Introducing, Francois Pretorius.
Tell us about yourself, who are you, where are you from, and what do you do?
I’m a graphic artist from Potchefstroom (near Johannesburg) in South Africa. I manage the local university’s creativity centre where students and members of the public can partake in evening classes ranging from drawing and painting to photography and all kinds of computer software courses relating to graphic and web design respectively. I’ve been drawing and interested in cool and inspiring imagery for as long as I can remember. Over the past decade or so I’ve spent many years living and working abroad, most notably in South Korea. This has also given me the opportunity to travel a lot and my experiences of different cultures are at the heart of the art I create.
What’s your inspiration?
I draw much inspiration from elements of various international visual languages and combine it with my own visual frame of reference in order to create a unique style of expression. Influences for my work include traditional African masks and sculpture, architecture and printmaking of cultures from the Far East, totem designs in particular by the Haida peoples of North America, early twentieth century primitivist art, contemporary tattoo designs, and in particular, the work of artists such as Jean Dubuffet, Saul Bass, José Bedia and David Hale.
What’s your dream project?
I would like the opportunity to work on large murals in busy urban areas. I would especially love to be involved in collaborations with artists such as José Bedia, Blu, Shantell Martin, Herbert Baglione, Supakitch, Beau Stanton, Audrey Kawasaki, Dave Kinsey or DALeast.
What art supplies do you use?
In my recent work I’ve predominantly used pen and/or Indian ink on paper, though I can see myself returning to painting with acrylics and combining this with wooden carvings (again) in the nearby future.
Any other artists that you would like to recommend for others to check out as well?
DALeast
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