EVERYTHING IS A CYCLE

 

David Faulkner, who is also known by his artistic nickname – Mr Crystalface comes across as a visual artist with a true spirit, enriched with honest curiosity and understanding for the personal journey that the-self experiences in their lifetime. His awareness is evident in the inimitable detailed style, showing change, transcendence of character, and intimate acceptance of the universal order, without resisting the natural flow of absolutely everything.

 

Art-making for David happens through choosing a variety of digital mediums to experience emotion and by giving in to his logical and illogical thoughts for creating an outline with a flow. Crystalface doesn’t like imposing a theory or explanation on his artworks, but he'd rather give you the observer a moment of a personal reflection and a dream-like experience when dwelling over his paintings. 

 

Can you tell us who the artist under the alias Mr. Crystalface is?

 


My real name is David Faulkner, I live in Sydney, Australia. I spend most of my time making art, I love it and I'm not sure what I'd do without it.



You create very detailed visual pieces. How long does it take you to finish one project? What motivates you to?

 


One project can take me anywhere from months to years to complete. My recent piece, 'Self' took me 5 years.

 

I'm motivated by the process of creating something, rather than completing it. I love creating little worlds but once something is finished I don't feel as connected to it in the same way that I did when I was working on it. As I'm working on a piece, it becomes a big part of my life but then when it's finished I feel like something is missing and need to begin work on a new one to fill that space. It's like reading a book, I want to stay in that world as long as I can until it has reached its natural ending. 

 

Self-portrait

 

SELF

 

For creating this artwork, the artist took four years to draw the linework. He was using fine-tipped pens on a large sheet of watercolor paper, after which he spent another year coloring it digitally.

David says that in his artwork “Self-portrait’ he sees our “Selves’ as the masks that can be ‘created, changed, replaced and improved upon'. He points out that everyone’s one-self will be how they make it to be and it’s natural to adapt according to the immediate environment, in a respectful way. By being confident in your individuality, he shares that you can create a completely personal artistic signature (‘anything at all’) and be free to be your true self in that one thing, the way nobody else sees you. What he shares incisively is his realization that by being our own real ‘selves’, we as people will be able to select our best circle of humans, who could truly enrich each other’s lives, rather than the opposite.

 

You use watercolors, gouache paints, and other digital mediums for your paintings. How did you choose which ones to use during the artistic process?

 

 

When I get tired of one medium I go on to another. I do the same with my artworks, when I'm stuck on a particular piece or if I get bored, I go onto another work. I always have a few different artworks and different mediums that I go between throughout the day. It keeps me from burning out. But most of the time I work with pens and pencils on paper.  

 

 

FACE THE ABYSS

 

Mr Crystalface shares that he sees his work Face The Abyss as a representation of the natural ending and facing our inner demons.

 

Does your personal life dictate your style and art narratives?

 

 

My personal life definitely has an impact on my art. I treat my work as a tool that I can use to make sense of my life and the world around me, it's also a

very cathartic experience. 

 

Usually, when I start work on something, I will base its concept around a problem, revelation, emotion, or question that I am trying to better understand. As I work on the picture, the answer to the problem becomes more clear to me, I better understand the revelation and whatever emotions I was feeling when I have begun to become more positive. 

 

 

David Faulkner working on FACE THE ABYSS

 

Often when I look back on a picture I see how certain elements related to what was going on in my life at the time, things I wasn't consciously aware of as I was working on it. It is always interesting to look at old pieces and see where my head was at. 

 

 

How do you see the future in a professional and personal plan?

 

 

I see my art as being a bunch of windows that look into another world. My biggest goal is to continue building upon this world and to write more stories about it. I'm working on a number of different picture books and I've already begun creating little stories surrounding my art and the characters within it. 

 

 

 

CREATIVE PROCESS OF 'SELF'


In the Short Term, I'm planning on releasing more limited-edition merchandise, I've always liked the idea of exclusive, one-of-a-kind pieces. They're more special than mass-produced merchandise. 

 

I'm working on a tarot deck which I started back in 2014. This is a long-term project and I had no idea it would be such a big one, it still has a long way to go. I'm working on it with another person, Draven Grey, who studies the tarot and is doing the writing to compliment the art. It's the biggest project I've ever taken on. 

 

My personal goal is just to stay healthy, physically and mentally. My physical health affects my mental health which affects my art which affects my mental health. So if I stay physically healthy through exercise and taking care of myself, my art can continue which will continue to bring me joy.

It took some time for me to realize this, it's all connected.

 

 

 

TREE OF LIFE

 

In the store section on David’s page, visitors can choose between a range of illustrated prints, stickers, various clothing pieces, banners, and wall hangings. There are also gift cards and a picture book, exploring the life path of mystical creatures in an allegorical universe.

 

 

WORK IN PROGRESS

 

 

WORKS IN PROGRESS

 

To find out more recent works by the artist, check his blog page where he posts some artworks in progress and aerosol projects hes' been involved with.

 


What tips can you give to new and emerging artists in the genre?

 


I'd say the best thing to do as an emerging artist is to just do what you enjoy. Don't try to fit in. Do your own thing and the right people who will appreciate you most will gravitate towards you. People don't know what they want until they see it, so by filtering your work to fit any particular demographic you could be isolating yourself. Don't be like everyone else, be your own unique self. If you're not sure of what sort of style you want to do, look at the people you look up to and see what they aren't doing which you wish they were doing, and do that. 

 

 

'All we have in this life is time. In the end, we disappear but the things we create live on. So why not spend your time working on something positive that will be around after you die? It doesn't have to be art,

it can be anything.'

 

 

VITRUVIAN MAN

 

 

MUSHROOM MIND

 

To find out more about the artist and view more works in his personal gallery: CLICK HERE