Inspiration: Bryan Angus

I’m going to post regularly about illustrators, printmakers, painters and artists who inspire me. The first person I’d like to talk about is Bryan Angus.

Bryan Angus is an artist based in Banff on the North Aberdeenshire coast, or as he says “otherwise known as the Banffshire Coast”. In the past he has painted and created pastel drawings, some of which are very good, but it is his linocuts, which Bryan says he has been increasingly working with, which I am in awe of and most definitely inspired by.

What I’m incredibly impressed by is the sheer variety of the marks the Bryan uses because it gives seemingly limitless variety and texture to his work. Just check out the grass, the rocks, the sea wall, the sea and the road in Sandend Storm below. The use of mark making is almost lyrical in its quality. I find myself captivated by the piece and the skill of his work totally belies the fact that it uses only two colours. Two colours!

Sandend Storm – Bryan Angus

The other quality of Bryan’s work which impresses me immensely is just how he works with shadow, effortlessly changing marks and bringing in colour to cast shadows across his work in a way which seems totally natural and flowing. His shadow work is exemplified in this piece below Bright Coast, Long Shadows.

Bright Coast, Long Shadows – Bryan Angus

I cannot get enough of how Bryan manages to work with only two colours but conveys such a broad range of tones and textures. He also mixes up the size of marks to great effect. See in the image below how the sky is heavy and brooding with heavy, wide marks and yet how finely detailed the road and stones of the buildings are?

Mount Pleasant (Macduff) – Bryan Angus

I love the incredible variety that Bryan has managed to work into his prints, he is incredibly inventive with mark making and texturing different tones. All of the techniques I’ve talked about above result in prints which are really alive and vibrant.

If you like these pieces you should definitely check out his work at www.bryanangusart.com