Film III Yellow to be exact, but that is not story. I found myself drawing alongside my father the other day, oddly enough 2 years to the day I started documenting him. I pulled up to the shop a “little while” after he did. I couldn’t hear the presses running so I knew I was still on time. I found him prepping for the morning work and I set up my stuff at the end of his press. He told me it was a light day beforehand, so I knew there wouldn’t be any plates being mounted, no cleaning of plates, and for that matter very little color. Other than yellow of course. Flexo ink is not the easiest material to paint and draw with, but I splattered it on and carved in with crayons and pencils. There is a a lot of process in his day, but when you take away the plates and the ink and the dies, you find yourself watching a lot of watching. To date I have found myself reaching for things that I am familiar with, “knowing” his process so well from years of working alongside him. Subtle head movements, the body stance as he is inspecting and looking for errors (he doesn’t make any) and the waving of his arms when the press refuses to cooperate with him. But, while watching, today I thought about what I might be missing. What someone not so familiar with this work, or this man for that matter, might draw. I did some thumbnails as he labored on and thought about the next trip as the day came to a close. We watched a video of newer presses that made set up quick and efficient—kind of like what we used to do before there were youtube videos and we would look at brochures around the lunchroom table. Somethings will always feel like yesterday. —Dominick
