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Christian Faur's Crayon Art Series - Untitled 6500, 2006

Like this image? It was made with Hand Cast Encaustic Crayons by Christian Faur. This is a fascinating series with a unique yet excellent medium in a world where everything has gone digital: pixelating images using crayons. It’s interesting to note the effect is not unlike the dot matrix printer art in the 1980′s and therefore may pay homage to that genre.

The artist “painted” striking crayon portraits of people with somber expressions in this series. This is reflected in the lighting and shading of the image selection itself in terms of camera lighting and angle, which at times leaves deep, complex textural shadows on the close-up of the subject. The effect is haunting. However, the artist slyly reminds the whimsical nature of using crayons as the medium by creating ‘pixels’ of color akin to vertical scan patterns often seen on old school television sets, as in the case of Mortgage on the Future, below, or small crayon ‘pixels’ in Untitled 6500, above. There is also more than a little irony in positioning the whimsical nature of color interspersed with the moribund, washed-out subject matter.

Christian Faur's Mortgage on the Future, 2006

They are masterpieces in their own right. If one considers the constraints of the medium, the detail clarity in the facial features & expression are intense, especially in Untitled 6500, above. It is possible the technique includes advanced color-dying based on a photograph, but the spirit of the works disguise the technique, leaving the viewer to conclude the  artist took great pains to pick the colors to match the photographs, the subjects themselves, the slyness that at once reminds of the medium, and the inherent irony of color. It leaves the viewer feeling as if this  must’ve been essentially a lengthy process between pieces for the artist, and that kind of care is evident throughout the work.

For more information:

Christian Faur‘s website (www.christianfaur.com) and Artist Statement.