We just launched this pretty print by Caitlin Keegan! Caitlin made this print especially for Farm Sanctuary, a non-profit that is focused on farm animal protection. The print is inspired by old engravings of farm animals, and is digitally printed with soy inks on acid-free recycled paper. I love all of the different textures and patterns that Caitlin incorporated into the rooster.

Buy the print here and read our interview with Caitlin here.

Hello, architecture-lovers! You’re going to love today’s print edition – Unfolded, by Vasco Mourao. Vasco is an architect and illustrator in Barcelona, Spain. He splits his time between the two disciplines (tricky, as some of you might know), but one definitely influences the other.

Unfolded was originally commissioned as an 11.5′ by 33′ mural for a bar in Porto, Portugal. The mural was partially based on the city of Porto, becoming an unfolded city with different elements of Porto, always drawn with the same horizon line as the reference. These images really don’t do the print justice – it is an incredibly detailed drawing; almost obsessive. You can literally spend hours studying all of the different shapes, patterns and ornaments and still discover new elements every time you look at it. This is our dimensionally largest edition yet – 13″ tall by 38″ wide, so that you can see all of the details in their full glory. Check out some closeups below. It took Vasco six weeks to produce the original drawing – two weeks to sketch through the layout and four to produce the final image.

15% of the gross sale of this print goes to Médecins Sans Frontières. You can buy the print here, and read our interview with Vasco here.

I’m super excited about the launch of this print – Two Dahlias, by Frances Pelzman Liscio. 15% of each print sold will be donated to Puppies Behind Bars.

Frances composes intricate floral arrangements – often using botanica in various states of bloom and decay – scanning the composition to get the final image. About the print, in Frances’ own words:

“[Two Dahlias] incorporates bits of botanica that I saved until they became dry, curled, and mottled. It also uses fresh blooms– dahlias, kalanchoe, violas, and Christmas Cactus. The two large blooms are fresh, but softening and wilting. The viburnum leaf has already changed color and achieved a burnished look – all the detail and veining becomes more visible, and the oak leaf is quite dry. The bittersweet that crowns the image is an invasive non-native plant, but the berries are beautiful: almost incendiary in their hot coral.

I created this work on an Epson Perfection 4490 Photographic scanner. I originally started xeroxing and scanning images many years ago simply because I could not afford a good 8×10 view camera, and I wanted to get closer up to my images. But I also love the unique quality a good scanner brings to the final image. I do very little to the work once it is created, aside from cleaning up the cat hairs (I have four cats) and the pollen from the finished images. Most of the work is done before the image is scanned, with tweezers and manicure scissors, and the baskets and trays full of botanica and natura that fill my studio.”

Beautiful, yes? The launch of the Two Dahlias edition also coincides with the April 2010 issue of Lucky Magazine just now hitting stands – look for The Working Proof and Frances’ Two Dahlias print on page 44 of the magazine: “Art, Commerce and a Cause”, featured in Lucky’s new “Give Back” section. In celebration, and to thank you for your support since our launch back in October, we are offering FREE SHIPPING on all domestic orders placed now through noon (EST) on Wednesday, March 10th. Thank you for all of your support of The Working Proof!

Buy the print here, and read the rest of our interview with Frances here.

Newly released: Slip, by Laura Berger, a Chicago-based artist and illustrator. Laura paints beautiful, whimsical vignettes of imagined creatures and worlds. Slip is a digital print of an original painting for a solo show at The Candystore Collective in San Francisco that ran from July through September 2009. Slip is inspired by the idea of life handing you the same lesson repeatedly, just presented in different forms. 15% of each print sold will be donated to 826 National.

Buy the print here and read our interview with Laura here.

It’s Tuesday, which means we released a new print today over at The Working Proof: On the Rocks by Susan Schwake. On the Rocks was inspired by Susan’s many trips to the NH ocean:

“We scramble upon the rocks looking for sea glass and often find ourselves simply sitting and staring out to sea. The blackbirds have appeared in my work since the fourth year of my studies in college and represent my obsession with birds in general. With On the Rocks I hope to evoke the sense of quiet and calm that we get from our trips to the ocean.”

On the Rocks is a gelatin monotype on 310 gsm archival etching paper, with additional hand-painted elements in India ink. Each print was printed on the same plate twice, with the inking process being matched by eye. The birds were hand-painted with India ink on each of the 50 prints. Due to the hand-made nature of these prints, each one is one-of-a-kind. 15% of each print sold will be donated to Médecins Sans Frontières.

Buy the print here for $45, and read more about Susan in our interview here.

Check out this very awesome linocut print by Heiko Windisch for The Working Proof. One of Heiko’s favorite books is Doré’s Illustrations for Dante’s “Divine Comedy”. To The Underworld is Heiko’s interpretation of the transport of the lost souls into the underworld. 15% of each print sold will be donated to Doctors Without Borders.

I’ve always been drawn to Heiko’s work because of his limited color palette. He typically illustrates in detailed black and white, highlighting certain aspects of his work with a selection of color. You should definitely check out his website if you aren’t familiar with his work already.

You can buy the print here, and read our interview with Heiko here.

I’m super excited to launch Ben Javens’ untitled print – I love the simplicity of Ben’s illustration style, paired with the texture that he builds into his screenprints. This one was inspired by his girlfriend, Jenny. 15% of the sale of each print will be donated to 826 National, an organization that offers free afterschool tutoring, field trips, workshops, and in-schools programs for kids in need.

Buy the print here, and read more about Ben in an interview here.

We just released this new print over at The Working Proof – Man with Two Bears, by Catherine Ryan. This is a giclee print on Hahnemuhle German etching paper of an original charcoal drawing of a man posing with two dead bears. I love how Catherine uses the color of the paper and varying opacities of black to give depth to the drawing.

Catherine’s work investigates the relationships that exist between humans and the natural world, and the tension that is created when wild creatures are viewed in close proximity with mankind.

15% of the gross sale of this print goes to Puppies Behind Bars. Buy the print here and read our interview with Catherine here.

Amy Ruppel is an amazing artist, so I was thrilled when she agreed to do a print for The Working Proof. Amy is based out of Portland, OR, and nature plays a huge part in her artwork. After browsing through the charities that The Working Proof supports, Amy was inspired by American Forests to make a variation of her Home print. This Land Is Your Land features a forest of trees in the shape of the United States, with a small heart accent because she thinks that our nation’s forests are incredible.

15% of the gross sale of this print will be donated to American Forests. Buy the print here and read our interview with Amy here.

I’m so excited to release this new print edition by Erik Otto – Gathering, inspired by the idea of a collective consciousness reaching for the same source. Gathering is a special edition – there are only 25 prints, and each is printed on an up-cycled record sleeve that Erik used as a canvas for the edition. Each print is made by hand with a combination of house paint, spray paint and screenprinting, making each one one-of-a-kind.

Erik Otto is an illustrator, painter, and graphic designer living in San Francisco. He’s got a lot going on – besides his own artwork, he is a graphic designer for VESL Studios and co-runs a socially conscious, art-driven company, New Leaf Collection. Erik finds inspiration everywhere, but the underlying theme in his work is about a quest to be connected to a deeper source as well as the struggle to maintain that connection in such a disconnected world.

15% of the gross sale of this print will be donated to Architecture for Humanity. On why he chose to pair Architecture for Humanity with his print:

After living on 6th Street in San Francisco for over a year – which is one of the most run down streets in the downtown area and is infested with drug addiction – I have a new level of compassion for those without a home. Every day I would meet people who hit rock bottom, but for whatever reason could not get out. It’s crazy how we live in the richest nation in the world, yet so many of those people lacked basic human needs and wound up turning to drugs as their only way to cope with their loneliness and depression. I am no longer in that environment but I find myself looking back at it as an example of a larger problem that lies under the surface all over the world.

Pick up one of Erik’s prints here, and read our interview with him here.