Work out at Folkkulturcentrum in Hjorthagen

Have I told you about Folkkulturcentrum? It is my art gym, I go there to exercise my drawing muscles (eyes, brain and hands) two times a week. It is a wonderful place, unassuming. This is what happened today:

Here is the armchair where the model sits. Anyone can be a model. Today I learned that the youngest model ever was 2 months old (he/she didn´t move for the whole session because he/she was asleep.) The oldest was a 99-year old lady. 

Veronica (she is in charge of the portrait painting at Folkkulturcentrum) instructs Vladek,

9 years old, who is a model for the first time in his life.

Vladek with his father Sascha. Below you see my interpretation of father and son. I must point out that I´m the only one who is drawing, all the other folkkulturians paint with acrylics.

Vladek. Pen on paper, quick sketch

 Since I make very detailed drawings I should sit closer to the model than I did today. I could not see his face clearly because of poor lighting. And by the time the 30 minutes were up he had totally changed the position of his head. The rest of his body did not move one bit though!

 One of the men that regulary come here to paint has a very unique style. This is his painting of Vladek.

This is a quick sketch of Sascha, the father, and as you can see it does not look like him at all. This is OK as long as the proportions are fine. In the russian way of drawing you emphasize the structure of the face. You should be able to distinguish the different planes of the face. This is why I need to make

a lot of drawings of human skulls to learn the architectural construction of the face.

Our next model today was Beatrice.

Beatrice, pen on paper, 30 minutes portrait

I love this portrait of Beatrice!! I forgot to ask the name of the gentleman who painted

this but he makes great paintings. He does not worry about the russian way of drawing and he has had some of his paintings exhibited at Vårsalongen at Liljevalchs!

Viktor (by the Gentleman at Folkkulturcentrum)

Acrylic on paper

Viktor (by me)

Pen on paper, 30 minutes portrait

Paul, pen on paper, 5 cm x 5 cm

November 2013

By now I have done over one hundred 30 minutes portraits. Above is my very first portrait at Folkkulturcentrum, november 2013. Two weeks ago Paul showed up again and I am so glad I have learned about the russian way of drawing since the last time I saw him. 

Paul, one year later.

My pencils, 

nicely tucked away in a pencil case

 I also make figure drawings. The model holds the position in 2 minutes, 5 minutes or 10 minutes and

you are supposed to catch the characteristics of the pose, the movement of the body and of course get the proportions right as well.

At the studio I am working with a full figure drawing of Lasse. This is slow drawing. I have spent 8 hours on this drawing. 

And lastly, in the studio I also work on this Bargue. It is so hard!

It takes forever! All I do is use my eraser!

Dear readers;

this object is used as a vertical so you can compare and measure the parts of the model, 

and find out the proportions.  Some of you knew that.

Back to school, back to blogging!

 I´m back to school and thus it´s time to post more regulary on my blog. Last week my teacher Farigh taught us how to mix oil paint.

 "At one time all paint was made in the studio, usually by the apprentices from their first year and itinerant journeymen. Due to the deep understanding every artist had of the properties of the paints they were making it was easy for the artists to produce artworks of intense beauty and great durability that testify to the skills and knowledge gained grinding colors for their master in their early years."
Tony Johansen, director, East Sydney Academy of Art

If your dying to find out all the details regarding paint making you can visit this webpage: http://www.paintmaking.com/index.html

We used pigments from Italy and linseed oil.

On a grinding slab made of glass you put a pile of pigments and atomize it with a palette knife. You make a hole in the pile and pour linseed oil into it and you mix it together with the knife. With a muller (glaslöpare) you complete the process of grinding with circular movements. 

This is the final result. It´s good exercise for your arms.

At this stage of the process I jokingly  said: "And then you take an empty tube of Kalles Kaviar and try to squeeze the paint into it!?" Well, my teacher reached for something in a box and then held up a small, empty tube. I had no idea there were empty tubes you could purchase!

There are of course bigger sizes of tubes as well. You use  the palette knife when you lovingly

stuff the tube with your own mixed oil paint.

It´s a shame I won´t be able to use my freshly made oil paint for a while. I´m a second year student so I´m only allowed to draw. I´m now making a full figure drawing of Lasse, our model. I have to make a post about him later, he is hilarious. 

This exercise is about, as always, seeing and putting down on paper what I see. I have to measure the model and get the proportions right. I compare the length and the width of the head with the length and width of the various limbs. I measure how many heads that fit into the height of the model. I squint and I measure and I squint and I sigh and I draw a line on the paper. I draw straight lines, simplifying the image. Forget about the curves of the muscles at this stage, what is important is to get the construction right. 

Our model is posing for 30 minutes then he takes a break (he always says:breaky-breaky when the alarm goes off). The whole session is 4 x 30 minutes and he will stand in this position for a couple of weeks. 

One last thing: Do you know what this is? It´s a tool that I use all the time while drawing. Please let me know if you do have the answer.

The Scream (Skriet)

" "I was walking down the road with two friends when the sun set; suddenly, the sky turned as red as blood. I stopped and leaned against the fence, feeling unspeakably tired. Tongues of fire and blood stretched over the bluish black fjord. My friends went on walking, while I lagged behind, shivering with fear. Then I heard the enormous, infinite scream of nature."^[
Edvard Munch

The Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Stockholm, Sweden

Nike from Samotrakhe

Carl Larsson (1853-1919), Ernst Josephsson (1851-1906),  Jenny Nyström (1854-1946) and Eva Bonnier (1857-1909) were all students at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Konstakademin) I did not even know that this building existed  until last september, but then I am not born and raised in Stockholm. Anyhow, it is almost magical to walk on the worn stairs where all these  well known Swedish artist have walked.

The National Museum of Fine Art (Nationalmuseum) is closed until 2017 because of extensive renovation and that is why you now can go to Konstakademin  and see some of the highlights from the national gallery of Sweden.

Eva Bonnier: Interior of the studio in Paris, 1886 

Amalia Lindegren (1814-1891): The breakfast, 1866

Amanda Lidvall,  Self-portrait 1870/71 (detail)

Amanda was one of the first 18 female students that were accepted when the Royal Academy of Fine Arts opened its door for women in 1864. 

Eva Bonnier: Mrs Hanna Marcus 1886

Ernst Josephsson: Mrs Hanna Marcus, 1880

Hugo Salmson (1843-1894): Portrait of a Young Girl, ca 1880

Vilhelm Hammershöi (1864-1919): Interior, 1898

Rembrandt Harmensz. Van Rijn (1606-1669): The Kitchen Maid, 1651

Rembrandt Harmensz. Van Rijn: Simeon in the Temple, 1668/69

Alexander Roslin (1718-1793): The Artist with his Wife Marie Suzanne Giroust Painting
a Portrait of Henrik Vilhelm Peill, 1767
Alexander Roslin died in 1793 and was then the richest artist in Paris.

Compare this painting with the painting of the Kitchen Maid by Rembrandt (above) made almost 100 years earlier.
Which style do you prefer?

Alexander Roslin: The Lady with the Veil, 1768

Rembrandt: Self-portrait, 1630

Gustave Coubert (1819-1877): Jo, the Beautiful Irish Girl

Frida Fjellman,: Räv, 2007

When I was returning home from this uplifting art experience I and other pedestrians on Drottninggatan were entertained by this man: he was singing MY WAY and with such empathy you just could not dismiss him. He was a true artist!

Millesgården - my oasis

One of my favorite places is Millesgården. Millesgården is an art museum and sculpture garden on the island of Lidingö, just a stone´s throw from Stockholm. Carl and Olga Milles lived and worked here between 1906 and 1931. In 1936  it was donated to the Swedish people.

Carl Milles working in his studio at Millesgården, Lidingö

Hylas

I have slipped into the large studio of Carl Milles a couple of times to perpetuate Hylas (a young boy who was kidnapped by nymphs in the Greek mythology) in my sketchbook. Hylas was Carl Milles first successful work,  made in Paris 1899.  It was exhibited in the Salon de Paris in 1900 and received an honorary mention. A Swedish patron ordered a copy of Hylas made in marble. That sculpture is now to be found in the lobby of Stadshotellet in Västerås.

The hand of God

Posedion, rear view (1930)

Per, my patron

The Sun Worshipper

When there is no danger of frost lots and lots of summer 
flowers are planted in the terraces

Celebration of Sweden´s National Day at Millesgården 

Olga Milles, self portrait

"Somewhat tucked away in one of the buildings are a small number of quite masterly drawings and one painting
all made by Olga Milles, the woman who suffered from the misfortune of being the wife of the highly inflated
Carl. Ironically, Olga´s artistic ambition and productivity all but died after she married Carl, next to whom she
considered herself insignificant. "Olga Milles always scrutinized her artistry with great uncertainty and self-criticism,
while Carl Milles never doubted his greatness."
Hardly a shocker, yet very tragic."

Quote from the blog of Valdemar Lethin.

Portrait made by Olga Milles

Inspired by the beautiful gardens and water sculptures at Millesgården we created this little oasis on our own terrace. The sculpture is a bronze replica of Triton, one of the works of the highly inflated Carl Milles that you can see in a much greater scale at Millesgården.