Mr. CRYSTALFACE

 ABOUT

‘Mr. Crystalface’ also known as David Faulkner creates complex artworks that serve as windows into a world which he has been conveying for over a decade. This world is inhabited by strange creatures and mysterious entities with stories to tell. These stories may be deciphered by the subjective eyes of the observer.

He often begins an artwork with a basic concept that he is trying to better understand while not knowing where that concept will take him. He allows his subconscious to guide him. Each piece is a journey that can take months, sometimes years to complete. The meaning or message behind the work evolves as it progresses and may be interpreted in different ways depending on how you look at it.

He primarily uses paper, fine-tipped pens, watercolours, gouache paints and digital mediums.

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When I create art, I feel connected to a world that feels both familiar and unknown at the same time.

I see each of my works as windows that look into sections of this other reality. The places and entities that I draw feel familiar to me but I’m not expressing them as a memory or as a carefully planned idea in my head, it’s not directly inspired by anything I have consciously seen or experienced before. Artmaking for me is its own experience, and like a dream or a vision, I interpret much of its meaning and story as I work on it or after it is complete.

When I start an artwork, I don’t know where it will go, it’s an exciting process of just seeing what comes through. When I look at a blank piece of paper, I like to imagine that there are an infinite number of images coming out at me and I am just tracing over some of what’s already there. The image becomes clearer the more I work on it in the same way that you would focus a lens on a camera.

I begin with a basic concept or problem that I am trying to solve, but that concept is open to change and evolve. Creating art is a form of meditation for me, it’s when I feel the most content and at peace with my place in this life. I use it as a tool to help me make sense of things, it allows me to transmute my inner conflictions into something worthwhile.

I love to draw, when I complete an illustration, I feel like a story has ended and I’m left with a strong desire to start a new one. It’s a way for me to communicate thoughts and feelings that I can’t express through words, I feel that art is an amazing tool for connecting with the parts of ourselves that we are not entirely consciously aware of.

creativity is a part of what makes us human, we enjoy creating and we enjoy the creations of others. I believe that each individual holds within them their own uniquely separate universe and that our separate universes all hold familiarities that connect us all together, so I hope that when you look into my work, you find something there that you can relate to in some way, however vague it might be.

People often ask me where I get my ideas from. So I've written down some answers here, separated into three sections; Inspiration, Emotional and Physical. 

INSPIRATION:

I've always been inspired by nature, I enjoy trying to replicate the Fibonacci sequence in my drawings. I like how no tree is ever truly the same. I love the way organic structures follow imperfect patterns and symmetry. Nature is never truly perfect, or maybe it is perfect in its imperfections? The same can be said for every aspect of existence, including people. I believe that life would be boring if it were free from imperfections.

I'm inspired by the idea that humans share an unconscious connection with one-another - that on some level, we can connect through images and stories without fully knowing why. Dreams inspire my work, as do various philosophies on spirituality, consciousness and existence. 

EMOTIONAL:

I find emotion to be a powerful tool in art-making. Especially the emotional extremes; Sadness, elation, love, hate, heartbreak, etc. 

Alchemy is described as the act of transmuting base metals into gold. From a symbolic point of view, you could look at the base metals of alchemy as your emotions, and gold as inspiration. If you can transform a sad experience into an inspirational experience, then the hard times become times of possibility and instead of being defeated by your emotions, you can use them as tools for creation and personal growth.  

PHYSICAL:

Most of my pictures are very detailed, I try to create things that capture a person's attention for more than just a few seconds, like a book, or a song. I never know how a picture will turn out, there is always an element of mystery. The feeling of ‘not knowing’ keeps me motivated.

I'll start a picture with rough pencil sketches, giving it a vague outline for me to follow. There's always a mixture of logical reasoning and illogical creativity involved. I then add pen, the pen doesn't have to conform to the pencil lines, there is no specific rule in place. if i were to follow strict rules, I would get bored. People say i must be patient, but i disagree, i get bored very easily! One of the few things that interests me is drawing, art is my favourite distraction. It helps me make sense of life. 

One method for coming up with unique ideas is to do rough scribbling within the space you want to fill. Then look at the scribbles to see what images pop out (like a Rorschach test). After you have found something, trace over what you see in pen. It's interesting to see what comes out!

CONCLUSION:

I want you to be able to make up your own mind about what my pictures are saying, I don't want you to feel like you need to know more in order to appreciate them. 

All we have in this life is time. In the end we disappear but the things we create live on. So why not spend your time working on something positive that will be around after you die? It doesn't have to be art, it can be anything.

There's a lot to see in my art and so the gallery is set up with a tool that lets you zoom in and see everything. Go to the gallery section and check them out!  

I also sell clothing, tapestries, and other things in the shop section of this site.

If you have any questions about prints, banners, clothing, commission jobs, sale of original art or anything at all, feel free to send me an email: David.Crystalface@hotmail.com

I update my website regularly, check back often for new content!