Todd Bartel's New Publication: Select Collages 1983 - 1989

[Todd Bartel]

Dear artists,

I am pleased to let you know that I have a new publication, which is available for purchase at Blurb. There are two versions of the book:

A standard landscape version (8 x 10) inches, which is a perfect bound, but could be made with a hardcover:

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/3341981

And a large format landscape version (11 x 13), which only comes as a hard cover:

http://www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/3341691

Both versions of the books can be previewed in total.

Hope you may be interested in the publication!

Todd

[Todd Bartel]

I'm so happy to read your comments Ken, and am pleased to know that you appreciate the work but also the creation of the book. The color shift is a more than likely due to the fact that when I would photograph a piece in the 1980s I would use available sunlight. I have a bit of a learning curve to get over with adjusting color temperature in Photoshop. To be honest, I did not try to correct it. The only piece that really bugs me with is The Meeting Place, which I did try to correct in my recent uploads to Lulu. (Next I will have to swap out all the files for the Blurb book and re-upload that. Any piece that has a bluish cast should probably be a bit warmer, but from piece to piece the lightness to darkness of the warmer white tones of the paper color has more to do with how much iron scorching I would do from piece to piece. Some pieces got a lot of scorching, while others did not.

Although it is probably self-evident in the book, I wish I had commented on the transition from flat work into assemblage in my text. The last few collages really pushed into the physical realm and then I stopped making collages altogether for twenty years. [Except the one collage I made for  the birth of my son, Noah, in 1995.] I ended up pulling that piece from the book because of the price shift that happens after 40 pages.

It is gratifying to know that you and your wife like the work Ken. I made those pieces so very long ago, and many of them while still in college. I've heard artists bash their student work and have always felt grateful that my early days as an emerging artist yielded things I still want to look at. Knowing that you appreciate the work is most satisfying for sure!

Thanks for your kind words and for your support.

[ken coleman]

Todd,

My wife said to tell you that she enjoyed going through the book, too.

[ken coleman]

Hey Todd,

For sure I am pleased with the book. It's nice to see work posted here on the site but to see these pieces, printed in book form as a body of work is very satisfying to me and I trust it is for you, too. I can't compare to the other version but in the larger version that I got, the images do sit comfortably on the page and the overall layout seems top-notch to me. Congratulations.

I have only glanced at the Blurb site but I assume they are doing digital printing, not offset, certainly not gravure.  I didn't notice any uneveness in printing from image to image but it does seem to me that there is a color shift (I don't know if that's the right term) toward the cool/blue side. Of course, that might be inherent in the work.

The studio shots at the end are an extra treat. Cool.

--Ken

[Todd Bartel]

Hey Ken,

My Blurb copy came today and I was very pleased with it. I forgot for one that it is slightly bigger than the Lulu version and that made the images easier to see and of course a bit more detailed. I also prefer the formatting. With all the different sizes I had to reformat text to accommodate the page constraints. If you got the larger version, that would be bigger still from my perfect bound version, which is what came today. The larger one breaths the best, in terms of overall page design. But considering I had to work with the constraints of Blurb's measurements, I was still very pleased with the perfect bound Blurb version. The paper was absolutely worth the extra cost. I love the color of the cover, which is not as stark white as the Lulu cover, it is a much warmer white. The printing was a nice quality too so all in all I am very pleased with it. Now I hope I sell some work in the show I'm in so I can get myself a hard cover version! One thing I did notice was that a couple of the pieces did not print as well as the others. All of them are passible, but now that i can see the differences I will of course upload a corrected file (after I do the corrections, that is.) So, it is too late for you to capitalize on these adjustments, but I think you will still be pleased. At least I hope you will be. Once again, thank you so very much for your kind support, which is deeply appreciated.

[Todd Bartel]

Thanks for the interest and support Gwenn! 

[Gwenn Mayers]

Hi Todd

Just ordered the Lulu version / really looking forward to seeing the book and your early work

Best,

Gwenn Mayers

[ken coleman]

Select Collages arrived this afternoon.

I am now very interested to learn how you compare the quality of the books from Lulu and Blurb.

[ken coleman]

Good to know about Lulu. Now I'm really eager for my copy to show up.

[Todd Bartel]

Hi again Ken and Stephen, FYI, I received my Lulu publication in today's mail. WOW! I placed the order on Tuesday and have it in my hand on Thursday. That is worth something! I'd say it is pretty good. I would not say it is gorgeous--which, I attribute to the paper quality-- but it's definitely not poor quality either, and it is more than passible. For the price and the quick turn around I am very, very pleased. I am going to try and beef up the blacks and adjust the color of a couple of the pieces and resubmit the file and have another go at it. The cover and the binding are great. So as an endorsement I will definitely be making more books with Lulu. When I can afford a nicer publication though, I'd go with Blurb.

[Todd Bartel]

Thanks for the support Ken! And thanks for letting me know the time between order and shipment! 4 days, seems really good.