The New Ashgate, our local gallery in Farnham, has a small exhibition on at the moment titled “City Life”, bringing together printmakers and illustrators in an exhibition of city landscapes.
I was particularly drawn to the prints by John Duffin, especially this one ‘Thames Bridges’. The detail is simply amazing and the unusual perspective gives a fantastic view up the Thames, like coming into Heathrow on a plane!
The New Ashgate Gallery website, says this about John Duffin’s work:
John Duffin is a well established Printmaker who makes images of city life. He is a member of Royal Society of painter Printmakers in London.
John Duffin is a print maker and painter well known for his striking black and white prints focusing on great architecture, depictions of modern life in urban environments and city streets at different times of day. He mostly uses etching techniques to create his limited edition prints, which consists of drawing through hard ground wax with a sharp needle onto a copper plate, favoured for its sensitivity and subtlety. John Duffin draws cross hatched lines of varying densities to create spatial compositions including London motifs in particular, working from small pencil sketches he creates whilst out walking in the city streets gathering inspiration. He works mainly in black ink on bright white paper resulting in dynamic contrasts between shadows and highlights. John Duffin also plays with view point, with the perspective often tilted so that the viewer is made to look down from above onto the buildings and structures within his etchings, giving a strong, impressive feel.
