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