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London artist Keira Rathbone is acclaimed for her creative talent using typewriters to create beautiful portraits, landscapes and still life. Her fascination with the typewriter art technique she calls “Typeface” was sparked after she bought an orange Silver Reed 100 from a charity shop in 2003. 

Keira told BBC News, “I just had the typewriter in front of me and the desire to type but nothing to say…I just started pressing the same keys and looking at the marks to try and make something visual, rather than for making words.” She types clusters of letters, numbers and symbols to build everything from little figures to elaborate landscapes. 

The smaller pieces can take just seconds for Keira to type out, while larger scale projects like the Hammersmith bridge, take between 10 to 12 3-hour sessions. The talented artist usually chooses her subject matter spontaneously and begins with basic shapes using smaller characters then using larger characters to fill in shadows. “It’s more like the essence of what you see rather than the detail, which I enjoy,” says Keira. 

Typewriter art dates back to the 1800’s. Then at an early point in the digital age, ASCII art using computers took off. But Keira keeps it vintage and works solely with ink ribbon and paper. During her appearances, where she creates art live in front of audiences, she dresses in outfits inspired by the style popular during the year her typewriter was made. 

Keira also works out of a London café she’s fond of. The artist explained, “I find it really inspiring because of the reaction that it gets wherever I go. They first of all they think, ’What’s she doing there with a typewriter?’ And then if they want to pass, especially as the, a bit of a picture begins to build up they can see that I’m not just typing words, and then they feel safe to start asking questions.”