Finally got round to choosing prints that make the grade from the few editions I’ve pulled to date. 13 of the prints you see here will be available to buy in the very near future. 4 of the remainder have made it to the framery to get fitted with their Sunday best ready for my walls and galleries. I’ve also been producing a number of new original inkings testing out a smaller format, more on that to follow…
Click thumbs for larger images
It feels like a long while since I’ve been down to the print studio. Picked up these prints today that were pulled on Tues. I’d just got some new fancy Charbonnelle printing ink and had a bit of a play rather than just trying to pull the perfect print each time. Its much more fun this way. Oddly doesn’t feel like you’re producing anything good at the time, but they seem to be growers. Enjoying playing with texture and tone, I’m going to forget about editioning and just get on with it…
Click thumbs for larger images
I ♥ the Nelson Street Art project. Proper lovely vibes down there this afternoon. So much effort gone into transforming a drab 80’s concrete jungle into a full on garden party, Brizzle style. Blown away by the astroturf and big blocks of live plants adding to the mix. Big-ups to Bristol City Council (who’d ever thought I’d hear myself saying that!) for having the chops to spend a not insubstantial amount of public cash (word on the street is upwards of 80k) on something so downright cool.
Click thumbs for Big-ups
The prints I made as wedding gifts a few months ago turned out not only to be a run-away success but have also led to my first commission, which is fantastic news all round. I received a really lovely letter asking for a companion piece to one of the prints which also included what I believe to be an absolutely spot on write up of myself and my work:
“The draftsmanship is striking but there are elements of grotesquerie and darkness which seem at odds with the light heartedness he projects on an initial meeting. I’m neither critic nor connoisseur, but his images are haunting and have stayed with me”
Martin Maurice, Manhatten, NYC.
Below is the piece which provoked this response, seen here as it was presented.
I’m very much looking forward to finding the right print to complement this image, but because of the nature of my work, I never know what’s going to come off the point of my etching tool so I can but wait until the right image happens…
Had a wander down to the new Nelson Street art gallery currently in the making this afternoon. I love the fact this drab cement nightmare of a road is being turned into a Stokes Croft-esque street art bonanza. Big-ups to all the crews working hard in shitty weather…
Can’t wait to see the street once all the graft is finished. Click thumbs for full size images…
Back to the reason I why I very first started this blog! Scanning and archiving the mahoosive pile of sketchbooks produced from Life Class over the years.
Looking forward to getting back into the print studio again and starting the new term of life classes. The art thing has had to take a bit of a back seat recently but its good to start the old ball rolling again. Click the thumbs below for full size images…
Its been a little while since I posted here, but now we’re back to business as usual. New house, new studio, new start. I picked up the etchings here from the last session down at Spike Print a couple of weeks ago.
Still need to sort out a better way of photographing or scanning these prints, but that will come. Click thumbs below for full size view…
Dave Cropley 