Still life

Still life from this past month. The hardest part of this whole process was not eating all those cookies...

New concept art

New concept art from the studio

Portraits

Two recently finished portraits for a local Expo, used as PR for EU-projekt.
Oil on paper, 56x76cm

Plein air paining

Lately I have been working on my new webbsite and on getting some new tools in my art-box.
One of those tools has been plain air painting, so thought I should show you some of the results so far.
These are from a trip to Härnösand, a few hours south of here, where I tried out my DIY pochade box.

These are about 10 by 15 cm large so quite small, but perfect size for my box.
And my box layout and the artist in action..

Artorder Inspiration Challenge

Recently finished my entry for the Artorder challenge "Inspiration" and wanted to showcase my contribution. 

Have been posting snapshots of the projects evolution on Instagram, so if your interested in the work in progress, skip over to my Instagram page through the link here on the right.

Lately been occupied with the mood and feel of myth and stories that inspired me as a kid. Norse myths, Homerian stories, Celtic foltales. There is a grim, dark and foreboding sub current to these stories, one that I react to, to this day. I wanted to catch some of that, hint at some mystic story, and pay homage to some artists that add fuel to my burning pyre of inspiration.

"..of Myth and Magic", Oil on Board, 100x43cm

Illustrating the unknown

Its always challenging illustrating or painting something that clearly doesn't exist.

Recently I finished this graphite drawing of a lizard type character from a fantasy setting. The big challenge for me turned out to be finding a middle line between beast and man, that spot where its still sentient and a cultural carrier but without looking like a human in a costume.

At the moment I´m really enjoying playing around with graphite powder, giving my drawing practice a more painterly feel.

Graypath, graphite on colored paper, 30x50cm.

Cultural signifiers in Fantasy?

Been working a lot with a new portfolio, will make changes to this page in the near future due to a new career move, and I´m really excited to show you some of the stuff I have been putting together.

Have managed to put some personal stuff together to, been using it to see how to push myself in Photoshop to ease in to a digital workflow.

Been reading up on cultures and myth, namely "Myth,Ritual and Religion" by Andrew Lang and "Myth and Mythmakers; Old Tales and Superstitions Interpreted by Comparative" by John Fiske. This got me thinking about how we portray myth and religion in fantasy art. I wanted to explore that and so created this character portrait working with cultural signifiers like material and symbols.

This is Brecca the Archer, 30x21, graphite on toned paper, colours in Photoshop.

Sorceress

Recently I moved back to Sweden, but managed to finish off some projects that have been on my easel just in time for a photo shoot before I left.
This project started off with a desire to create a compelling background for my characters, something that was mellow enough to push the characters without being too busy, while at the same time contributing to the characters story and still being visually interesting.

I mostly paint men, its easier to look at anatomy in a mirror, with myself posing I can at anytime change poses or correct a hand. So I decided to remedy that.
A reason for not painting and drawing fantasy style women is also cause I dont want to add to a common cliche. I wanted a powerful character with appeal, but without resorting to minimal clothing.

In this case I have used a medium I created specifically for this ideaso i could push around the paint with a rag while already dry (its a tincture of pure gum turpentine, stand oil, distilled damar and some fattening fast drying medium).

I had the intent to follow this character up with some smaller paintings of her minions, but that idea needs to sit for a while to evolve into something that works on its own as well as with this piece.

One thing I did find interesting with this was how I use refrence. Next time I will try to use a live model during my reference stage, used a stockphoto I paid to use and felt very limited by it.

So here you are;
Lady of the Deep, oil on canvas on board.

Fantasy Illustration

So haven't posted in a while, due to a relocation to from Australia to Sweden.
But back on track with some new goals and some new ideas. While I have been looking for a studio space, I have started experimenting with new ways of creating in a small space that needs to be multi-functional (cue IKEA joke..).

Recently I finished a drawing for the Illustration Friday website that continues with what I was working on in the Osiris painting previously, and I feel more comfortable with the medium this time.
If you have the time, have a look at the other contributions and wander around the site.
http://illustrationfriday.com/

I still have some paintings I finished in Australia on the Photoshop easel, I will show you some samples next week.
Until then, "Shy" for Illustration Friday, graphite on colored paper and digital coloring.

Osiris

A friend of mine who is a writer and I, decided to see if we could do some work together, for fun and for practice. The idea was to send images and text between each other and evolve and get inspired by what the other part had created.
I decided to try some new things, put some time into learning that new photoshop thing they talk about, and get back to water colour again.
This is the first one, learned a lot and am gonna change it up a bit for the next one, work more on some detailing now that I know how it turned out.
Let me know what you think in the comment section.

Osiris- Lost parts, watercolour and Photoshop

Working in small colour ranges

Just finished a fan piece from the Warhammer game, a very blue experience.
Wanted to work in a small colour range and see how far I could push tangents of opposite colours. Also worked on a larger scale then usually and this time changed board for canvas. Breaking away from what I usually do was really good, and this time it fed into some new ideas that I hope to be able to show in the near future.

Still around

Just wanted to popp my head in, show that I'm still alive.
Recent colour work.

Dark matters

Lately I´ve been drawing a lot, getting back into it after concentrating on oils for the last 3 years. Its been really fun, and has enhanced my values a lot in painting as well. 

This is one of my later pieces, after this is started doing more thorough cartoons for my planned paintings.

Dark matter

Graphite on paper

A4.

In the light

Been working on this series of pictures, all about light and getting facial characteristics working for me. Got one more to go in the series, this is the latest one.
In the light, oil on board, to accompany the 'Into the light' from my last entry.

This is the painting I finished the Student in recidency award with at Edith Cowan University, and award that granted me studio space for one semester, giving me the opportunity to work within a studio environment without the pressure of rent, as well as easing the transition between being a student and carrying a professional career.
The award allowed me the time to experiment with surfaces, gesso and mediums as well as working with skill and finding my voice.

"Into the light", oil on board, 60x90cm

Surviving without a studio

So have been spending the last few months in Sweden, living without the comforts of a studio space.
Thought I enjoy the company of family and friends, the need to create is always there, so I usually bring my wacom tablet. I did this time as well, but I cleverly forgot the pen. So I have been concentrating on my drawings, and this is one of the results.
Nimrod Barr, one of my characters with my roleplaying group.

On the issue of too much information...

Have talked about how easily I can get obsessed or just occupied with a question, and the idea of presenting narrative is still something that im wrapping my brain, and my brushes, around.
Im at this point distilling some kind of story essence, trying to find a point where information hinders the story instead of helping it.

Narrative

I was playing around with narrative a while ago and tried som things out, some pieces had a bit too much information, so they got put aside for a while. This piece jumped on my easel this last week, and ended up dealing more with light than narrative.
"Obsidiman in chair". Oil on board, 28x30 cm

Helmet of the Undead

Went to the State gallery the other night and got stuck looking at a painting by LeBrun. Was amased at the lack of detail there actually is and how cunnigly your eye is guided and led to believe there is a lot more details than there is. Inspired by his colour composition I finished off a painting that was waiting for me, to let my mind play around with the concepts the LeBrun painting sparked.

Hatchlings

I have for a long time had an obsession ( I seem to get obsessed about wierd things, boats, the colours of the sky at night) with how a society, like that of the T´skrang of the Earthdawn universe, would surround their babies and the birth of new life with ritual and meaning. In todays globalised society as well as local culture we have set rituals and traditions that are very unique, how unique wouldnt a culture centered around the hatching of an egg be? Lately ive been working with this piece i call "The Hatchlings" to see if I can work through these thoughts and find some kind of satisfactory interpretation.
I really enjoy these kind of paintings, where you give the viewer a look into something more akin to everyday life and culture. These help me give more meaning to the more action oriented pieces I do.