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If someone snuck into my closet and switched out one brand of sneakers for a similar model from another company, it wouldn’t bother me much. Popular cars like the Camry, the Civic and the Elantra don’t have raving fans the way the Mini or the Rivian do. Go to the rental car counter and take […]
If 1,000 people toss a fair coin three times, 125 of them will get three heads in a row. Perfect score. And 125 will lose every time. We probably shouldn’t give the winners too much credit. Actually, the real work is deciding which games to play and which results are worthy of trust and respect […]
No one buys a hat without looking at themselves in a mirror first. Ever. There were hats before there were mirrors, so I’m not sure how it used to be, but that’s how it is now. Even though we may imagine we’re wearing a hat to protect ourselves from the sun, the mirror reminds us […]
Since I was born, humans have created 6 billion jobs. All while technology relentlessly disrupts existing industries. The pin making machine replaced the hand-crafted pin. The ox-pulled plow replaced millions of hours of backbreaking work. The amplification and electronic distribution of music upended the work of the live musician, and the camera replaced countless portrait […]
Pedestrian traffic in Grand Central Station is a bit of a miracle. Thousands of people, all walking quickly, in almost non-Euclidian chaos, headed toward different trains. And no one collides. We see the same thing at a more dangerous clip when a four lane highway merges. The cars are just a few feet apart (or […]
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The satisfyingly fuzzy printed lines of a monotype are usually reserved for prints on paper. However, using the method below you can create prints onto fabric with the same texture and line quality, making fast and spontaneous fabric designs to sew up into bags, quilts, or whatever you fancy. Fabric Screen Printing Ink is ideal for this technique - it has a soft handle, can be heat set on fabric with an iron, and will stay wet long enough to take a print. Begin by rolling ink onto a plastic or glass sheet. Use a Textile Roller - a standard roller will slip in the ink. Drypoint plastic makes a great monotype plate. Gently lay your fabric on top - don't press it down! It's important the fabric gets minimal contact with the ink. Place a piece of paper on top and draw your design. You can also trace an image if you would prefer not to draw freehand. Don't touch the fabric - hold the paper at the edge if you need to. Use the pencil quite upright and press fairly firmly for best results. Peel off the fabric to reveal the print. When your prints are dry, iron them on the hottest setting that the fabric will allow until the fabric feels too hot to comfortably touch. This will set the ink and make the fabric washable. Watch the whole process below: You will need: Plastic or glass plate - drypoint plastic or an inking plate work well Textile Roller Screen Printing Ink for Fabric like Versatex, Permaset or Speedball Fabric to print onto - poplin is ideal Paper Pencil Iron
The image just above is an animated GIF, a format by now older than most people on the internet. Those of us who were surfing the World Wide Web in its earliest years will remember all those little digging, jackhammering roadworkers who flanked the permanent announcements that various sites — including, quite possibly, our own […]
If someone snuck into my closet and switched out one brand of sneakers for a similar model from another company, it wouldn’t bother me much. Popular cars like the Camry, the Civic and the Elantra don’t have raving fans the way the Mini or the Rivian do. Go to the rental car counter and take […]
It gets dark before dinner now in my part of the world, a recipe for seasonal depression. Vincent van Gogh wrote about such low feelings with deep insight. “One feels as if one were lying bound hand and foot at the bottom of a deep dark well, utterly helpless.” Yet, when he looked up at […]
If 1,000 people toss a fair coin three times, 125 of them will get three heads in a row. Perfect score. And 125 will lose every time. We probably shouldn’t give the winners too much credit. Actually, the real work is deciding which games to play and which results are worthy of trust and respect […]
