A little while back I had the notion that I wanted to make some letterpress prints with my college friend, Harold Kyle, of Boxcar Press. Then I was also thinking that I know a lot of artists who I’d love to make art with. The two great tastes tasted great together, and the Cloudy Collection was forged in a flaming furnace of fiery, um, flames. Or on a big fat Heidelberg, really.

Prints are on sale now! There’s all kinds of other exciting information about the project on the site, so please take a look.

The happiest of New Year’s to everyone!

The past year was rough on a lot of the country and a lot of the world, but I can’t help but be optimistic. Besides the long-awaited departure of a certain someone with the initials GWB, and the corresponding arrival of Mr. BHO, the extended and expanding Huyck clan had a good year.

In March my older brother made me an uncle. In August my younger brother got married to an awesome woman. And two days before that wedding, my amazing wife gave birth to our pride and joy, Susanna Elnora Huyck, who weighed in at 9lbs 1oz, and 21.5in long! All my photos and videos of her are on Flickr. Susanna has been a constant source of hilarity, joy, and drool, and without even attempting to avoid cliché, she has changed our lives.

It was a great year for drawing things and making stuff, too. Thanks to all who hired me, or invited me to participate in a show, or just brought their kids over so I could draw coloring book pages for them. I count myself lucky to have such wonderful clients!

And of course there is the relocation to Idaho (see above illustration.) We are very excited to be in our new home in Moscow, ID, and I will begin teaching in two weeks in the art department of Washington State University in Pullman, just across the state line from here.

And speaking of the above illustration, if you like the card, please download the PDF and print it out!

Thanks to you, 2008!

And welcome, 2009! We expect great things!

- DH.

I almost forgot to post about this mask I made for the San Francisco Plush You! venue, double punch. And what better day to post a mask than All Hallow’s Eve? See more in this Flickr set, including in-progress shots.

Now go eat some candy!

It’s that time of year again: the fourth annual Plush You! show at Schmancy in Seattle opens Friday October 10! The opening runs from 5-9pm and will be up for a month. BONUS: This year, there will also be a San Francisco venue as well! WOW! I have sent different work for each place, but the work I did for Seattle is up on my Flickr page.

I have not stayed in the habit of regularly making plush toys out-of-season, but every time Plush You! rolls around, I have a great time playing with my big boxes of random felt and fabrics that I have collected. I use it as an opportunity to try out an idea, or as an outlet for something that has been on my mind. This year, I wanted to make wearable things, so I created a set of three Cryptid Crowns: Nessie, Sasquatch, and Yeti.

I also designed some labels for the crowns. I think I almost have as much fun designing and making the labels as I do making the actual plushies!

P.S. I just posted a set of haikus to the blog of Adam Rex, children’s author and illustrator extraordinaire. The poems I wrote seem to have a familiar theme…

Back to basics comic meme

Draw a ten panel comic about what you were doing ten years ago. Put pen straight to paper – no pencil, no computer, no planning, no starting again if you make a mistake. Simply draw, scan, publish. Tag some people who you’d like to see do the meme too. Oh and if you want to do it even if you haven’t been tagged you are most welcome!

So, here’s me 10 years ago:

(Click for larger/legible version)

If you’re listening, I tag John, Adam, Elio, and Meg to do their version. And don’t feel the need to wait to be tagged (I wasn’t after all.) Anyone else going to bring it?

This is just a quick note to my brothers (and sisters, real and in solidarity) out there who loved Legos growing up in the 80’s. There is a tantalizing sequence of Lego sets starting around the one-third mark of the movie– beginning with the space sets and moving through the castle and pirate sets. That era pretty much covers my childhood obsession with Legos.

Pictured above is (one of?) the first space sets we had around the house, from which the coveted “LL928″ brick arrived. My brothers and I would always find a place of prominence for the “license plate” on the space ships we built. The back of the ship, when you built the set from the instructions, opened to release a small moon buggy. There are other gems and triggers for the memory in the photo gallery as well. I can smell the musty basement and feel the rug burns on my knuckles from swooping our creations around.

Nostalgia is such an insidious elixir! I will not buy more Legos until after my daughter (due any day now) is born!

(at Gizmodo, via BoingBoing)

The inimitable Frank Chimero has done it again! Frank decided that this Wednesday and all Wednesdays forward will be known as Webless Wednesdays, where we all unplug for a day and share our stories of limitless productivity on Thursday. I think I’ll join him– won’t you?