Leopard

My two eldest children were invited to a safari trip to Serengeti and Ngorongoro a few weeks ago. Tove took some wonderful pictures including one of a leopard in a tree, which I painted in watercolor for her as a present. Happy birthday, Tove!

Anders Zorn

Grudd Anders Zorn was one of the best watercolor painters ever and had an interesting background, not the least when you look at some of the details. At least officially, the brewer Leonard Zorn emigrated from Germany January 14th 1860, which is too late for him to father the illegitimate child, born February 18th 1860 as the son of farm maiden and bottle rinser Grudd Anna Andersdotter. That might be why Anders and Leonard didn’t share any facial traits and why Leonard’s collegue Franz Heiss, who came to Sweden the year before, seems to have passed on the shape of his eyelids, forehead and ears to the artist. He also cared a lot for him and called him his dear friend. Maybe he had a reason to call him his dear son?

The Port of Hamburg, Anders Zorn 1891

Anders Zorn and his wife Emma in 1880

Franz Heiss (detail) by Anders Zorn 1902

Kyrkbacken

This is Kyrkbacken, a nice little village on Ven, an island in the Öresund strait. Good for biking, basking and painting.

Järntorget

This is Järntorget in Stockholm old town, one of my favorite spots on the planet.

Liebster blog award II

I have received the Liebster Blog Award again, this time from the Norwegian birder and painter Øivind Egeland. As his followers know I admire Øivind for the way he renders air and mood around a bird in the field with only a few well-chosen brushstrokes, a skill that he has learned and developed during the last few years! Thanks a lot, Øivind! This time I forward the award to five bloggers who all deserve it because they add beauty to the world. Check out their blogs and you’ll see why: Vi tre och trädgård, Konstantin Sterkhov, Bill Cone, Kelly Singleton and Angela Maria Russo. These are the Liebster Blog Award rules: 1. Thank the person who gave you the award. 2. Link back to their blog. 3. Copy and paste the Liebster Award to your profile. 4. Pick 5 blogs that you feel deserve to be in the spotlight. They must have 200 followers or under. 5. Blog about it and leave a comment for your nominations to let them know that you have chosen their blog.

Do it yourself

We made our own watercolors in class last week. The ingredients are pigment (in this case ultramarine), water and gum arabic for a plastic texture, honey to stop the paint from drying out and cracking, and sodium benzoate to keep the mold away. Stir to syrup consistency, spoon into cups and let dry for two weeks.

Wood walk again

I had another go with this motif today, rearranging things and making changes here and there.

An optimist

A single lapwing returned to its breeding grounds ahead of the others to claim a good territory but a cold snap must have forced it to turn back south quite soon. Even a thin cover of ice stops it from reaching its sustenance.

Future teaching

Here are my teaching plans for this spring and summer: Monday evenings for beginners at Folkuniversitetet in Lund, starting April 8th. Two full days for continuers at Folkuniversitetet in Lund: June 1st and 15th. Landscapes in watercolor at Skurups Folkhögskola: July 29th-August 2nd. Welcome!

New colors

While all other manufacturers now favor artificial pigments, Daniel Smith goes back to the quarries for the natural beauties Monte Amiata sienna, Burgundy yellow ochre and Burgundy red ochre. These earth colors are as old as Earth itself but newcomers in my harem. I may now kiss the brides.