Taking a break

Hi, Everyone! Easter is coming and I'll be moving to a different country in about two weeks. I think I don't need to tell you how busy these weeks are for me... I have to take a break from blogging for a while, until I'm settled in my new place. I wish you a happy Easter and hope it brings you a lot of new energy. I'll see you in a couple of weeks, before the end of April. 

P.S. Wish me luck! :)

"Night Ride Across the Caucasus"

This abstract work is titled after a song written by Loreena McKennitt. I've been listening to the album The Book of Secrets recently and I was captivated by the feeling of distance and never-ending rythm of a journey created in this song. I didn't want to make an illustration to this song, because I wanted my work to have a bit more autonomy, so I decided to go for a very raw and contemporary look and create a feeling of expectation and anxiety which are always present in a journey.

"Night Ride Across the Caucasus", 15x20cm, ink and collage on paper

Here are the lyrics of the song:

Ride on Through the night Ride on

Ride on Through the night Ride on

There are visions, there are memories

There are echoes of thundering hooves

There are fires, there is laughter

There's the sound of a thousand doves

Ride on Through the night Ride on

Ride on Through the night Ride on

In the velvet of the darkness

By the silhouette of silent trees

They are watching, they are waiting

They are witnessing life's mysteries

Ride on Through the night Ride on

Ride on Through the night Ride on

Cascading stars on the slumbering hills

They are dancing as far as the sea

Riding o'er the land, you can feel its gentle hand

Leading on to its destiny

Ride on Through the night Ride on

Ride on Through the night Ride on

Take me with you on this journey

Where the boundaries of time are now tossed

In cathedrals of the forest

In the words of the tongues now lost

Find the answers, ask the questions

Find the roots of an ancient tree

Take me dancing, take me singing

I'll ride on till the moon meets the sea

Ride on Through the night Ride on

Ride on Through the night Ride on

Ride on Through the night Ride on

Ride on Through the night Ride on

"Deer"

I live in a city, so it is not very often that I see deers. Or hear them. Yes, the last time I heard a deer was in autumn and it scared me to death. I was on a trip to the fields and I just sat down on the grass to rest my weary legs, when I heard this strange noise nearby. My heart stopped for a while. I turned my head instantly just to catch a glimpse of a deer disappearing gracefully in the woods. 

This drawing does not show the deer I met then, of course. But I tried to capture the same kind elegance of this wonderful animal.

"Deer", 15x20cm, sanguine on paper

"Sleeping Fish"

I find it so fascinating that there is such a variety of fish out there presenting a huge spectrum of shapes, colours and patterns. There's a lot you can choose from when you have an idea for a drawing or a painting. My idea was to express that fish live in constant movement, even if they are asleep, because the water around them is in movement. To do this, I made the drawing on a background created with diagonal strokes and I chose a fish that would give a contrast to it with its pattern, and yet blend in with its colour, which would suggest a certain kind of unity with its world.

"Sleeping Fish", 10x15cm, pastels on paper

"Horatio Hornblower"

You probably know the TV series about a fictional character, a Royal Navy officer, Horato Hornblower. The films were based on C. S. Forester's novels and the title role was played by Ioan Gruffudd. I haven't read the books yet, but the adventures depicted in the films made me want to do so. In the meantime I decided to draw a portrait of the main character inspired by the films. I hope you like it.

"Horatio Hornblower", 10x8cm, pencil on paper

"Gold of the Aztecs"

There are many theories about the gold of the Aztecs and what it really was. As an artist I'm inclined to think that it is always art and crafts that are the most precious things that a civilisation has to offer. That's why I would see the artistic heritage of the Aztecs as the real treasure. Of course everyone is entitled to their own hypotheses :) My abstract work is titled Gold of the Aztecs, but it leaves much room for interpretation, as the subject is and probably always will be open.

"Gold of the Aztecs", 15x20cm, oil pastels on paper

Study of Onion Skin

This is a small watercolour study in which I tried to capture the lightness and fragility of an onion skin. There's always so much to learn from the simplest objects. I love the colour scale of onions, the browns and golds, and the delicate stripes that go from the roots up. It's a small detail which gives a lot of character.

Study of Onion Skin, 8x10,5cm, watercolour on paper

"Magic Well"

I like legends, fairy tales and myths, because they are a great source of inspiration. Every such story has a huge potential of sparking the imagination of an artist. The picture I'm showing you today has a fantastic title and connections, however it's been inspired by a traditional medieval music that I have found lately on a youtube channel called Traditional Music Channel. The music was so wonderful that it made me imagine all those incredible things people used to belive back then and this picture simply happened :)

"Magic Well", 15x20cm, oil pastels on paper

"Waiting"

The air becomes dense as the sun sinks.
Everything is still and yet the wind of suspicions
Seems to crack the walls and open the windows
Sweeping away every trace of you in me.
The night chill is on its way.
Everything has to give in under its piercing stare.
I will hide from it and warm myself by the fire,
But I fear it will come anyway and put out the fire inside me.

"Waiting", 15x20cm, acrylic and collage on paper

"Bianka"

Bruno Schulz is one of my favourite writers of all time. This illustration is inspired by his extraordinary short work Spring, which is so dense and vivid and so enigmatic that you could read it a hundred times and still discover something you've never noticed before.

"Bianka", 12x14cm, collage, mixed media

"Titanic"

This is a painting I made for my nephew, who really likes history and has become very interested in the Titanic's story recently. It's a popular subject and we all know what happened to the Titanic, but I usually feel more comfortable if I make a bit of research before picking up my brush. It always makes me feel the subject better. In this case it was especially important, because I had to deal with a tragedy of so many people... I wanted to approach the painting with a true compassion and respect and express the inevitable doom of the Titanic without any drastic scenes, as the picture was requested by and intended for a child.

"Titanic", 18x23cm, acrylic and watercolour on paper

"Shell"

This is my latest drawing. I wanted to experiment with a charcoal and a pinkish pastel on a grey paper, so I chose an old shell for my subject, as it offered a beautiful range of shapes and structures and at the same time it presented a very limited colour scale. Both features are perfect for a technique that gives very dark shark shadows and accentuates highlights. 

And the pinkish pastel prooved to be ideal for capturing the subtle nature of shells as well.

"Shell", 12x16cm, charcoal and pastel on paper

"What a Wonderful World"

There is time for being serious and there is time for doing something whimsical. This cute little miniature invites you in a simple, childlike way to forget about all your worries for a while and sit down on a wobbly bench in the middle of nowhere with only a snail passing by. 

The world looks much more colourful when you find the courage to be a child again.

"What a Wonderful World", 9x15cm, ink and pastels on paper

The eyes are the window to the soul...

People argue about the origins of this popular phrase and whether it is true or false. As a visual artist I have drawn and painted many faces and many parts of faces in my life and in my experience it is always the eyes that are the most expressive elements of human body. The eyes show not only temporary emotions like fear, joy, anger, but also the general state of human condition. They show the inner beauty of a person and whether that person is trully happy or not. 

I belive it is a good thing to take a few minutes and sincerely stare yourself in the eyes from time to time with a help of a mirror. What do your eyes tell about you? Are you doing your best in life or would you like to see yourself happier?

These short moments spent with your past and present life written in front of you are sometimes necessary to unlock the best of what your future holds.

Study of a Human Eye, 12x12cm, pastels on paper

Next time we'll meet in a year 2015 :)

I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Unlock the best of your 2015!

Merry Christmas

Santa Claus put the last one of the presents on his sleigh and squeezed a hat on his head. He looked up at a clear night sky and his merry eyes reflected  thousands of stars. He smiled. This was the time when human hearts shone brighter than the brightest stars. On this silent night they were filled with the sweetest melody known to the world - the melody of kindness.

May this melody always stay with you all :)
Merry Christmas!

I miss you so much :(,',',',

Today I write with my eyes full of tears. My most beloved rabbit died yesterday and words cannot express the sorrow I feel. With a bleeding heart I just want to say:

Farewell my dear little friend. Thank you for your love with which you filled my life. You made me smile, you made me laugh, you gave me comfort in difficult times. I hope I made you happy as much as you made me. I will always love you and you will always live in my heart.

"Squirrel"

I love watching squirrels in the park, when they are climbing up the trees to hide on the top branches, or chasing each other on the ground. Sometimes they come so close, you can even touch them. I never have, but I've seen a photo lately of a squirrel taking a ride on someone's rucksack :))) These cute little raskals can be very funny sometimes!

I've enjoyed every inch of this small study, from the tiny nose and shiny eyes to the tip of the bushy tail.

"Squirrel", 18x24cm, oil on canvas

Have a lovely week!

"Good morning, Daisies"

This is my latest illustration inspired by children's books. As the days become shorter and shorter, I begin to miss sunlight, so I've decided to make a picture that would fill my heart with light and make me smile all through the winter. 

I hope, you will feel the Sun's kiss through this little picture, too :)

"Good morning, Daisies", 21,5x23cm, watercolour on paper

See you all next week!

***

Update: 

The funny thing is, after a whole gloomy week, the sun really did come out the next day after I posted this :)))

Sketch of Architecture

I've always loved drawing architecture. Even when I was just a child, I used to draw fictional interiors or architectural surroundings for my pictures filled with some fairy tale characters. I guess I felt a necessity to show that people move in space, in 3 dimentions, although I wouldn't probably say it that way back then :) But this problem was hugely intriguing for me very early on. And it still is today, even though I have much more experience now. I simply find great pleasure in making observations of this kind and playing with space on a sheet of paper.

Sketch of Architecture, 21x30cm, ballpoint pen on paper

See you next Monday. Have a lovely week!

"Study of a Red Rose"

Whenever I challenge myself with a study of an object, I want to learn more about how it is shaped and created. But usually it's not enough. If I really want to understand what I paint or draw, I have to look at it as an element of the entire universe. When you think about it, that's what it really is. Everything you look at is a piece of this amazing creation, a piece that fits perfectly into this universe's order.
This thought is always humbling for me, and as I continue my study, I notice that I learn not only to depict things more accurately, but also to respect the world around me.

"Study of a Red Rose", 17x23 cm, oil on board

See you next Monday!

"Little Prince"

After a few busy months I am going back to posting regularly on Mondays.

To get started, I prepared something that is very special to me. It is a painting inspired by my favourite book of all time, "Little Prince", and wisdom of its best known quote:

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.

Little Prince, acrylic on paper, 21x30 cm

"A Sketch in Llanfechain"

I fell in love with Welsh countryside years ago. Perhaps it was because of its green hills and beautiful pastures, or its lovely architecture. It's good to have a place which inspires you and gives you a different perspective. Fascination always powers your life towards improvement.

This is a sketch I made in Llanfechain, a small village in the heart of Wales (you might remember my other sketch from this place, posted in May here).
I used a black marker, which, luckily, was a bit dry and used up. This allowed me to make many kinds of strokes, which gave a more real feel to the architecture.

"A Sketch in Llanfechain", 21x30cm, black marker on paper

Have a great week and see you soon!

"Charge, Rocinante!"

Today I'm showing you my painting of Don Quixote, the third in the series of humouristic depictions of the famous knight. You probably remember the two paintings I posted in May: "Don Quixote and Sancho Panza" (here) and "Sancho Panza and His Donkey" (here). 

This one is titled "Charge, Rocinante!". It follows the previous ones in the style of bright colours and simplified design. 

Here you can see the pink cheerful clouds, the happy smile of our knight who wants to prove his strength and ferocity by battling with  (imaginary) giants and armies, the wind in his faithful steed's hair and the lance directed boldly in the direction of the enemy.

"Charge, Rocinante!", 30x40cm, oil on board

"Lizard"

This is my latest experiment with mixed media. I wanted to use a watercolour background in contrast to the ballpoint pen lines to enhance the details of lizard's skin, which I find absolutely fascinating. Drawing it was almost like a mathematical challenge, although I did give free rein to my imagination too. I like how the transparency of watercolour melts with the transparency of the drawing. In a way it expresses the camouflaging nature of lizards.

"Lizard", 21x21cm, watercolour with ballpoint pen

Have a lovely week, see you next time :)

"At the Edge of the World"

I usually make a project before making a new painting, but sometimes I like to simply turn on the music and let it inspire some thoughts and ideas that will slowly take shape under my brush. It's always a magical experience. That's how I created this painting and the inspiration came from Edvard Grieg's Holberg Suite, Op.40. I have rediscovered Grieg lately and I'm fascinated with this piece especially. 

Do try to play it (from youtube if you don't have it) while looking at my painting and let me know what you think...

"At the Edge of the World" 17x23cm, oil on board

I hope you had a great weekend :)

Have a lovely week, see you soon!

"Portrait of a Bear"

Today I'm showing you a portrait of a bear. You know that I love painting animals. This one is one of my favourites, because it allowed me to experiment with using the texture of the board to make the fur more interesting. I hope you like it too :) 

"Portrait of a Bear", 17x23cm, oil on board

See you all next week!

"The King"

The king wiped his forehead with a silk handkerchief as he looked down at the busy streets below his royal balcony. It's been four years since the coronation and not a minute of that time seemed to be wasted. Taxes, decrees and ambassadors filled every single day from dusk till dawn. He was respected for his majesty and for his highness and yet each time he looked in a mirror he would see a face that did not share that respect. When was the last time he took time to smell a flower or to lie on a grass and watch the clouds? Doing such simple things can be very difficult for a king. He looked beyond the city walls at the trees he had used to climb as a boy. Those days had been filled with laughter, dreams and endless promises of never growing up. Aging comes slowly and has an army of earthly cares to fight its way to a human heart. Is it possible to... The king stood for a while watching the trees moving in the wind. Their branches seemed to wave at him gently. "Wait for me", he said at last, "I'm coming".

"The King", 30x40cm, acrylic on canvas

I hope you like my painting and the short story I wrote about it. 

See you next week!

"On a Shore After a Storm"

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where there seemed to be absolutely no way out and you had to choose between options which could make things better as well as make them even worse than they were? I hope you haven't, but that's exactly what happened to me last week and it was really, really serious. Today I can say with a huge relief that everything turned out well in the end and I made the right decision.

Because it was stretched in time, I decided to make this painting to find some comfort and clear my mind for a better decision-making. It is called On a Shore After a Storm and it expresses my longing for a happy ending which at first seemed to be as distant to my troubled mind as a lighthouse to a lost ship. It gave me strenght and I think I will always keep this painting to remind me that there is always hope. Just in case :)

"On a Shore After a Storm", 18x23cm, oil on board

2 Sketches of a Nude

I've been reorganizing my art supplies and sketchbooks lately and I came across these two sketches. I completly forgot that I had them. I don't do many ballpoint pen drawings now, so seeing these made me miss this technique. Take a look at the incredible simplicity the ballpoint pen gives to a sketch. Isn't it amazing? 

But what I like most about it is that although you're making very hard contrastive lines, the drawing may be delicate and subtle with a lot of air in it. Sketching people with ballpoint pen is especially difficult but the expression it gives is well worth the effort. Wouldn't you agree?

Enjoy my sketches while I'm going back to my new experiments with this technique :)

20,5x13,5cm, ballpoint pen on paper

20,5x13,5cm, ballpoint pen on paper

See you next week!

"Lion"

It's always so much fun to study animals. Some are cute, other mysterious or majestic and they are all beautiful in their variety. We probably already know all the existing species but for me drawing them is always like a rediscovery. You start drawing an animal which you think you know very well and after a while you notice that there is so much more to observe and that the possibilities are endless ...

"Lion", 15x20cm, charcoal on paper

Have a wonderful week! See you soon :)

P.S. Because it's going to be my 4 months anniversary on the 4th of September this week, I want to thank you all for your support and all the thoughts you share here. I hope you find some inspiration in what I do. 

And thank you for everything you do on your blogs as well :) Keep up the good work!