Splendour & Glory
Design project based on hand-made pencil illustrations. London, ongoing.
This project began as a return to the profound connection between the arts and manual skills. A return to craftsmanship as the materialization of artistic expressions. The underlying idea was to recover the concept of technique as art in itself.
Splendour & Glory was conceived as a vindication of hand drawing, one of the most traditional techniques. In this particular case, the drawing process consists of a sequence of layers of watercolour pencil and graphite pencil, superimposed with the calm and patience of the most classic craftsmanship.
The next step was to combine the original handmade illustrations using various software applications. The different illustrations were arranged to create different sophisticated patterns.
In this process, the use of any computer application is recognized as just another craft tool. The traditional pencil and the computer are put on the same level.
This part of the project insists on considering any computer program as just another craft tool. The training and time required to develop the skills necessary to use these applications are similar to those required to use a traditional tool. A computer is like a pencil and vice versa. Both are simply work tools, no more and no less, but the skillful use of either can be contemplated as an art form in itself.
