Art Tuesday

Dan McCarthy
Official Page

I have been fascinated by his art for quite some time now. I cannot remember where I first discovered his work, but I believe it was via the Inside the Rock Poster Frame blog. My understanding is that Dan started to get recognition due to his gigart posters, and has now developed quite a following for his art prints. Every year he sets up an opportunity for collectors to sign up to his monthly subscription. This will let them receive his monthly print without having to worry about it selling out before they have a chance to buy one. The subscription also includes a unique print that is not available anywhere else (other than Ebay of course.) My favorite print of his is "The Biography of a Carbon Atom."

He screenprints his works by himself in his own studio. He has a Facebook page that he updates with info when he finishes new art. His art incorporates several themes that I have noted. Almost all of them relate to science in some form. (I wonder why I like it...) Some recurring motifs are: trees, dinosaurs, mountains, nightscapes, skeletons, snow, and building architecture. He also uses shadows very well. I am not as fond of his prints that involve buildings, but I know there are some people who like it. His most popular prints are those that involve dinosaurs, as well as those that glow in the dark. And who wouldn't like a dinosaur poster that glows in the dark?

I have been fortunate to purchase two of his prints. I own "The Fall" as well as "What Once Was 2." Both of these incorporate dinosaurs. "WOW2" is the glow in the dark print seen above (in the light/in the dark.) His two most lucrative prints are probably his submission to the LOST prints that were sold last year ("Rousseu's Transmission") and a print that he added to a collection of prints by various artists that was sold to raise money for a musician friend, Jason Nobel, that had been diagnosed with cancer ("The Rain had a Sound".) In fact, "The Rain" was voted Best Art Print of the Year 2009. It is pretty cool looking since the rain is metallic ink. Both of these prints are listed on Ebay periodically and they tend to go for between $300-$500. Thus, I will never own one :(

I am looking forward to see what else he produces.