Vikings Printmaking: Pushead and the many other artists at "Designer Con"

Three weeks ago I attended a large convention in Anaheim called "D-con", short for designer convention. Featured there were hundreds of artists specializing mostly in printmaking and collectors toys. It was interesting to see such a wide variety of styles and techniques all in one place. A lot of the artists there had prints of movie and band posters that they had designed themselves different from the official imagery. One technique for print makers that I noticed to be frequent there that I found to be interesting was artists using large holographic sheets to print on.

One of the more well known artists present is Brian Schroeder, widely known by the name "Pushead". Pushead is a musician, record label owner, writer and artist. He is the singer of Septic Death, a hardcore punk band active mostly in the 80's. He has made a lot of artwork for bands, skateboards, and t-shirts. Some of the musicians he has created artwork and album covers for include Metallica, the Misfits, Dr. Dre, Travis Barker, Rocket from the Crypt, and Kool Keith. He also has made shirts for Thrasher, a skateboarding magazine. He has designed a couple of pairs of Nike's as well. His artwork depicts a lot of skulls and skeletal imagery. His work is quite sought after and has a large cult following. Pushead's booth at the convention had a 6 hour line to purchase his artwork. I purchased a record that included 5 signed prints for $117 and was able to sell it on ebay immediately for $1,000!

The pictures featured below are primarily Pushead's work, however some other artists are included as well. The prints of Pushead that I have chosen to include are created using photo emulsion and are printed on white or off white paper using 2 to 5 layers. There was a series of 5 prints included in the new album for his band Septic Death. These prints are all only 2 layers and range between 9"x11" and 11"x17" in size. Most are printed using a layer of black on a red ink background, however some are a layer of black ink with a tan background color. I have included much of his artwork as well as others below.