Berwaldhallen

I went to a classical concert yesterday, at Berwaldhallen in Stockholm, and made a couple of sketches both before and during the concert. I sat slightly above, to the left of, the orchestra, and saw the solo pianist from behind. He played very vividly, and it was interesting to try to capture his posture while he was moving. The second drawing is of some of the faces in the orchestra. Stage lighting gives an interesting play with shadows on people´s faces, with sometimes extreme contrasts. Hard to draw but very intriguing.

I like how musicians in a big orchestra look at each other and at the conductor all the time, the interaction between all those people up on the stage is fantastic. It seems like they all have total control, they all know where they fit in, they just need to check with the others to make sure that they get it perfectly right... Amazing. Watching symphony orchestras is one of the few things that can actually make me wish I was a musician instead of good at drawing. The experience of playing music together with others - especially with so many others - must be pure happiness.

Both images: 12,5 x 15,5 cm, Staedtler Triplus Fineliners on Fabriano Artistico hot press paper.

Rainy sketch

I went hiking with some colleagues and students for two days, and tried to make a quick watercolour sketch on site. We had a lot of rain during these two days, and of course in the middle of my sketch it came pouring down. The paper took forever to dry, and the background got rained on, so the contrasts disappeared. The "quickness" of it all got lost in waiting for my washes to dry. It´s a funny thing that water can be such a disaster for watercolours.

19,5 x 14,5 cm, pencil and watercolours on Canson Montval watercolour paper.

Me again

Used unusual tools for me here - mechanical pencil and eraser. I don´t often make serious drawings with pencils, don´t know why. I love pencil, really. I´ve just abandoned it, somehow.
I worked rather roughly here, I like it when you can see the hatching and alternative lines here and there, I don´t usually go for pencil work smudged into hazy smooth gray surfaces...

12,5 x 15,5 cm, pencil on Fabriano Artistico hot press paper.

Me and some earphones

I can´t seem to fit my whole head into these drawings - the papers are too small!

12,5 x 15,5 cm, Staedtler triplus fineliners and water on Fabriano Artistico hot press paper.

Runaway eye

Oops, another self portrait! I sat very close to the mirror here, drawing myself slightly from underneath, and only afterwards did I see that the left eye ended up in the wrong place. I like the drawing anyway, mainly because of the technique. I discovered that Staedtler triplus fineliners are very fun to dissolve with water. The colours turn into crazily intense hues and once dried you can keep drawing on the washes.

12.5 x 15.5 cm, Staedtler triplus fineliners and water on Fabriano Artistico hot press paper.

Self portrait

Time for an update. I fell in love with my Staedtler triplus fineliners again, took them out for a spin on paper this evening. Self portraits are always disasters, aren´t they... I can´t ever seem to get the mouth right. Among other things. Anyhow, here I am. Or some sort of version of me.

12.5 x 15.5 cm, Staedtler triplus fineliners on Fabriano Artistico hot press paper.