John Patrick Reynolds

Born:  London 1961

Education:   English Literature   University of East Anglia.

Screenprinting: London Print Studios

From working as a journalist on local newspapers in north London to war reporting in Croatia, John Reynolds photography skills became more apparent leading him then to explore screenprinting at the London Print Studios in west London.

Having his first solo show at the Fourth Street Photo Gallery in New York in September 2001. John  Reynolds has since has secured the first license to reproduce images from Britain's favourite post war comics.

Of some of Britain's most famous characters, Reynolds says 'Dennis, Desperate Dan, the Bash Street Kids are all gifts to the printmaker - red and black jumpers, bold colours, simple outlines and the speech bubbles all make for really dramatic pictures 

Comic book characters are a very important part of British cultural identity but the foremost publisher of comics in Britain - DC Thomson, of Beano and Dandy fame, inventors of such classic characters as Dennis the Menace, Desperate Dan and the Bash Street Kids - has until now never given an artist permission to use its vast archive of images. I am the first artist to be given a license to use its images in my screenprints.

I have carefully selected the prints for their composition and content, then edited them and coloured them for the screenprint medium.

                   

Veteran comics maestro David Sutherland has signed a selection of John Patrick Reynolds screenprints which use images originally drawn by him for The Beano. He has signed half a dozen of four different prints, all on paper: Dennis Face x 9,  Dennis Sweet Shop Owners, Bash Street Kids Teacher Silly Me and Biffo watches telly. David Sutherland quotes:   "The screenprints bring a new life and new dimensions. I draw them quite small, at 6 inches by 4 inches, and when you see it bigger, when you pick out individuals, that's when it becomes so different. It's not telling a story any more - you're looking more at the composition and colours."     His favourite was the one of Dennis's head repeated nine times: "That Andy Warhol-style one, with the rows of Dennis's face, looks very good. I liked that one in particular."