Some people may consider typewriters a thing of the past, but James has found a creative way to use this vintage technology.
Artist and architecture student James Cook give the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” new meaning with his incredible typewriter art.
A twist of fate leads to James purchasing his first (of many) typewriters to come.
James lives in the UK. Without reservation, he will tackle any typewriter project that comes in his direction. Album covers to book covers and portraits of pets to wedding anniversary presents. The subject matter of his pictures ranges from local landmarks to portraits of people, including stars of TV and film.
I am a 23-year-old London-based typewriter artist. I consider typewriter art, colloquially known as a “typicition”, a part-time job with architectural design as the focal point of my career goals.
museum-week
Each drawing can take anywhere between a week and a month to complete. Despite this, James has somehow managed to accumulate a portfolio of almost 100 pieces of work since his early experiments back in 2014.
“Each drawing is assembled from a variety of characters, letters, and punctuation marks using the forty-four keys of a typical typewriter. Information is overlaid and the keys are tapped at variable pressures to achieve tonal shading.”
James Cook.
James draws his inspiration from artist, Paul Smith, 1921-2007; a Philadelphia-born typewriter artist who suffered severe cerebral palsy his entire life. Smith produced intricately detailed drawings that are stamped with thousands of letters, numbers, and punctuation marks.
His palette of colors is limited to black and red, his style is more raw finger power than delicate brushstrokes.
“Whilst most of my work is straightforward by its frame of reference, the use of perspective and concept of concealing information plays an important role in how the drawings are observed by the viewer,” he explains.
He types the characters with his right hand and uses his left hand to move the line space knob as he cleverly types away to create his pictures. The only drawback James has found so far is the strain it can place on his left thumb and index finger.
