Aphos by Andrew Mar

Publications

May 1

This is Aphos, the latest book by Andrew Mar and it surely stands out. 250 pages in A5 full of Andrew’s creations moving in the realms of heaven, hell, earth and the sea. The golden edges and the ornaments around the title, make it more than just a sketchbook. It is elevated to a gem in your collection.

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In his own words: “I’ve been drawing for my entire life, and always had worlds thriving within my imagination. I started using ink as a young child when my parents gave me lessons in traditional Chinese calligraphy. Some may have found it mind numbing and dull, but I grew addicted to the medium. Over time, the ink brush evolved into the ink pen, and those Chinese characters evolved into fantasy characters. I always make it a goal to participate in communal art challenges such as Inktober and Mermay. It helps provide the fuel of consistent discipline alongside passion.

Ink is a straight-forward, binary medium- black ink and white paper. With only two hard tones at one’s disposal, it can be difficult to create subtle transitions and softness. Mistakes become stark, and attempts to fix them usually make it worse. The challenge is part of the appeal. My love for ink has me constantly striving to master the medium, and always eager to create.

Visit Andrew’s website or Instagram | Twitter | Facebook or our Kickstarter Campaign.

“Spiridon’s design skills are unmatched; his work helped elevate my own and I was honored to have him as my collaborator on Aphos!”

— Andrew Mar

This was my first singlehandedly managed Kickstarter campaign and I couldn’t have had more luck than working with Andrew. His personal work is all ink and this made the design choices for the book very easy. It has 284 pages of 150g matte paper and is bound in a hardcover with golden hotfoil stamping in the swashes around the title and on the edges of the pages. The format is A5 and the artwork inside is mostly black and white. I still like to look at the book to ground myself about the design choices I make in my books now, to remind me that it doesn’t take much to be satisfied with the outcome. Just read the art and adapt.