Another sneak peek at the ties!

Sorry this is such a short post, but we just wanted to share with you some of the new colorways that Monkey found are successful. He hope you agrees! Once again, they'll be making their big debut at the Handmade Ho Down!

Here's the Hazmat design in black on charcoal (for those who don't really go with the Radioactive Green color) and the Skull N Bones design in black on silver (for you non-pink people).

Monkey will be spending a good part of next week working on the ties (with more tie colors!) to bring a full selection of awesomeness to the Handmade Ho Down. Mark your calendars, and if you are interested in pre-ordering for a discounted price, let us know!

Handmade Ho Down needs some volunteers!

Hello everyone!

As you probably know (or maybe you don't, that's okay too) Monkey is one of the committee members that is putting on the Handmade Ho Down urban craft fair on December 3rd! It'll be a really awesome event, but the Monkey needs your help!

He needs more people to sign up to help guard the VIP room (yes, there's a VIP room!), sell raffle tickets, staff the info booth, etc., etc. Ideally you would sign up for a 2-hour shift, but if that's not possible, Monkey will take an hour shift - after all, we are relying on your good will to make this event uber-successful!

Anyhoo, if you are able to help out, please email Monkey at info (at) monkeyandseal.com. He (and the rest of the committee) will be super appreciative!

PS - there will be some stuff you can do earlier (ie. pre-6pm!) . There is even stuff you can do before then! Just let me know!

Process: Seal's 90 thumbnails

Here is a sneak peek at Seal's current illustration and brief process: Seal was inspired and repulsed by the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. It was the worst nuclear reactor incident that resulted in a massive explosion and severe radioactive pollution that is still affecting the area today. She is working with images of powerplants and her young female protagonist who is an adventurous survivor learning to navigate through a new world. Below is the initial color layout.


90 thumbnails. Seal really likes working on thumbnails. They are small, quick, expressive, and are not committed to any sequential order, specific story, or a uniform style. She worked on these small compositions in the course of two days during her lunch breaks at work and at night. They range from 1min. to 10min. thumbnails. Most of the time, Seal doesn't have a concrete idea to begin with. She just knew that lately, she was inspired by Russian architecture, Victorian metropolis, and steampunk.

In her thumbnails, she quickly indicated 3 value range and three depths of field: foreground, middleground, and background. She is also fascinated by the interplay of light.

Below are some of her favorites. The color rough is based on the fourth thumbnail. Please check back soon for the finished illustration.

Did you make that tie yourself?

So at Monkey's dayjob, he is forced to wear a collared shirt and slacks. Being the snazzy Monkey he is, he likes to wear button-ups and ties. However, Monkey doesn't like dress codes, and so he was thinking of ways to personalize his very corporate appearance. Thus, he figured that if he made some kick-ass ties, then he could still be himself while staying within the dress code.

Thus, he started thinking about ties as an art format and came up with some designs that he thinks are pretty spiffy. He found a place that sells flat-colored ties, and is working to perfect screen-printing them. His grand debut of his line of ties will be at the Handmade Ho Down! Thus, if you want to see ALL the ties before everyone else does, it's a great opportunity. They will be online shortly after the event in the lovely Monkey + Seal Etsy Shop.

Anyway, since pictures usually speak louder than words, here are some sneak peaks at the ties! These are going to be the main colorways for these three designs! Monkey is still experimenting with different color inks, ties, and a few more designs. And although Monkey wears these super-bright colors daily, he will also be printing on some more neutral colors, for those of you who are a bit less wild. Enjoy!