Hold up

Transparency issues persist, but we will not give up.

It turns out that my thug required 15 transparencies, and I had about 7 left and I wasn't about to go buy another $35+ package of them. So out comes the windex and toilet paper. I spent quite a while scrubbing down old stencils to make enough clean ones for the entire picture. If you print onto a laser printer transparency (the less expensive type) with an inkjet printer, the ink can't actually soak into the paper, which can be a real pain but also handy because the ink wipes off pretty easily no matter how long it has been sitting.

So after a night full of printing we have our suspect all laid out on the floor.

Needs more lens flare, IMO.

I tried to give a feel of the scale of this thing by putting a yard stick next to it in a few photos, but it just looks small no matter what. Notice the gaps in the image, those are the edges of the transparencies, which are standard 8.5" x 11" sheets. But that still doesn't get at the scale of this thug. I only had one option...

To lay down next to it and the yard stick. This is my attempt at the thug pose. I think I'll stick to retail work for now.

You may notice the pink spots - another printer malfunction I can't figure out. I tried to reprint those panels and ended up coloring over them with a sharpie, proving that I did not, in fact, deserve a Needs Improvement grade on my Kindergarten coloring-inside-the-lines evaluation.

While we wait a while for these pages to (kind of) dry I'll have to make the biggest screen that I've ever made. Hopefully I learned all the hard lessons about large screens last time, during the chandelier curtains, including the lesson: if you pull the mesh too tight, the entire screen will bow upward and try to implode on itself.

I'm estimating the size of the screen to be about 48" x 35" It's going to be a blast covering that sucker in emulsion. I bought a whole new jar today, unfortunately the sale at Hobby Lobby was over for screen printing materials so I didn't save 25%. I might cry if it takes half the jar to cover this screen. But, on the bright side, next year's Halloween costume is done. This sucker on a piece of cardboard, a few eye-holes, some string, a pair of sweatpants and viola! Maybe I'll enter this in the Etsy costume contest next year, or parade proudly around showing off my innovative costume.

Or maybe I'll stay inside hiding under my desk from some princesses and fairies looking for candy like I did this year.

I totally feel bad about that.