Students took the shirts off their backs and turned them into masterpieces today in the North Oval.

Drive-By Press, a company with a mobile printing press run out of the back of an SUV, had a tent behind the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, and employees were available to teach students about the art of printmaking.

The stop at OU is part of the Austin-based company’s road trip to universities across the country.

Business sophomore John Salvie held his shirt flat while the designer rolled the print over the fabric.

"I chose the skull pattern," Salvie said. "I just walked over here and took off my shirt and, for ten dollars, I got something cool back."

Students can choose from nine different designs, all hand-carved from flat wooden plates. The plates are then covered in black ink and pressed onto the article of clothing, which is then wrapped in paper and left to dry for a couple hours.

Students can purchase prints of their custom shirts for $10, or pre-made designs for $20.

"It's a gift for my boyfriend," said anthropology graduate student Sydney Sevier. "It's unique and DIY [Do it yourself}."

Assistant designer Katy Seals ran the printing press while her partner, Joseph Velasquez, was giving lectures to art classes around campus. She chose to join the tour after graduating with a degree in printmaking last May.

"We've been printing all day," Seals said as she slathered ink on another wooden plate. "We had a lady come in that wanted all of her bathroom accessories printed. She brought an entire shower curtain, bath mats, everything."

Seals and Velasquez visited over 100 universities on their last tour, driving as far north as Seattle. They have already lined up 25 universities for this year's tour, which will end in December, Seals said.

"Our next stop is Lubbock," Seals said.

Velasquez and his associate Greg Nanney created Drive-By Press in 2005. The machine they use to make prints on clothing is a 14th-century style printing press weighing over 600 pounds, according to the Drive-By Press Web site.

The company has traveled over 100,000 miles during its three year career, spreading ink and one-of-a-kind t-shirts to campuses across the nation, said Seals.

Drive-By Press’ mobile printing tent was open until 6:30 p.m. today and will be open again tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the North Oval.