About Jim Fox
After many years working in graphic design, learning the craft and refining my skills, I became an independent artist to explore my own creative ideas and passions. Living in Yorkshire, I draw inspiration from the region's natural beauty and rich heritage, alongside a lifelong fascination with the clarity and bold forms of mid-century graphic design. My work brings these influences together through traditional printmaking and contemporary graphic design.
I have a deep appreciation for the craftsmanship of traditional printmaking and the enduring qualities of well-considered design. Whether creating limited-edition screen prints or typographic work, I'm drawn to the challenge of reducing ideas to their essential graphic form, paying particular attention to composition, colour and the small details that give a piece its character.
My limited-edition screen prints are inspired by the natural world, often featuring birds, animals and flora, interpreted through simplified graphic forms. Alongside these, my typographic work reflects the same fascination with clarity and careful composition.
THE ART OF SCREEN PRINTING
A Super-Simplified Guide
Contemporary screen printing was hugely popularised by Andy Warhol and the Pop Art movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
This age-old art form has roots in many ancient cultures, although the process we know today began evolving in the late 1800s, when it was used for printing repeat patterns on textiles.
A “silkscreen” is a frame with silk stretched over it (although nowadays a synthetic mesh is usually used).
Each colour in the artwork needs to be separated onto an individual screen. Once the screens are prepared, ink is forced through each one by pulling a squeegee across the surface, transferring the ink onto the paper.
This is done by hand, one colour at a time, ensuring that each new layer aligns with the previously printed colours. The hand-made nature of this process makes each print slightly unique, even if it is part of a limited edition.
TYPOGRAPHY PRINTS
Alongside my limited-edition screen prints, my typographic works explore my love of letterforms, composition and graphic design. Drawing on my background as a designer, these pieces are influenced by the clarity, structure and bold visual language of mid-century graphic design, while bringing my own approach to colour and form.
Printed digitally using high-quality materials, these works are produced with an emphasis on quality and longevity. The same attention to balance, composition and detail runs throughout my practice, whether creating a hand-pulled screen print or a digitally printed typographic piece.