Tuesday 26 November 2013

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

Thursday 14 November 2013

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.

Friday 9 August 2013

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.