Art

Art as resistance

As I wrote on Instagram, I have been thinking about how to make my art more impactful and more meaningful. In this world full of power hungry people who don't care who they hurt as long as they will end up on the top, art seems to be a way forward. There has been lots of attempts to make people be more productive. More productive in ways which build capital for the few. For a while there were lots of articles and blog posts about the hazards of procrastination and how you can be more productive. Then everyone started to burn out. Now people are beginning to understand the hazards on produ...

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New art workshop and more on Patreon

Do you want to do art? Do you want to do more art? If you answered yes (or even maybe) to just one of these questions, then you are in the right place. It's been several years since I first tried Patreon. There's been a lot going during this time and I got a less than enthusiastic about it for a while. But I'm certainly persistent, stubborn really. And finally I have realised what to do with Patreon! Since I've become more prolific as an artist and even started posting art videos on YouTube pretty consistently, making my Patreon all about art makes sense. And I really want ev...

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Hot Chocolate Season desktop, laptop, tablet and phone wallpaper

It's the hot drink season in Northern Hemisphere! The weather is getting colder, as it should and there's even been snow in many places. Not so much snow here in Helsinki, but other parts of Finland have seen pretty severe snowing already. The world is very hostile at the moment. People are being taken advantage of and violated by corporations and governments alike. Depressing and mortifying things are happening and it can feel like you cannot do a thing. But as Fishtopher the cat (or rather his human) wrote: "i know kindness exists because i am kind. i know hope exists because i h...

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How art can benefit your life, work and business

Recently there's been lots of talk about how art is elitist and luxury. A Finnish right-wing populist politician said it and the AI bros have been all about how AI makes art attainable for everyone, not just the rich. Sure, lots of art is only available for those with means. Opera tickets tend to be of a higher price range, as well as art of established, famous artists. But then there are many art forms and artworks, that are available for much wider audiences. Not every artist is famous and not every art form comes with high costs for those who want to experience them. It's just a questio...

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Notes on drawing Summer Cat

"Black and white illustration of a happy black cat laying on its back with one front paw stretched out as if it's waving surrounded by wild strawberry plants" The alt text is pretty uncomplicated, as is the illustration. It is a black and white drawing of a cat, with the most important features created in simple ink strokes. The cat looks happy and content. Maybe it has just been frolicking in this field of wild strawberries before throwing itself on the field tummy up, as cats sometimes do. While any artist wishes their art speaks for itself and one image tells worth 1000 words, sometimes...

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How to draw a braid

Drawing hair used to be one of those things I really didn't get. It seemed more like magic how some illustrators were able to create such deep, detailed and real looking hair. I was astonished by the textures, lights and shadows, and how someone could possibly do something like that. Of course I thought it would be difficult and take perhaps days and loads of patience. Then I decided to learn it. After finding out how drawing hair can be fun and easy, I haven't looked back. You can see and purchase my drawings at Society6. This isn't the only way to draw hair, there are no rights or wron...

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Details

I started with a photo. I found it some place online, a photo of a nice braid. I took the idea from it, the wholeness of the picture. I outlined it, drew basic guides on where the hair would fall. Then I added the first layer, just strands of hair, lots of them, with a hard pencil. I smudged all of it with a blending stump and then I took a softer pencil. I sharpened the pencil and draw the second layer of strands. I blended that layer too, and went for my eraser pencil. Yes, it is an eraser, but cased as a pencil. Great for detailed erasing. I erased strands, bigger areas, adding light and...

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