When I bought a typewriter, I never intended to write with it. I wanted to make drawings.
In truth, there’s not a big difference between writing and drawing. The alphabet began as pictograms, and over the course of 5,000 years, those pictures of ox heads, huts, and fish were simplified and abstracted into the letters we find on our keyboards today. I learned this in typography class back in art school, and it completely blew my mind. It still does. Just imagine what ancient images are lurking in this sentence.
I bought a vintage sage-green Smith-Corona typewriter off Etsy a few years ago, and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever owned. Unfortunately, it’s spent most of that time sitting in its case, collecting dust. So last month, I decided I’d finally make some drawings with it.
Looking for inspiration, my first stop was Concrete Poetry: A 21st-Century Anthology. I’ve turned to this book many times over the years. It’s a diverse collection of work from artists and poets who use language in surprising and often beautiful ways.
Then, while poking around online, I discovered an absolute gold mine: Typewriter Art by Alan Riddell. The bad news? It’s out of print and costs about $200, used. The good news? The entire book is available for free on archive.org This book shows a much more expressive, almost painterly approach, to typographic art. It gave me permission to get loose with my compositions.
That led me down a rabbit hole on Archive.org—from Fun with Your Typewriter to Artyping to How To Make “Typeys”. After a couple hours, it became clear I had passed from research into procrastination.
Finally, I got to work. I spent the next three days making typewriter drawings. I like using new tools that force me to work in a different way. A typewriter is stubborn, uncooperative, and utterly ridiculous as a drawing tool. And yet, that’s what makes it fun. Every drawing feels like discovering something you didn’t know you were looking for.
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Discovered your work recently, totally blown away by your creativity and experimentation — thank you for sharing!!
I really appreciate that, Alex.
Found your post from the Substack weekender feature, which I usually don't read. (#29,848 emails in my inbox) but I'm glad I read it today. Enjoyed your write and accompanying photos! Thanks for doing the exploration, including your process, and for publishing it here to be experienced.
That’s the best thing I’ve seen in quite a while!
utterly magical...thank you for working so outta the box
I love this so much.
I’ve only seen typewriter art once before, but your newsletter is making we want to break out my typewriter and make some art of my own ! What a cool concept, love the video editing, your research and your first experiment!
Thanks so much Tara. You totally should give it a try! I’d love to see what you come up with
DO IT..GO FOR IT....I FEEL AN ORIGINAL COMING ON....LOL
Your film and blog are such a breath of refreshing air in an overly digitized world. I love your work so much and find inspiration from it.
Excellent start! Looking forward for more.
Wonderful
Thank you for sharing! Very interesting stuff.
Thanks Luke!
Very clever, well done!
I really like the way you write, your sense of humor and dedication to experimentation is liberating!
Something immensely satisfying in this. Full marks for patience!
Loved this. Made me feel happy and a great distraction from all the bad news out there!
Thanks Janice. Honestly, I needed a distraction from the bad news myself.
I love this post and the animation! I'm delighted to discover you here on Substack!
I liked this from the very beginning but loved it since I saw the words family portait and cat together 😄 And the cat in the end of the video was also charming.
Glad you enjoyed the video, Anni! Yes, my cat Jack manages to make an appearance in a lot of my work.
Ahh, so playful. And I love that you go outside at the end of the film, reminding us all to get off our phones and go play.
So joyfully creative and grounded in the magnificent ordinary life of letting your tuxedo cat in through the back door! Smiling so big right now :) thank you
Hey, Eric. I would love to consider your video for the 2025 Walla Walla Movie Crush (themoviecrush.com) and would waive the entry fee for you, if you send me your email address. It's a charming, captivating piece. Thank you.
Thanks so much for your interest, Warren—sending my email now.
Have not received your message, Eric.
Just replied to your email. Thanks Warren!
Check out “ascii art” - what was done in the 1960’s and 1970’s
Yes! I love ascii art, I nearly added a section about it but it probably deserves its own post.
Can't wait for that!!!
Check out Landscape Artist of the Year Season 4 episode 6, Inveraray Castle where one of the contestants is Keira Rathbone who competes against the traditional artists with her typewriter. The results are simply unbelievable !
Wow. You’re absolutely right. Thanks for the tip.
I joined with no expectations except knowing I’d find inspiration. Thank you!
Thank you!
Fantastic as always!
Thanks Ollie!
Now that’s a movie ✨
I felt...freed...from just ....words, to..just...fun!!!! :) works for me at 84...and a secretary, journalist......sort of....lol
Just splendidus
Great vid
Such a delight. Refreshing. Endearing. I love this so much.
Happy I stumbled upon this. Loved the video.
Wow, this is seriously the coolest thing ever.
This is really fun!
I thoroughly enjoyed this, had no idea there were books about typeys! I left home for college with a portable Smith Corona typewriter...
Stunning type-art. The concept of the typewriter is not lost, instead it is fully integrated as a part of the work. Tip of the hat!
Lindísimo
This is so good! Doodling while taking notes is supposed to help you remember whatever you were taking notes on even more. This is like that principle in motion.
🩵
Love it! But really Jack is the real star.
Haha! As always. He gets treated like a star too. Cat doorman is my full-time job.
I had a similarly prestigious gig as litter box superintendent, cementing my social status quite assuredly. Not just anyone could be a turd sifter for Dickie Dingleberry 😄
haha cat door man. noted
This is really fantastic. Glad to see you back
Thank you! I’m happy to be back.
Congrats, Erik! Your work is a massive source of inspiration!
Thanks so much, Nanda!
this is beautiful + inspiring + fun! love your work, erik!
Thanks so much, Jayme! Glad you liked it.
Thank you so much, Cindy!
Love it!
I love this SO much! I have a typewriter for the late 50s and it's a beautiful teal and I also have been experimenting with visual poetry!
I love your film and your art with magical elements of letters with a typewriter. I have a couple of them and enjoy typing letters to people, making collages and bringing them to the coffee shop to inspire curiosity in passersby. Wonderful!
As someone who believes that the printing press is the most important invention for humankind, I find your typewriter art utterly delightful! How many times did you have to film before you got your cat to come inside at the right time? (Ha-ha)
Cheers. Thank you for making and adding a great event. Yes, great event in my life today!!!
This is amazing.
Studying neuroaesthetics this week and how visual communication is visual language and can be learned and enjoyed just like learning a spoken/written language and this popped up in my feed and it’s absolute perfection. Thanks for validating my thoughts.
I love this post - lots of big ideas but presented simply and beautifully! I'm inspired to play with lettering more in my animation...
Super fabulous read thank you
Extraalidocious wonderful
I saw the video purely because of the Substack Reads e-mail today. What a beautiful tribute to an important part of our recent history. I'm obsessed with 20th-century writers and so the typewriter means a lot to me. This video shows a totally different creative use from what those greats used it for.
"I mean, c'mon" might be the dumbest thing presented as art ive ever seen. No, that cant be true, but its a contender.
Ofc "art" is one of those slutty ambiguous words that everybody uses for whatever they want(though that doesnt preclude things so labeled from being inane. Quite the opposite, "art" is used to justify the existence of many a turd sandwich. Perhaps thats so we can see whos willing to choke down shit and who isnt. In that sense arts licentiousness has practical value)
Wow...don't you muddle in a dark puddle! There a way our ya know......:)