Die Geschichte vom wilden Jäger

When I first read Struwwelpeter, for whatever reason, I became immediately invested in the story about the Hare and the Hunter. Unlike the other tales in that book this one didn't have a strong and drastic moral lesson. It was on the lighter side...

So I thought to myself: what if I redraw this one but the hare is more anthropomorphic? (just for fun)

The illustrations by Dr Heinrich Hoffmann are very fun to look at! And they are very inspiring!
But rather than just redo the same drawings in my style, I decided to make my own composition and tell the story from a different angle.

This project served as a warm-up for another one I have coming.

About the text being in German: Do I have any German-speaking readers?
I considered making a version with the English translation, but I think that version is copyright protected. So I'm only posting a German version.

Enjoy!

 

Still Life Exercise

 

I have been exploring more and more with gouache and to celebrate June 2nd* I'm sharing this still life exercise idea I worked on in April. If you're a painter you can give it a go too!
The exercise consists of setting up objects and painting them from observation (No Photos!). The three elemental challenges in your setup are:

• 1st Is Color in nature which consists of painting a flower of bright natural colour. Unfortunately when I did this there were no noteworthy flowers blooming in my garden, so I went with a Bloodleaf (Iresine Herbstii) specimen I had. It is not a flower but the fact that the leafs are of intense carmine colour made it a fine substitute. 
  
  
• 2nd Is a Black Object the purpose here is to paint something that Is black in real life without using black paint. That is definitely one of the more challenging things, for it requires you to see that black things aren't black, but a dark shade of a certain colour. I managed to achieve mine using Ultramarine Blue + Orange and White. Don't mind my reflection on the vase.
   
• 3rd A Human Skull for its complex and yet recognizable shape. Which leaves little to no room for subtle abstractions. And yes one of my many skull models is Orange and about the size of an apple. A white one could have made for a better exercise but I wanted something that would fit best in the colour composition. 
  

*My B-day!!!

Saint George and the Dragon

 

Watercolor, Ink and Poster Color on paper
29cm x 40cm

 "S. George was upon his horse,
and drew out his sword
and garnished him with the sign of the cross,
and rode hardily against the dragon which came towards him,
and smote him with his spear and hurt him sore
and threw him to the ground."
-The Golden Legend: St. George

 About the painting:

Portrait of a Wizard with Birds

 

"I am Usidore!

 Wizard of the 12th Realm of Ephysiyies,

Master of Light and Shadow,

Manipulator of Magical Delights,

Devourer of Chaos,

Champion of the Great Halls of Terr’akkas.

The elves know me as Fi’ang Yalok.

The dwarves know me as Zoenen Hoogstandjes.

And I am also known in the Northeast as Gaismunēnas Meistar..."
-Usidore the Blue; Hello from the Magic Tavern

 

 This was the last painting of 2021. I named it "Portrait of a Wizard with Birds" and it was made with watercolour and gouache on paper. 

This piece was inspired by Usidore the Blue a wizard played by Matt Young on the podcast named Hello from the Magic Tavern. Usidore himself has a twitter account in which he interact with fans and said this about the painting:

HOW DID I NOT SPOT THEE AS THOU PAINTED US!?

That... MADE MY DAY! It was an incredible experience to have a character react to something I created! Godspeed to the people at that podcast!