About the work
(version: April 25, 2024)DRAWINGS
Axel is a portrait / figurative artist , producing drawings in charcoal, pastel, graphite and silver point.
My current repertoire:
- Portraits
- Nudes, emphasising anatomy and draftsmanship
- vintage scenes based on antique photographs
- revamped classical/mythological golden oldies
- oversized semi-abstract landscapes
I draw in a sparse yet naturalistic style, capturing many details but also adding layers dealing with realities of existence beyond the obviously visible. They are expressed in colour, direction, gesture, texture, juxtaposition of elements.
My images are spiked with a promiscuous mix of style features, which often makes labeling them as such into a somewhat laughable exercise, merely justified by heightened findability.
I guess what I make is usually called 'outsider art'. Facing the world as it is evolving, in my current situation, this is my natural response. Some pieces are more about draftsmanship, and in some I am the incredulously curious alien, attempting to process present day reality on Earth. The latter are considerably harder to make into good drawings.
I started focussing exclusively on drawing, in spring of 2020. Before that I worked on a computer, shifting and tweaking pixels.
PHOTOMANIPULATIONS
In the decade preceding my current adventure as a late-blooming draftsman, my medium has been a Mac with Wacom tablet and much maligned but truly magnificent Photoshop. Plus a high end printer (commercial art printer for large formats) to get physical output.
ORIGINALS and PRINTS
Original Drawings and Prints of both my drawings and my photo-based work can be purchased, and will be shipped worldwide, via Saatchi online:
Originals: www.saatchiart.com/axelsaffran
Prints: www.saatchiart.com/axelsaffranPrints
Follow me on Instagram:
www.instagram.com/axelsaffran