Blackrock, Ballsbridge, Inchicore, Rathmines, Killiney, Clontarf, Glasnevin, Dún Laoghaire, Portobello, Howth, Chapelizod, Sandymount. Artist Roger O'Reilly has been creating a collection of poster illustrations of Dublin villages over the past six months or so, and there's now about 25 in the set. And he's not done yet: "I've had complaints that Coolock isn't there," he says. "It's a very historic place in Dublin, and I will get round to it!"
The Villages of Dublin are beautifully drawn illustrations by the Kilkenny-based, award-winning artist and illustrator. He sketches scenes first, then adds textures – you can see his thumbprint clouds in the Clontarf drawing, for example – and finishes them digitally. The coastal villages are easiest in a way, he says, because the sea is attractive, and featured among the first drawings. His Clontarf drawing is a favourite as: "I lived there for a long while. It's an art deco gem."
Lovely quality
They are printed in a various sizes (from A4, and €30 upwards), on archival paper, which gives a lovely dense quality to the ink, O'Reilly says: "They look like they are screenprinted." The villages series joins his posters of lighthouses – from Bere island and Balbriggan to Arranmore – which were a collaboration with Great Lighthouses of Ireland (12 feature in the 2019 calendar, and his book of lighthouse posters is published by Collins Press).
Where we live is special to most of us, so the village posters make a lovely gift for Dublin dwellers, or exiles. Keep an eye on his site – there are plenty more villages to go, but he intends to keep it within the M50 ("aside from Malahide").
Villages of Dublin are for sale on Roger O'Reilly's irelandposters.ie and are among his work at the Gifted Contemporary Craft and Design Fair, with contemporary Irish jewellery, fashion, accessories, ceramics, interiors, art, photography and children's gifts (RDS Main Hall, December 5th-9th). giftedfair.ie
