Enjoyable work

As I thought before I started, I am really enjoying to work on this large painting. Last year I made a miniature painting of part of his face and now I can recognize some areas. It still does not really look like Mathias, but I am building up thin layers of paint to get some depth. Later I will explain why I have divided the “canvas” in eight same size parts.

I hope I will have the courage to keep adding thin layers of paint for a while, at least on the bright side of the face. I don’t think I will do anything more to the ear and not too much on the dark side of the face, because I want the wood grain to be clearly visible. I have to work more with and around the eyes.

I have added a layer of caput mortuum mixed with black on the right side and then wiped the entire surface with a cloth. I want to add wax on the surface, hopefully that will create more depth. Unfortunately the photos are not really true to the colors, as I have just used the studio light (fluorescent) when taking the pictures.

New solution tried again…

I like to play with glass and spraypaint.

I have mounted three layers of glass in front of the painting. The first I sprayed with a very thin layer of silver, the next I dripped black spraypaint on, and the third I dripped Punk Pink on.

I have continued on the large painting today.

Light at the end of the tunnel…?

I can see, or sense, some light… some hope… at least I am having more fun.

But there is still more work needed.

I have also been working on a miniature piece, 8,4 x 5,5 cm.

The purpose of this piece is to be used as my business card.

I have had a good day, now I am starting the large painting.

Creating is waiting

I know for sure that I can do a good job in many ways, but when it comes to painting it is totally different. I never know. Maybe that is the reason why I want to paint? It is maybe the challenge – can I do it one more time? One problem with creating and painting is that you cannot force the process, you absolutely have to learn to wait. For the paint to dry, for the creative flow, for the ideas to come. It is maybe like digging for a well, or a tunnel. You work and work and nothing happens, and it is easy to despair. But then at some point, something normally starts happening and you can see some hope materializing. I wonder why I always forget that this is what it takes…?

Like here, for example: now I have to wait for the paint to dry, probably a couple of days. I also wonder if this picture will become interesting at some point? Size 40 x 60 cm.

In the meantime I have come up with a number of great challenges, and I can probably stay busy all winter with the material I have now. Today I have been building the “canvas” for the next work. It is a large piece, 107 x 228 cm, divided in eight equally large parts.

I am really looking forward to working on this project…

Finding faces…

True to my ambition of always doing something I have never done before, I am painting a face with something like a mirror image in the same picture. Hopefully I can balance this work. The trick is not to overdo…

Trying to find a new face

I have started a new painting. I don’t know this person, have never met her, but I know who she is. Now I have started the difficult process to find a face that will be interesting to look at regardless of who it is. This is not going to be a portrait.  The first steps…

Two Happy Brothers, one beaming father, and one confused artist

If you don’t risk making a fool of yourself, you will never make a fool of yourself… Well, I said I am confused. Often I feel very unsure of what I am doing while I am doing it. It often takes a while for me to accept my own work. Why is that? Is it the perfectionist in me? Or just plain fear of failure, of not being good enough?

This time I have gone far out. Call it playfulness or whatever… I have done it, can’t change that. I hope kids will like it anyway. If kids like my work, I am really pleased. I think they are often the best art critics – honest and straight-forward.

The size of the piece, including frame, is 58 x 82 cm. I have dripped spraypaint on glass, which I have mounted with 1 cm distance to the painting. The drops of paint create shadows on the painting and when the light changes, the shadows shift position.

Detail showing the shadows. When you look at the painting from a close distance, you can clearly see the wood texture. As usual with my work, it is a painting you need to see in real. I hope Erik W will like it…

Another picture taken in hard light (halogen spotlight).

Two happy brothers & one confused artist

Like I said… where is this going?

I guess the paint has to dry for a few days and then…? I have, for sure, never done anything like this before. It is important to challenge yourself and risk total failure. You can always start on a new one and burn the old… it is getting colder outside.
The format is 56 x 80 cm.

Two happy brothers & one unhappy artist

I am working on a commission. Why did I say yest to this? I guess I will find out in the end. Because I absolutely have to try something new to make this work. Sometimes I hate the beginning…

Peter the Great and Pocket Art

It has been a long time, but here is the final version of a painting I worked on during the summer. I can’t come up with a suitable name, so in the meantime I call it Peter the Great. The size of the work is 80 x 54 cm and it is 5,4 cm thick. The wood texture is a bit more subtle, but can be seen in the right light. I have used oil and spraypaint.

I have also finished two commissioned tiny paintings. I call them Pocket Art, because you can bring the paintings in your pocket, if you wish. The size of each piece is 7,5 x 6,2 x 1,8 cm.