISTANCE

2009-03-25T10:32:00.003-04:00

I know its been awhile, but we've finally posted a new piece on the Team Eight Press site. This t-shirt is by Bizhan Khodabandeh. We printed it in the now well broken in t-shirt studio, but forgot to take pictures. Sorry guys. Check it out here -->> TEAM EIGHT

FUNS WANT Interview

2009-03-23T20:26:00.000-04:00

I have a feature interview in the Taiwanese magazine Funs Want Vo. 9. You should check out their very cool website. However unless you can read traditional Chinese you're going to need to use babel fish to translate for you.

its a new exciting installment of "i've wasted my life"!

2009-03-03T01:29:00.002-05:00

A little poster work on the side for El Jefe

2009-02-27T23:12:00.007-05:00

I've been doing quite a bit of screen printing for clients lately. One of the more interesting designers I've been printing for is Jeffery Everett, aka El Jefe. He makes rock posters mostly for bands playing in DC, but occasionally he'll do a Richmond show. He also has a thing for Luchadores. He keeps popping up on this blog.

Here's two of his designs that recently I had the pleasure of swiping onto posters for him:

Yes, this one does feature a different Mexican Wrestler for every letter of the alphabet. I have to admit, the semi-transparent yellow layer that I laid down over the green layer had me worried that it was too opaque, but I guess Jeff was happy with it.
And here's an alternate version:

This next one Jeff designed for a Blitzen Trapper show at the Black Cat. That is gold ink and it really, really wanted to stop up my screen. Near the end of the run I was swiping three times over to get good coverage. But I was very proud of my precise trapping on this one.

I believe these, as well as many other of El Jefe's great posters, are available on his site eljefedesign.com. And with any luck, I'll be printing a lot more of his upcoming work.

-Spencer

2009-02-25T18:06:00.003-05:00

February goes on forever! It's the week of wrapping up old projects. This is proving to be a long and uncomfortable process, but it's nice to get these dudes out the door. Here's the final mockup of the cardboard cutout figure i've been meaning to finish designing.

We are going to screenprint cardboard and have it laser-cut so the finish product will be wedged-together pieces that are somewhat modular. Soon, the specs will be put together on paper with visual guides for anyone who wants to make one that matches this batch. That way, we can mix and match each others' parts. Isn't that ultimately what human relationships are all about?

A I extended deadline

2009-02-25T13:06:00.000-05:00

The final online deadline for the American Illustration 28 Call For Entries has been extended through Monday, March 2nd until 6pm PST. So there's still time to get your work in front of our distinguished jury. Be a part of our 28th exquisitely designed and produced, hard cover annual - as yet to be imagined by one of the industry's top designers.

Here's a look at our current volume, American Illustration 27, when it was hot off the press and freshly bound. Designed by Open N.Y. with an original fold-out jacket-as-poster by Ted McGrath. Limited copies are still available at the 30% discount (plus S&H). Order yours now.

Blu

2009-02-24T12:54:00.002-05:00

I realize that I butt heads with a lot of people with this opinion, but I hate graffiti. For the most part I think it's a bunch of rich art school kids who didn't want to learn how to draw, but wanted to rebel against society (in reality, their parents), so they co opted art produced by poor inner city youth. And aesthetically, most of it's disgusting and/or poorly executed. I know many will disagree with me, but it's what I think.

Having said this, I love the work of Blu. His work is smart, innovative, and breaks free from most of the trappings of graffiti. His graffiti animation (below) blows my mind! Here's a link to his blog: http://www.blublu.org/blog/

"The Gaza Strip"

One Flag

2009-02-24T11:35:00.006-05:00

I made it as a One Flag finalist. You can vote here.

I am not asking you to vote for me, but it would be wonderful if you did.

My Flag (All For One)

My Description

The black flag has been used to embody the idea of global citizenship since the 1880's. It represents the absence of a flag, therefore, the absence of nations and of borders.

The addition of the circle is intended - like many tribal cultures - to illustrate a decentralized social structure. The circle doubles as a globe without any natural distinctions or borders.

The flag is asymmetrical allowing for it to be displayed in such a way that it implies times of distress or of peace.

The simple flag design allows for easy reproduction. Anybody can easily draw a rectangle with an offset circle in it. Symbols easy to reproduce ensure longevity and have a viral effect. One need not rely on expensive reproduction methods to create their own flag or scrawl it's image on a wall.

Bizhan

Global Warming...

2009-02-20T10:00:00.003-05:00

To read about this image and see more go here.

Plenty Stiffs Contributors

2009-02-16T10:59:00.005-05:00

Plenty Magazine, which I done some work for, recently went under. As unfortunate as that may seem, they also failed to pay their artists and writers on their last two issues. Read the linked, brief article about the matter, and also post/distribute it if you can in order to bring some attention to it.

Thanks,

Barry
www.barrybruner.com

http://gawker.com/5146891/hippie-magazine-flakes-on-paying-writers

For the Cost of Living

2009-02-15T18:55:00.001-05:00

I finally finished my sculpture which has taken me forever to complete. I was invited to participate in a group show called "The Cost of Living" at Gallery 5 in Richmond, Va which will include a lot of the local talent around these parts. I've been wanting to work three dimensionally for quite some now, and felt that this was a perfect opportunity to experiment. I admit that I'm not the best photographer so hopefully I'll get some better photos up here soon that don't included backgrounds of my messy bedroom. This is totally new territory for me so let me know what you think. Thanks!

Barry Bruner
www.barrybruner.com

2009-02-15T13:21:00.002-05:00

Hey kids, just wanted to post some recent work because it doesn't happen very often. Any feedback would totally rule.
-Matt

Before and After

2009-02-14T17:46:00.003-05:00

Hey, here's a drawing I just finished for the blog Frans Boukas and I will be starting soon (hopefully). We will be tag-teaming on humorous drawings of death and dismemberment. For the first image we decided to create a dry, school-portrait style drawing followed by a drawing of the same subject being physically destroyed. This is Frans--before and after:

Cost of Living 2

2009-02-13T16:37:00.004-05:00

Here is my submission to the cost of living show. My response references William Blake's "The Tyger." One of the theories about that poem is that it references the French Revolution. See Barry's post for info.

-Bizhan www.mendedarrow.com

1000 Garment Graphics

2009-02-07T16:42:00.003-05:00

Over at popidiot we received our copy of 1000 Garment Graphics which you can order from Amazon -

http://www.amazon.com/000-Garment-Graphics-

It was designed and edited by Jeffrey Everette of El Jefe Design for Rockport Publishing. Once again El Jefe did a bang up job. The book is about printing on garments, mostly t-shirts but includes many other things such as hats, bags, belts, etc. If you love personal, quirky, mostly hand printed wares done by artists for the love of it, most of which is being done without the constraints of clients, this book is a great place to start. There's a lot of amazing work in the book. Some by friends such as Spaghetti Kiss, Adhouse Books and Squidfire and a lot of stuff by folks we're unfamiliar with but love being exposed to.

Some might say that it's full of ephemeral trashy pop culture junk and on some levels they'd be right. But we at popidiot love that kind of thing, for better or worse it's our nature.

Feb. 6th Metro Market

2009-02-03T18:15:00.003-05:00

WHEN:
Market Date: Friday Feb 6th, 2009 (6-11pm)

WHERE:
Metro Gallery
119 W Broad Street
Richmond Va 23220
(804) 643-7125

WHAT:
Team Eight will be attending this market, which is also a benefit for True Love Press, a screen printing, etching, and other print forms cooperative. Its right smack in the middle of the First Friday Art Walk, so you know there's gonna be a ton of people there. Anyone should come on down and see us and the other vendors. Team Eight members, if you want to come help out and/or bring some of your own work to sell please do. It'd be great!

The Cost of Living

2009-02-02T23:51:00.005-05:00

Lately I've been working on a sculpture for a show coming up at Gallery 5 in Richmond, Va (Opening on Friday, March 6th). The show is centered around the theme of "The Cost of Living," so I chose to create a bunch of little figures working in this unfinished building/giant king. Essentially it's saying the king's wealth is created by the combined labor of the many. I wanted to try something new with media, since I feel like I've been messing around with pen and ink almost exclusively for the last few years. It's been a lot of fun building this thing and I've learned a lot about working with an added dimension. In this image the piece still isn't complete, but I'll post an update once it's finished.

Best,

Barry
barrybruner.com

Italian Film & Food Festival 2008

2009-02-02T18:41:00.007-05:00

Okay, this past weekend was a busy one and I'm not talking about that hockey game or whatever it was they had on the TV. One of the highlights of the weekend by far was the Italian Film & Food Festival. It went down Saturday at Plant Zero, RVA.

Carra and I made it to the first of their four showings at 11am, just in time for breakfast. We walked into Plant Zero's event hall and after getting some coffee, we were directed to the buffet tables at the back of the room. Edo's Squid, Mama' Zu, and 8½ (all of the very best, no frills, local Italian restaurants) had catered the event. The food was awesome and I think well worth the ticket value on its own. I had some kind of very lean pork sausage in tomato sauce with peppers, a lentil stew and a chicken stock soup, salmon with cream cheese and capers on a toasted baguette, fruit salad, and a weird little chewy desert pastry spiraled around a cheesy danish-like center. Following food was the screening of Antony and Cleopatra, a 1913 silent film. This was accompanied by a live performance of the original score by pianist Dr. James Doering. We sat right behind the piano, so we had a good view of what he was doing while we watched the film. Seeing that footage from almost a hundred years ago with real live accompaniment was a surreal experience. I spent most of the film thinking about how different film making and viewing film and other art forms must have been back then. Most things are so accessible and instantaneous now. Every things just a push of the button and broadcasted and you-tubed and podcasted and streaming downloads.

I missed the next two films, but I met up with Kelly Alder and we made it to the fourth. Again, we were served amazing Italian food by Edo's Squid, Mama' Zu, and 8½. Then the lights went down and we watched the Orange Thief directed by Boogie Dean, Vinnie Angel, Artie Wilinski. They made this movie from scratch in just a couple months in a foreign language, with Italian and Sicilian non-actors, as first time directors. They actually spent the first month just learning how to use the cameras, how to act, how to write, and how to direct. One of the directors, Vinnie Angel, was present and took questions after the film. This movie was my favorite of the day. I even rented it from Video Fan the next day to show to a few friends over pizza.

All in all the festival was a fun break from the usual. A good excuse to get out of the house in the frigid winter months and eat some good food with some good people and watch some good films I would have missed otherwise.

-Spencer

Something interesting I found.

2009-01-27T10:42:00.006-05:00

Found this book at a antique shop in Petersburg. I thought the type on the cover and the illustrations were interesting. There are no copyright notes to show when the book was made.

Call for Entries American Illustration 28

2009-01-27T10:20:00.003-05:00

Here we go again. Another in the seemingly never ending call for entries for the Illustration Annuals. It can be a bit of a pain but in my experience if you're lucky enough to be included, it's much more effective than paying to be in an illustration directory/phone book. I have a feeling those things may be going the way of the dinosaurs if they haven't already.

This time it's for American Illustration, I've always loved this book, their selections seem to be a bit more edgy than their competition. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes not.

A Show Poster By Noah Scalin

2009-01-26T07:48:00.001-05:00

I recently had the pleasure of screen printing a limited edition show poster that Noah Scalin had designed for one of his clients, Target Margin Theater. With any luck you might see a few posted around, if you're in the Brooklyn area.

Project proposal

2009-01-22T21:05:00.005-05:00

I am currently working on a comic, based on an Iranian children's story, The Little Black Fish by Samad Behrangi. Behrangi wrote this story to inspire children to question Iran's education system and authority. Many of these children became key figures (and leaders) of a communist guerilla group which later contributed to the fall of the shah of Iran.

The point of Behrangi's story was not just to inspire actions like these, but to insure dissent amoung future generations. He was so dedicated to this mission that he traveled from town to town with frostbitten toes to teach in village schools. Due to the radical nature of his teachings and political actions he was considered a threat to the shah.

My proposal:
I was hoping that there would be interest in a compilation of subversive children's stories narrated by a character that is a storyteller. Each comic would be divided with short comics of the narrator running from authorities and introducing each comic. The narrator has acquired tattoos on his skin as a way to remember the stories he has told. The tattoos also serve as a means to evade authorities by disguising the subversive paraphernalia.

Diversity of comic style can be justified because the storyteller is constantly traveling, therefore, different tattoo artists would be illustrating the tattoos.

If this idea is of interest perhaps we can set aside some time to discuss the best way to implement such a project. Right now I am not very set on anything, but a format proportionate to the size of what I have already illustrated.

Example of the style I am using for "my story."
The style is based on Bizhan Jazani's (one of the guerrillas) paintings.

Pencils from comic.

Call For Entries Communication Arts Deadline 3-06-09

2009-01-22T15:18:00.004-05:00

Anyone from Team8press or anywhere else who make pictures should check this out. I'm sure you're all familiar with Communication Arts, it's one of the industries oldest and most respected publications on all things visual,creative and graphic. If you have something you've done in the last year and feel strongly about it, enter it into CA's yearly illustration competition. The competition is fierce but if you're lucky enough to get something in you'll have bragging rights, for a year anyway.

Just go to; www.commarts.com/competitions and enter.

El Jefe Poster for The Raveonettes

2009-01-22T08:35:00.004-05:00

My good friend and fellow illustrator Bob Scott invited me to join him to see the Raveonettes this past Saturday at the Black Cat in DC. Being a big fan of the band it didn't take much convincing and to make it even sweeter Bob said he'd do the driving. When I went to the Black Cat's website to see about getting my ticket I was pleasantly surprised to see that another pal of mine, Rockville MD graphic designer, illustrator and all around great guy El Jefe (aka Jeffery Wright) had done the poster for the show. I promptly emailed him to see if he'd be attending the show and he responded that yes, he and his lovely wife Kelly would see us there and he'd have a little surprise for me. As I had hoped the surprise was a copy of the poster he'd done for the show and to make it even cooler it was signed by Sharin and Sune of The Raveonettes. Note to self, go to more shows that El Jefe does the poster for and ask him to meet me at said show.

Oh yeah, the band, they tore the house down.

Italian Film & Food Fest 2008

2009-01-22T08:10:00.005-05:00

This was another collaboration with Spencer. Unlike my previous experience which was my first time working with Spencer, I had no reservations. I knew I was in good hands and this time I asked him if he wouldn't mind doing the design as well as the color and of course he didn't hesitate and as you can see he did his usual bang up job. This is the second poster that I've had the pleasure of working on for the Italian Film and Food Festival. The festival is sponsored By Ed of MammaZu and 8 1/2 and Brad of Edo's Squid. We worked with Ed on it and he proved again to be the model client.

Flashback - 2007 Calendar Pages

2009-01-13T18:55:00.003-05:00

So a few years back Team Eight gathered together 13 artists and had each one design a page in our 2007 silk screened calendar. Each page was printed as a stand alone, 12.5 x 19 inch poster and then loosely bound as a stack. In a flurry of ink and squeegees, we printed 200 of each.
That was over two years ago and we've recently rediscovered a few still sitting on our shelves. Seeing these 13 amazing posters and remembering all the hard work that went into them, we've decided to pop them up on etsy for anyone who didn't get a chance to get their hands on them two years ago. Each month we'll toss up a new one, starting naturally with January, by Becky Cloonan, and the cover, by Russ Guatier.
See 'em here and get them at our etsy store.

Imbolc

2008-12-18T13:41:00.003-05:00

Frans Boukas just finished inking this sweet poster for us. Now Rebecca Sugar ( who has some amazing and hilarious animations on her livejournal) is taking over the color. Can't wait to print it!

Handmade Holiday

2008-12-12T15:23:00.004-05:00

Hey everyone! This is really short notice, but tomorrow is the Handmade Holiday Craft Show at the Visual Arts Center. Its gonna be full of handmade items from local Richmond artists and crafters. Be there from 10am to 5pm. (That's Saturday the 13th of December). Oh yeah, and we'll be there, too!

Protect unique, original, and handmade

2008-12-10T20:59:00.005-05:00

Matt Deans has been working on designing some screen printed toys for Team Eight and through his research he stumbled across the following:

http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/

Remember the lead paint and choking hazard toy fiasco of last year? You know, the ones where all these large american toy companies imported toys that weren't exactly healthy for kids. Well, our legislators have come up with the CPSIA, which does a good job of setting high standards for toy manufacturing, but effectively makes it insanely expensive or illegal to sell original, small run, or unique handmade toys. Read about it at the link above. If you at all feel that its important to keep unique, original and handmade products, legal please notify your legislator. The Handmade Toy Alliance makes it very easy to do at their site.

Here's some of my favorite handmade toys I ran into in Baltimore this past year. They are all 100% unique and handmade with love from recycled clothes and linens. Check them out at cottonmonster.com

Meg's finished poster design

2008-12-06T11:27:00.005-05:00

Meg is amazing. Read about her here
Not much to say except wow, I can't wait to hang this one when its done:

Announcing Loose Limbs

2008-12-03T15:42:00.004-05:00

Its Loose Limbs first poster, a collaboration between its founders Brandon Peck and Spencer Hansen.
25in x 9.5in
Two colors on French True White

Loose Limbs is a project intended to supply Richmond with screen printed propaganda (read show posters) that features its own local talent. Check out looselimbspress.com for more details soon.

P.S. That beard had to go somewhere.

Ghost Beard

2008-12-01T22:10:00.003-05:00

This is the first small snippet of what will hopefully become a large, long-term project. This particular tidbit belongs to a show poster I'm working on with Brandon Peck. I'll post more details when we're further along.

-Spencer

Top Secret Preview Pics of Meg's next Poster

2008-11-30T22:01:00.004-05:00

Sssshhh! Our agents in the field have turned up an interesting piece of intel:

Turns out Meg has been working on a poster for Team Eight. Apparently, this is just the beginning, but as you can see its obviously gonna be sweet and chock full of malevolent ravens. I can't wait!

NYC RISK!

2008-11-26T12:19:00.004-05:00

So I play a lot of RISK, the game of world domination, and I got tired of playing on the same map over and over again. With my spare time I redesigned the game based on the boroughs of New York City and east Jersey. (For those unfamiliar with the game the original board and cards are below as well). Also a different variable I added to the game is the bridge blowing card, which one could blow up bridges or tunnels to adjoining territories.

With naming and shaping the territories on the map I apologize in advance to all neighborhoods grossly misrepresented in shape or size or not included at all. But this is a game board not meant to be used as a accurate map of the NYC area, and it would be impossible to include all neighborhoods.

As for the cards, I used the movie, The Warriors, as inspiration. In order from left to right they represent (as from the original game) infantry, cavalry, and artillery. And below is the bridge blowing card and the wild card. Before I carried away and poorly describe all aspects of the game, go to the RISK wiki page for a full explanation the game and its rules.

Dorkly yours,

Barry

2008-11-21T09:34:00.003-05:00

No worries! Though we were extremely late to do so, Team Eight has managed to donate quite a few of our posters to Donations for Creations. "These works will be traded at our event for food, clothes, and goods to go to the Daily Planet homeless shelter. Everyone benefits—artists and art students can get their work out to a wider audience, the public has a chance to collect art affordably, and the Daily Planet gets the supplies they desperately need this time of year." - esterknows.com

It only made sense since this event was organized by students in Noah's Design Rebels class. So get out there on Saturday and bring some extra clothes or food to trade for sweet art!

Alejandro Chavetta: SKull = Astronaut

2008-11-14T11:38:00.005-05:00

After viewing Noah's "Skull a Day" project, I thought that many of you would interested in this guy's work. His name is Alejandro Chavetta and he works as the art director for San Francisco Magazine. Check out the rest of the images he did in this body of work and maybe some of his other stuff here. It's good...

Barry

Barry's Art @ Rumors Boutique

2008-11-12T19:16:00.008-05:00

Apparently I make hipster art. No, just kidding. For I don't use stencils, like graffiti or draw deer and owls, but my work will be for sale on the walls of Rumors Boutique ("injecting the south with style") at 404 N Harrison St., Richmond, VA. If your unfamiliar with Rumors, it's an independent clothing/music/etc. store that also functions as a Venue for live music. It's a pretty interesting place to say in the least. Anywho, my work will be for sale until early Dec. so come by and check it out. Thanks Casey!

-Barry

www.barrybruner.com

2008 Isotope Award Contenders

2008-11-11T08:36:00.004-05:00

Johanna Draper Carlson has recognized Mariya's mini, Howl Before Sunset as one of the top five runners up in the 2008 Isotope Awards for excellence in Mini Comics. Johanna wrote a great little review of the book here. Thanks Johanna, and Congratulations Mariya! Oh yeah, and you can get the mini here.

METRO MARKET at Metro Space Gallery

2008-11-06T20:39:00.001-05:00

This market will feature many local artists and vendors and take place in the heart of First Friday on November 7th, 2008. We'll be there at 119 West Broad Street (across the street from Comfort Restaurant and Theater IV) Richmond, Virginia 23220-4214. So come and see us in time for the holidays. Proceeds will help benefit True Love Press, a local community screen printing shop being set up in conjunction with the gallery. Find out more about Metro Space here.

Our 44th President in Print

2008-11-05T08:17:00.013-05:00

To Honor this exciting bit of history, here are a few of the many screen printed posters and shirts that were inspired during this past campaign:

The above was an offering by OBEYGIANT. This screenprint was 24 X 36, three colors and printed as an edition of 350. The proceeds went to fund a larger Obama poster campaign. I particularly love the OBAMA/OBEY logo on Obama's lapel.

This one above was by artist David Choe and later screen printed by Burlesque of Minneapolis as an eight color screen print at 19 x 24. Check out here for some amazing shots of the print process.

Above, this print by Half and Half is a five color screen print on 19x25 Cougar Natural. It features an interesting collage method.

This limited edition print can be found at the etsy store of misterpeach Dimensions are 15" wide by 21" tall. All prints are signed and numbered. The edition has been limited to 30 prints. 10% of the proceeds from this print will go to benefit the Obama campaign.

This one or "That One" rather was by Justin Hampton. A five color print in various shades of metallic silver ink on 100 lb acid free paper stock measuring 24"x24". Signed and numbered edition of only 200 copies.

This was a print by Leia Bell. 12x17 inches / 5-color screenprint / Edition of 120 / 2008

And our friend El Jefe

The following were all commissioned by Upper Playground as part of an amazing collaborative campaign linking artists with Burlesque to screen these amazing posters. The above David Choe print was part of this project.

This is by Cody Hudson.

This one is by Burlesque themselves.

This one is by Sam Flores.

This one is by Alex Pardee.

There's tons more out there but blogging doesn't pay the bills so I'm out.

Becky Cloonan's Rapunzel Print

2008-11-04T17:06:00.005-05:00

Final Design, with stamp:

Sadly this was not a TEAM EIGHT print, but Becky put this together in time for it to run through the Team Eight studio and ship back to her for APE. Its four colors silkscreened on white 12.5 x 19 and you should be able to order one soon here.
Usually work that was printed for a client is not posted here, but Becky has done work with us before (calendar 2007) and we very much hope she will again. Plus, a lot of us at Team Eight are big fans, particularly of her poster work.
Becky is a very talented comic artist. She is currently in the middle of a lot of stuff that you can read about here. Check it out and let her know how much you love her work and how she should take a break from all that important stuff and do a print with us.
Oh and I can't wait to see it in person with the stamp.

Here's some process shots, ending with what we sent to Becky who made that sweet stamp to apply herself.

November 4th - you know what that means

2008-11-04T16:22:00.001-05:00

GET OUT AND VOTE!!!!

And oh yeah we're now on deviantart. team8press.deviantart.com

Yeah!!!

2008-11-03T10:52:00.004-05:00

Just a reminder to all those illustrators out there that the deadline for the Society of Illustrators Annual Competition, ILLUSTRATORS 51 is this Friday, Nov. 7th. To make things easier this is the first year that you can enter online. Here's the link below to all those interested:

http://www.soicompetitions.org/?section=competitions&competition_id=29

(The above illustration is by the amazing John Cuneo for the competition)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2008-10-31T11:36:00.005-04:00

We love halloween! Its been a little preoccupying this past week. Here's an invite I put together for the party tonight. Yes it is screen printed and yes that is silver ink. Its actually, silver, pink, and black on black French paper. I hope everyone enjoys my favorite holiday!

Second

2008-10-24T02:04:00.002-04:00

I'm not quite sure whether this one is about intimacy, uncertainty, or just about how much I love hair.

FEVER

2008-10-23T18:36:00.001-04:00

Giclee VS. Printmaking

2008-10-21T22:32:00.002-04:00

Kelly Alder directed me to this post recently on the Fantagraphics Blog. It was written by Jacob Covey who has been organizing an all hand-made print show with art and related art from the book BEASTS!, which is a gorgeous book that Rawn and Meg Gandy shared with me earlier this past year.

The issue is that Mr. Covey has excluded digital prints including giclee prints from this show in favor of hand-made print such as letterpress, etchings, lithographs, and of course one of our favorites: screen prints. He makes a great point about the value of a digital print vs. any hand made print. Read his post to get his full opinion, but in my crass paraphrasing he is making the case that because digital prints can be so reliably executed at a moments notice, with very little human interaction they are worth little more than the paper and ink involved. That may seem harsh especially if you happen to be a digital artist and a giclee may be your only physical manifestation of your work, but I think Mr. Covey is really only referring to digital reproductions and the hollow posturing of the 'limited edition' print run of a digital print who's printing and reprinting is really not limited in any way.

Here's my take: A limited print run is supposed to reflect how the execution of a single handmade run will yield a finite number of prints that share the same preparations. For example, if it is screen printing, they will share the same batch of hand mixed inks, the same transparency preparations and screen exposures, as well as a similar state of environment they are printed under, possibly including the weather that day and the artist's mood, or how much their carpel tunnel was acting up (just ask Rawn or Meg about that one). On the flip side, a digital print could be printed on two different printers, on two different parts of the globe with the simple push of a button and reliably yield indistinguishable results.

The point is although a digital print can be a work of art and certainly there are variables to be creatively manipulated and unique ways of expression to be achieved, a digital reproduction is a rather effortless reflection of the original that does not hold any artistic value of its own. A handmade print, requiring the human hand and human consideration all throughout the process does yield its own original works of art, each one its own unique piece affected by the artist.

Jan Van Eyck's Cat's

2008-10-21T12:52:00.007-04:00

This past weekend I was a groomsman in the wedding of my very good friends, Neal Iwan and Kristen Lowery. It was a ton of fun, I went golfing for the first time, and drank too much Maker's Mark at the reception. But the greatest part of all was making the bride cry for 30 minutes. No, I didn't ream her out for trying to steal my friend from me, and no I did not object to their union by feigning a seizure in the middle of the aisle. What I did do was give them a really good wedding present.

Neal and Kristen have two cats, Charlie and Kitten, who they both adore, so I decided to redo Jan Van Eyck's famous "The Arnolfini Marriage" with their cat's heads switched with the people's in the painting and Neal's with the dog's. Unbeknown to me that painting happened to be Kristen's all time favorite, so when she opened it, my altered version moved her quite a bit.

Apparently, Kitten didn't like it as much they did. Neal reported when they got home, he sat the framed illo on their kitchen counter, and Kitten jumped on it thus knocking it onto the floor, breaking the frame. Oh well... So here's the piece:

BARF COMICS # 1

2008-10-21T09:49:00.003-04:00

Jim has finally put his mega awesome art book up for sale online. Its a full color, 48 page collection of short comics, record covers, and all sorts of other crap, in a limited print run of 250 copies. It also features the very same cover we used for his Barf Comics six color 25 inch poster. Buy the comic HERE for like ten smackers.

Plan 9 Anniversary T-Shirt... That wasn't

2008-10-20T11:51:00.006-04:00

I did this a year or so ago, whenever Plan 9's 25th anniversary was. It was something I did pro-bono for Jim Bland, owner of Plan 9 Music, because he's one of the nicest guy's I know and he has one of the state's coolest music stores. I don't remember if he approached me or if I approached him? I guess it doesn't really matter, but for some reason he's never really made clear, he decided not to use it. On occasion I'll ask him if he intends to use it and he'll say "yes" he does. We'll see. Maybe one day I'll get around to doing something with it myself.

The color's are reduced to just 3 because the original use was to be a t-shirt and I wanted to keep it simple and inexpensive. If I were to make a silk screen poster I now know that I could add another 3 or 4 colors, could be fun, we'll see.