Identification plates

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I am working on a series of identification plates for the ornithological magazine Anser. It is about the different plumages of the Northern Pintail Duck, which are a bit more complicated than usually depicted in books. This is what they look like in late summer: adult male, adult female, and juvenile.

Herring gulls

We went to Hallands Väderö in late August to visit the Sjös, who were renting an old lighthouse-keeper’s house there. We had a couple of wonderful days with hiking, seal-watching, and eating. These are two of the Herring gulls that breed on the island.

Croquis painting

Last Monday it was time for some croquis painting - one of the most difficult things within drawing and painting probably because it involves so many parts of it: colour mixing, perspective, figure drawing ... We also experimented with different light conditions.

The brain consumes loads of energy when we do something as complicated as this and I think we were all pretty tired after these three hours. But I also think we learned a lot. Great job, everybody!

Next: impressionism.

Skaftafell

So we did landscapes on Monday’s watercolour class. This is a demonstration painting from a photo I took at Skaftafell National Park, Iceland, in 2001. I softened the background with a sponge and strengthened the foreground with a few extra brushstrokes to improve the perspective and focus.

Back to basics

I find it much more rewarding to get back to basics than to try to achieve perfection. On Monday's watercolor class at Folkuniversitetet we worked with light, shade, and gloss to build volumes on the paper. I did this jug as a demonstration, the light coming from all directions which makes it a bit tricky - and fun! Next time we will do landcapes.

Kumba moving in

Kumba just landed in his new neighborhood, a poor area where he is a total stranger. I have never been there but Bene has sent me some photos that I use as models for the backgrounds and people's faces.

Portrait

While Bene is in Slovenia promoting his next book, I am back in Sweden illustrating it. This is a close-up of Kumba who just moved to his new neighborhood and starts making new friends.