I started playing with unnatural colours schemes in 2018 when I stopped aiming for traditional realism. It has since then developed into a theme symbolizing a feeling of existence being out of order waiting for the apocalypse. The motives often show my daughters in settings where the human behavior is modified by our culture of distancing us from other life.
How do we choose what we pick up and get influenced by in this huge flow of information and impressions? In my watercolour paintings during the first half of 2018 I see a flavour of national romanticism. Is it a response to the current political mood in Sweden of rising nationalism and callousness? It has not been possible to ignore when who is a proper swede and who is not is debated in a language reminiscent of the 1930’s. Continue reading
She is standing on the porch. The wind is cool against her cheeks and moves her hair. She watches the garden in front of her with the lawn and the flowers. But the wind wants her attention. Nagging. It comes with the intent to unsettle.
She looks up and the grey clouds cover the whole sky. They move fast. She turns to walk inside.
The whistling of the wind follows her into the house and tells her to remember. Blows off the lid. Stirs up the dust that has settled. She mustn’t forget. The wind is eternal and it has no heart nor mercy. It leaves her tumbling and moves on for now. Eroding her a tiny bit with each passing.
One way to get my daughter to pose is just sitting accidentally opposite her when she is drawing or painting.
I wanted to paint a watercolour focusing in improving my use of contrast and reds for flesh tones. First I sketched in cadmium yellow to get the proportions. A flat brush is used for background and hair then adding strokes with a round brush in her hair.
