Donald Sultan

Donald Sultan is another artist who works in a minimalistic style. His piece "Pomegranate" is posted below.

This work is an etching, and like many of his other pieces, is part of an edition - this is one of sixty. Surprisingly, this piece is 48 inches by 36 inches, and as such probably has a different impact than I am getting from the small image on a computer screen. Sultan also does screen prints, and tends to use one or two colors with blacks and whites, which adds a dramatic flair. Such high contrast has a tendency to draw attention, and is a technique that I myself use in digital work.

I haven't ever done etchings or screen prints, but I love the graphic quality of the images that are made utilizing these techniques. One of the things that I really enjoy about Sultan's work is that he makes sure to maintain interesting compositions, not having everything central to the page. On some of his screen prints, the images even bleed over the white border, disrupting the clean line but drawing the viewer's attention. While I think this can be an effective technique, it is important to make sure that it is done with intent, so it does not look sloppy, which Sultan does successfully achieve.