IF - remedy

Today it's just a quick watercolour because I have to work for an exhibition which will take place in September. As I am going to illustrate a fairy tale for this, and will be doing it in my usual (very time-consuming) realistic way with coloured pencils, I'm afraid that up till then it will only be those quick ones.

IF - Midsummer Night

Though my first associations with Midsummer Nights were the nights in Scandinavia where it does not get dark at all during summer and the famous White Nights in St Petersburg, I decided for butterflies in the darkness that are flying happily around.

IF - launch

This teapot is launching its whistle like a rocket.

That is somehow like I feel at the moment. I can't find the patience to do my usual colour pencils that take so much time and control. Whereas I sense such an impatience and restlessness that I have to work quicker or physically (I've been cutting boxwood spheres all day yesterday, though this was not exactly spontaneous either).

So this time I did a very quick watercolour which took me only a tiny fraction of the time I usually need for such an illustration.

IF - swept

Of course the obvious choice for this topic would have been something to do with a broom. Or some association to wind. A dancer sweeping the floor with her dress also came to my mind. But nothing really appealed to me.

What I really wanted to show was the dynamic movement of sweeping. In the end I thought of this little paper ship that's swept into the drain of a bath tub.

By the way,  I just saw 'Billy Elliot' and I was clearly swept by the colour scheme of set and costumes: such vibrant shades of blue, green and red, contrasting the drab environment  the film is taking place in.

IF - shadows

With this topic I had to think of the story of Peter Schlemihl who sold his shadow for a bag of gold to the devil. To make his lack of a shadow visible, I drew things with a strong shadow. I hope that my intention shows in the illustration.

IF - asleep

Hi everyone. I know I am extremely late with this post, but this is not because I was 'asleep'. It is rather due to my having been 'soaked' (one of the topics I have missed in the meantime) in problems, not the least of which was a complete breakdown of my computer and some of the adjoined hardware.

In the above illustration I want to show a cereal grain where the germ is still asleep. I also tried out a different technique from my usual colour pencils.

Of course the illustration for the approriate topic 'shadows' is on its way. I hope to publish it tomorrow at the latest.

IF - lesson

With this weeks topic I feel a bit philosophic, because I have to think of the lessons life wants to teach.
Sometimes I find them so hard that I feel like crying. But I have learned that it's no use to avoid learning a certain lesson because it will come back to me sooner or later and might be even more painful then. So it's better to face lessons the very first time.