A designer has been impressed by his childhood hero Tintin, the world-famous investigative journalist, in his print recreations of Irish lighthouses.
Bert Dufour, initially from Belgium, developed a fascination with lighthouses after shifting in 2011 to Clonakilty, a city in County Cork, Ireland.
His adventures spanned from Rathlin on the tip of Northern Ireland to Fastnet in Cork on the south coast. He has travelled over 2,000km in three years, capturing all 80 operational lighthouses on the island.
Now the 55 prints made up to now have been framed – and are set to go on show later this month at Gifted, Ireland’s largest craft and design honest.
“There is a beauty to these towers, and how they stand over the ocean,” he stated.
“I am gobsmacked by how these structures were created 150 to 200 years ago.
“I discover how they had been constructed and the place they had been constructed totally fascinating.”
Tintin’s ‘large affect’
Mr Dufour, founding father of enterprise The Designer of Things, stated his work has been impressed by famend Brussels-born graphic artist Herge, who’s finest generally known as the creator of The Adventures Of Tintin comics.
Fittingly, the illustrations – crafted utilizing on-site sketches and nonetheless images, earlier than being edited digitally – have been likened to the well-known tales concerning the adventurous boy reporter and his loyal companion canine, Snowy.
“I have been told by a few people that my illustrations reminded them of the Tintin books,” he stated.
“The comics have had a big influence on how I illustrate. I was a big fan of the books growing up and still have a full collection in their original hard cover prints.”
“I am trying to simplify them in such a way that my prints aren’t a photographic representation, but a very stylised representation instead,” he added.
The graphic artist hopes to complete the lighthouse mission subsequent yr.
Although he stated he couldn’t choose his favorite lighthouse, he shared that he did carry a delicate spot for Fastnet.
“I am drawn to any of the lighthouses that were built on rocky islands in these crazily remote locations,” he added.
“Considering the time they were built in, in this case first finished in 1854 and rebuilt in 1897, and the tools available at the time, not to mention the sheer scale of it when you are near it in a boat, it is awe-inspiring.”
The designer additionally created a 1,000-piece jigsaw of 16 of his lighthouse prints, to be included within the exhibit at Gifted, from 30 November to 4 December at Dublin’s RDS.
Source: information.sky.com”