Virgil Finlay - Point
Virgil Finlay (1914-1971) was an illustrator who used scratch boarding to create dot art for pulp, fantasy and science fiction. He used a 290 ultra-fine lithographic pen on a clay based scratchboard, he would dip only the tip into ink and allow only the ink and not the pen to touch the surface. He would then wipe the tip and repeat the laborious process. Despite the long process Finlay created over 2600 pieces over his 35 year career.
Finlay became known as “part of the pulp magazine history... one of the foremost contributors of original and imaginative art work for the most memorable science fiction and fantasy publications of our time”- Charles Collins.
I particularly love the pieces he creates and the style he follows, every piece is so detailed and shows great tone through the use of layering and negative space. All of his pieces are in black and white but still over such a strong grasping image. This is a great example of a simple use of black dots to create such a detailed image within the design industry.
