New additions to the gallery

These were done last year for a project that's come to a halt so I'm happy to be able to show them now. :)
Pic 1 // Pic 2 // Pic 3

Vampire Hunter D

D's design is full of big sweeping lines which is always a joy to draw.

Jakten på lyckan

Swedish television has been running a series called The Pursuit of Happiness (Jakten på Lyckan) with the somewhat morose yet refreshingly pragmatic presenter Hanna Hellquist. The series looks into the contemporary obsession with happiness that has spawned a whole industry of self-help books and programs and asks the question of whether we can learn to become happier. Hanna's melancholic temperament and her history of depression gives context to the journey of exploration through everything from dolphin therapy to hypnosis.
At the end of the journey the conclusion seems to be that excessive soul searching and questioning of whether we're happy enough is something that actually makes us more unhappy. Worrying over happiness is a luxury problem.

Hanna is quite a strong character so I wanted to capture her somewhat pouty, sulky, yet determined personality.

Sigurd Eriksdottir

Beach screencast

I made a screen recording of the drawing from this morning, so here it is. :)

Beach

 Gnossienne no. 1

Wig

Values are tricky...

Norman Rockwell's America

The Dulwich Picture Gallery, located just outside of central London, seems to be favouring some great American artists lately. Last year they had an exhibition on the Wyeth family (N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth etc) and right now the gallery has a special exhibition on America's probably most well-loved artist, Norman Rockwell.

Apart from original paintings the gallery has covered a long stretch of wall with ever Saturday Evening Post cover Rockwell ever did. It's the work of a lifetime spanning four decades. Seeing them all hanging there side-by-side gives you an impression of what a prolific illustrator Rockwell was and how with-the-times he must've been to capture the American heart and imagination in the way he did.

Rockwell's mass appeal probably hasn't done wonders for his gallery presence so it's a real treat to see a gallery putting the spotlight him. Despite what critics have to say about his depth and choice of subject matter I think that each Saturday Evening Post cover is a little delight in itself, and on the whole his body of work reflects a nation's attitude of an era. His pictures are idealistic to be sure, but without truth they could not have touched the hearts of so many. He chose simple, everyday situations to portray, yet through the artist's lens we see these moments in a new and beautiful light.
The ability to make people see things with a fresh pair of eyes, giving them a new perspective, is one of the greatest things about art.

Norman Rockwell's America at the Dulwich Picture Gallery runs until the 27th of March.

Prickly