Review: Oi Doris The Typewriter Artist

I have always been passionate about art and in awe all artist’s abilities, despite not being particularly talented myself! I studied Art History at A Level and ever since have enjoyed visiting galleries and exhibitions of works in a wide variety of styles, however I have never come across anything quite like the work of Ann Worsnip aka Oi Doris.

Ann created Oi Doris at Christmas 2014 after making the brave decision to leave her job as an art technician at a local school in order to become a full time commercial artist. Based in Lytham St Annes she now works from her seaside studio and her decision to follow her heart has definitely paid off!

Whereas most artists would work with traditional materials such as pens, pencils or paints Ann’s tool is her vintage typewriter. Her inspiration came after seeing the work of a chap called Paul Smith who had cerebral palsy, he used the top row of his typewriter to make his pieces. Inspired and amazed by his work Ann decided to give it a go and produced some portraits as gifts for her family and the rest, as the saying goes, is history!

Each picture takes a number of days to produce, starting first with a pencil outline before moving on to using her typewriter. When producing a piece Ann tries to use only letters related to the picture she is producing in order to give a more bespoke and personal aspect. During her time Ann has fulfilled many commissions ranging from pet portraits to wedding venues.

I was lucky enough to be sent two wonderful prints by Ann and I was absolutely blown away by them. Despite having seen her work online it doesn’t do the real thing justice. To look at the pictures from a distance it would be easy to assume they are pen drawings, however a closer look reveals the detail involved. The only word to describe how incredible it is that something so complex has been made using a typewriter is WOW! Seeing the artwork up close made me immediately make a comparison to Monet’s works, whereby from a distance they look like an ordinary painted scene, but up close they are amazingly compiled using a series of dots.

Both the cat and the dog prints display a perfect example of the use of letters in her pieces. The breed of dog portrayed is a boxer which is clearly the word Ann has used when creating the picture. The cat has the name Willow running throughout, the name of the feline that was the inspiration for the portrait. The prints are of a very high quality and board framed making them ready to be framed and hung – they arrived beautifully wrapped too!

On the Oi Doris website you are able to purchase ready-made prints as well as a large number of greeting cards with something for every occasion. If you would like something more personal however there is always the opportunity to commission your own piece which will be made especially for you. These would make a wonderful gift for any occasion.

To find out more about Oi Doris and view more incredible artwork you can visit their website or find them on social media – Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

Email: oidoristypewriterartist@gmail.com

We were sent two prints in return for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are our own.

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