Dotting Between the Dots, pen and ink on paper

Lawrie Dignan is a Victoria, BC-based illustrator who works primarily in pen and ink. In his current artistic practice, Lawrie specializes in a finely detailed style of pointillism, creating complex and colourful images that take on a different appearance depending on how closely one is looking at them. 

Summer, pen and ink remarque on screen print

I really like the smooth, almost marbled texture that Lawrie’s style lends to each of the works. Whether the artist is creating a stylized landscape or a fully abstracted pattern, the mosaic of colourful circles in each work makes the pieces look like they could be sculpted from so many smooth glass shards or marbles. There’s a sense of tactility in the way that Lawrie’s coloured dots touch but rarely overlap or intersect, as if they each have their own volume and mass. 

Lawrie's art portfolio website, www.changing-realities.com

The artist has a background in technical drawing, and it’s clear that this sense of precision informs his creative pieces. Lawrie’s abstract works take on an aesthetic reminiscent of fractal illustrations, expressing mathematical certainties through a random-looking collection of fine points.

Burst Again, pen and ink on 300 gsm acid-free watercolour paper