I recently finished my latest Dead inspired print, Cats Down Under the Stars. It is based off the song by Jerry Garcia Band, as well as the art of the album by the same name. The original was watercolor and ink, and printed on 13×19 thick glossy cardstock and limited to an edition of 50.
Prints are available in my shop , and I’m currently running a 20% off sale in my shop from 2/11 til 2/18, no coupon necessary!
I’ve recently finished up 2 more linocuts inspired by Grateful Dead songs, the 9th and 10th in an ongoing series. Although I have previously done both illustrations and linocuts, I feel I’ll probably be doing more linocuts for future songs. These have been a challenge, but I’ve enjoyed both the process and the research involved in making these. I’m hoping to work larger, although it seems a printing press of some sort will be necessary to accomplish that.
Dire Wolf
A 9×12 Linocut inspired by the Song Dire Wolf . Printed on 11×14 98lb paper. Hand pulled and printed, limited to a signed edition of 50. Prints available in my shop
St. Stephen
One of my most ambitious prints to date, This linocut is inspired by the song St. Stephen. 11×14 print on 14×17 98lb white paper. I have 2 versions available in my shop: the original, limited to an edition of 30, and the color variant, which is limited to an edition of 15.
View Previous song illustrations:
I recently finished up these two linocuts, inspired by the Grateful Dead Bears. They were originally sketches for a Splintered Sunlight poster I worked on a couple months ago, but I put them aside and forgot about the until recently. I have been working mainly with linocuts this year, and was eager to find something new to carve. The first bear is a mashup between a bear and the skull and roses image (aka Bertha), and the second is an accurate bear skull. I’ve also be trying out new printmaking techniques, so the Bertha Bear is a 3 color reduction print, and I plan to do some handcolored versions of the other bear. I currently have a small edition of both (or as a set) in my shop.
I’m also currently working on a shop that focuses on my printmaking work. It’s a work in progess, so more items are being added constantly, both old and current prints.
I recently finished up this linocut inspired by the song “Cumberland Blues” by the Grateful Dead. My largest print to date (12×18), this was quite a challenge since I was using a soft cut linoblock, which has the tendency to move when lots of pressure is applied. The print came out better than expected, and I ended up making 2 variations.
The regular edition was printed on 14.5×22 90lb cream paper and limited to an edition of 50. The variant was printed on 15×22 140lb cold pressed watercolor paper (hand colored to create a “tie-dye” effect), and limited to an edition of 25. Both are currently available in my shop: www.etsy.com/shop/joseeen
Josean Rivera 