the man with two faces

 

 

I tried so many different materials. Especially if it comes to papers for sketching and drawing I loved it to work on used materials, like pages of books, prints, handkerchiefs, metal plates also.

This little drawing is done on an old playing card. So the part of the card that is not overdrawn and the drawing itself are becoming a unit, a symbiosis, they are creating a new content.

I did a whole series of portraits on playing cards and if you want to start your art collection with a tiny tiny little piece, this one would just be perfect. It is 5,6×9,9 cm and available for 49 €.

 

 

the old textile industry

 

 

During my university time in Münster I had one of the most amazing professors, Rolf Escher. He was one of the really important drawers in Germany in the last decades and he was just so amazing with his students. During that time – in comparison to nowadays – it was quite normal to go outside, to different places to draw and to sketch. Until now it is one of my most loved ways to build up a connection to a place and also to meditate. You get so far away from the rest of the world.

This work belongs to a time, when I used to visit the different industrial museums in the Ruhrgebiet and in the Rheinland. I did a whole series of sketchings in the Textilmuseum Bocholt, a museum for the production of textiles in many kind. In this museum you find old looms, a steam engine and so many more machines and things you used for the production of fabrics.

Honestly I can not remember any more what the function of this machine was, but it was so special in its form and colors.

The drawing of this machine has the size of 21×33 cm and is purchasable for 120 €. It is part of a series of 4 drawings in the same size. My short time plans are to reactivate this wonderful tradition and to search a mixture between the traditional materials and the work on an iPad. I will hold you up-to-date.

 

 

the first two digital artworks

 

These are my first 2 digital works I ever did. Perhaps they are the start of a new era? Who knows? At the moment I am so crazy about all these new possibilities these times offer us.

Of course, if you work at the computer, you can’t have the haptic, the emotions and the sensuality of the materials like papers, colors, brushes, ink and pencils. Of course you can’t compare these so diverse techniques.

So have a look at these two pieces and let me know what you think. I ordered both pieces as a print behind acrylic glas in 72×30 cm, limited on 3 pieces and you can purchase these very first pieces each for 320 €.

 

 

 

pineapple & co

 

 

1995 I did my diploma at the FH Münster in Illustration by Professor Rolf Escher. This was a challenging time. I decided to make a project, that was called “Ananas & Co” (“pineapple & co”). I wanted to create 12 motives, that should deal with the more than classical theme of still-life, but of course in a diverse way, and I wanted to add recipes, so I wanted to work also with text.

The first phase was to sketch and sketch and sketch, then I copied parts, put them together in a new way a new format. The funny thing is, this was a time when I had no computer but could work with a copier. My god, this was really a different time. We did not have the possibilities of today, but the decision we made, were clear. It is just 24 years later and the whole world did change. How will we live in further 24 years?

So after coming to my drafts, I finalized them in detail and then I started the main manual process. I wanted to make lithographies of them, choosing a slightly different technique, that was called alugraphy. So I did not work on stone as it was done in the days, but I worked on specially prepared aluminium plates.

So now I had to bring my sketchings onto these plates by special ink and chalk, and for every single color I had to prepare a different plate. So in the case of the pineapple one for the main sketching, one for the yellow, one for the green, one for the brown, one for the white and one for the text.

So after the plates were prepared I could print them at an etching press. I wanted to print per motive 20 pieces, but this was just not possible in the time I had. At the weekend I prepared the plates and during the day I was able to print 2 plates, but for all motives I had around 50 plates. So I worked hard around 3 month just to realize my ideas.

This one, the pineapple, the pineapple toast, is not so special from the composition, but I wanted to show the part of the pineapple I love most, the border between the fruit and the leaves. And I wanted to show the pineapple in an impressive way. I just love this work and all the memories it has for me.

The motive itself has the size of 50×35 cm and the paper is 65×50 cm, it is from 1995 and the best is, it is the no. 1 of theoretical 20, I printed maximum 10 per motive. And you can call it your own for 240 €.

 

 

 

just a bit free

 

The most important times are the periods, when you just try things out, when you do your experiments from layer to layer, when a result is not so important, when you just work and see what happens.

These periods are the periods when you learn, when you experience new things, when you are free, in a way.

This piece is just 30×40 cm, but I love it, I love the moments and the experiences I had, I love the result. What do you think?

30×40 cm, mixed media on canvas, 240 €.

Have a lovely day – Stephan

 

 

veit schreit die Kühe an

 

 

Honestly the title of this artwork is a bit difficult to translate. It means something like „Veit shouts at the the cows.“ The German plural of Kuh (cow) would be „Kühe“. Here the word „Kühe“ lost the „e“ at the end. So in German it sounds a bit old-fashion, a bit like said from somebody from the countryside. Even in German it is not so easy to explain, how the connotation of the word „Kühe“ changes without the „e“.

I have now idea, when I did this work, but it must be a while ago. The base is an aluminium plate I used for alugrafies. The foto is from my very first foto shoot with a man. Veit is a good friend of mine. He must have been 20 years old, when I took it.

The two yellow cows are sprayed with a stencil and the yellow stripes as well. And I used quite a lot transparent surfacer, what makes the piece very haptic. In these days I did many material experiments and still now I am sometimes surprised of the combinations of colors and materials.

This piece has the size of 50×35 cm and if you would love to add it to your collection you would have need to invest 120 €, but now it is already sold. Have a happy cowful day – Stephan.

 

 

five finger etching and sketching

 

 

A single line is a wonderful thing. A single line can contain the whole world. If you see a line, you see the motivation of the person you did it, is the line controlled, is the line free, fast, careful, aggressive, full of emotion, fragile, straight and and and …..

If we hold a pen, we usually write, we control, we usually do not give off. And if we start to learn how to draw, this controlled line is so extrem in our subconsciousness, that the process to become emotional, when drawing a line, is for most people hard work.

But there is a wonderful trick to understand the difference.

Take 5 pencils of the same hardness, f.e. 2B. Stick one pencil on every finger with tape. If you do not want to loose the flexibility of your fingers, stick them with the tape directly on the fingernails. So the pencils are the extensions of the fingers.

Now take a huge piece of paper, put it on a flat underground, put on the most wonderful and excessive music, loud, and let the fingers dance on the paper and while doing this, the pencils leave wonderful lines. Try to react on the music. Try to vary the lines, short  and never-ending ones, massive and fragile ones, single ones and concentrations of lines.

This way to „draw“ is so extremely emotional, when you start to understand the process. Just enjoy what happens. There is no wrong and right.

This little piece of art is done more or less in this way. I did it with etching needles instead of pencils directly on a metal plate. And I used three different plates, so three different colors, I printed one over the other.

This work is no part of a limited edition, but it is a single artwork. The size of the plate is 20×20 cm and the size of the paper ca. 28×39 cm. And if you want to have this work for your collection, it is available for 90 €.

By the way if you want to repeat the process with the etching needles and the needles are  attached to your fingers, do not even try to get something out of your trousers pocket, I tried it and this is really hurting and dangerous! 😉

 

 

 

siiihiiiilent niiiiiight – stttihiiiiillllllle naaaaaacht

 

This cow belongs to my cow advent calendar. 24 cows, every day one. Only two cows were left – this is one of them.

It was such a nice time with so many excited and curious people who were participating in their own special and nice way.

I am not sure, if I repeat it this year. It could be, because I just love my cows.

This original drawing is available for 99€. Have a happy and sunny day

 

 

Lupo + Aiden

 

 

After two weeks in the mountains, where I could not really get online, I do start now with more posts to show you more about my work.

This piece belongs a bit to the period of the title foto of this blog, when I tried to work with foto-transfers on lace doilies or here on a lace handkerchief. The foto itself belongs to a period, when I got my first italian greyhound. I started to invite friends for fotoshoots with the dog. It was so amazing to find out, how this works, how to bring both in a scene. I am sure I will continue the work with animals quite soon ….

…. and also working on this kind of old and wonderful material. I am still looking for the right idea. But I am sure, it will come.

So this piece could be integrated to your collection. It has the size of ca. 27×27 cm, mixed media and available for 160 €.