I’m crafting an ancient alien king out of rubber water bottles, emergency blankets, and some very opulent pillows.

You may suspect I’ve lost my reason. Please feel free to blame it on the eighteenth century. The trigger for my bizarre activities comes from my feverishly in-depth research into 1700s art and culture while developing Napoleon’s Starship.

Today I begin work on the most unique and tactile of the rewards offered by the Napoleon’s Starship campaign on Kickstarter – the adorned print. This fascinating 18th century technique involved meticulously cutting out the inside areas of a print and “coloring” them in with a variety of fabrics, lace, leather and brocade. The result was a beautiful and intricate mixed-media composition.

As a stop motion animator I absolutely fell in love with the idea and had to try it myself. I’ve always loved building miniature sets and creating art from found objects, unconventional materials and bizarre combinations. Gathering some eclectic materials from my collection I tried my hand at my first two adorned prints, adding my own twist by referencing my favorite Gothic novel (Phantom of the Opera) and my favorite anime (One Piece). I debuted them at Fan Expo Philadelphia 2024.

Both prints sold out and I acquired a new favorite technique. I’m now crafting a new limited series of adorned prints just for Napoleon’s Starship. One has already been claimed and only 4 more remain! These prints were designed specially for this campaign and will not be available anywhere else. Every print is completely handcrafted and unique and I’m making them right here in Egypt, where I’m working at an archaeological dig! A very fitting environment for a graphic novel about discovering and protecting ancient art from the invading army of Napoleon.

Check out the video below to learn how the prints are made and what unexpected locally-sourced materials I’m incorporating into each piece:

If you’re enjoying this technique as much as I am, come and claim a print of your own before they’re all gone. Just 4 prints remain, with 20 days left to go!