Turbulence

A frame from the movie Endrei Rublev by Andrei Tarkovsky

Some of you have probably noticed that my posts have become short and somewhat meager lately. One of the main reasons is that, for some time now, my mind has been tormented by my own present artistic infertility and a feeling that I have lost my direction, my compass. Well, this is nothing unusual because all of us experience similar kind of problems at the certain moment in our life. This often marks a turning point, approaching of the crossroads, a transition from one stage, or level, to another. Such a situation inevitably creates a certain amount of turbulence and disorder, since the fundamental and established thoughts, desires and dreams, that have powered our system and allowed it to be stable and to function optimally, for a certain reason start to move and shake.

I have reached the place in my artistic career which I was longing for to arrive at for many preceding years. This kind of longing of mine does not exists anymore, it has fulfilled its function by bringing me to the desired spot. No longing, no motivation. No motivation, no creative vitality. However uncomfortable and disturbing, this turbulence and the mental pain and disorientation that goes with it, has forced me to reconsider the very motifs for becoming an artist and for spending the biggest portion of my life on making art.

As a result of this struggle I came up with a statement that is supposed to help me find a new sense of direction and purpose, and therefore revitalize the creative spirit in me. It is expressed through the following words:

- If my work (art) keeps me from doing a backbreaking physical work, or a mind numbing monotonous kind of work, and helps me feed myself and my family, it’s good!

- If it helps me express my mental and emotional issues, it’s excellent.

- If it helps others to get closer to their own heart, it’s useful.

- If it helps me get famous and rich, it’s seductive and tricky.

- If it guides me through my inner Dark Forest, helps me slain dragons and demons, or make them my friends and allies, and shows me the way out of it to a sunny meadow, it’s wondrous, it fulfills its holy purpose and justifies itself.

One of the reasons I am revealing this rather intimate issue to you is that I know that there are many souls out there who are having, or will have in the future, the same kind of issues with themselves and their art. My confession will not solve your problem, but it might help a little by showing you that you are not alone in this struggle, that even the accomplished and “successful” among us have to deal with these things sooner or later, in one or another way. It might help you realize thatperhaps you too have to come up with some kind of statement that will calm down your psyche and help you regain the balance and peace of mind. As it has always been, the ways of the World are often seductive and misleading, and there is always a price tag attached to it.

In that respect, I was delighted to discover that a much bigger artist and a greater mind than myself has defined art and its purpose in a similar way. Below you can find out what Andrei Tarkovsky (1932 Zavrazhye, Soviet Union – 1986 Paris, France), one of the greatest Russian movie directors, said about ART. The films of Andrei Tarkovsky have been revered as ranking on a par with the masterpieces of Russia's novelists and composers. His work, from films such as Ivan's Childhood , Andrei Rublev , Solaris, Stalker, has had an enormous influence on the style of contemporary European film.

 

 

In the meantime

In the meantime, I started a few new paintings. Here is the underpainting of one of them, titled On the road to Troy, Helen receives a vision. If you pay closer attention to the lower right corner you might be able to catch a glimpse of Helen’s vision :)

  

Masters of Contemporary Illustration:

Ivica Stevanović
 
 
Ivica Stevanović was born In 1977 in Niš, Serbia. He grew up on comic books and old horror movies. Ivica is an accomplished illustrator, comic artist and designer.

He is a versatile craftsman who utilizes different techniques: from pen and ink, through watercolor to digital painting and collage. His artwork is characterized by moderate expression and grotesque line. Ivica works for Serbian as well as US market.

Although he likes to illustrate picture books, like Andresen’s The Emperor’s New Clothes and The Royal Treasure Measure by Trudy Harris, his specialty are graphic novels and art book projects. His best-known graphic novel Kindly Corpses appeared on Paul Gravett’s list of the best works in 2011: An International Perspective. Famous American writer of Steampunk genre Jeff Wandermeer invited Ivica to work on his book projects. So far, he has participated in two Wandermeer’s books – Steampunk Reloaded and Lambshead Cabinet.

Ivica lives in Veternik, Serbia with his wife Milica, who is also an artist, and their daughter Katarina. He currently lectures at the Academy of Art in Novi Sad.

You can see more of Ivica’s work on his blog and here

 

A Teaser

I am still busy with my homage to Frank Frazetta. Here is a detail of the almost finished Death Dealer painting.



 

Funny pictures

In the nineties, I was doing posters for Verkerke Reproductions, a Dutch poster company  which was at that time one of the biggest in the world. They had offices all around the world. In 1998, just a few years before the collapse of the poster market and the Verkerke’s subsequent bankruptcy, they commissioned me to do three paintings that were supposed to be given as awards to the heads of the most successful Verkerke offices in three different countries. The only two things I had to pay attention to were that each painting had its own title that referred to the specific achievement , and that the paintings were supposed to be funny.

So, I came up with these three pictures. The editors were satisfied and the originals were given to the winners. The pictures have never been published as posters and this is the first time that I show them on the web. The paintings were done in watercolor. Although I did not use any kind of reference while creating them, it is quite obvious that good old Norman Rockwell was in the back of my mind.
 

 

Correcting mistakes

This is another commissioned drawing from one of the copies of my Tarzan book. I regard these drawings as a little practice that allows me to experiment with a few things that I never had courage to do when I was working in ink. Beside that I give myself a permission to make mistakes.

Through correcting these mistakes I am discovering new ways and techniques, and my mind gets more flexible. I am not any more afraid of mistakes because I know I will make them anyway. This is quite a different mindset from the mindset that is required for a proper application of my alla-prima painting technique.

 

 

Happy New Year 2013!



Peter Enkorak, 1990

 

                                                                May Your Dreams Come True!  
 

Masters of Contemporary Illustration:

Vladyslav Yerko

Vladyslav Yerko was born in 1962 in Kiev, Ukraine. He lived at his grandmother’s house in the village of Pirniv until he was seven years old and considers this to be the best time of his life. He spent his first year sleeping in a large suitcase, which rested on a chair under a lilac tree, and, likening his childhood to that of Mowgli, from Kipling’s Jungle Book, Yerko says he was raised, not by wolfs, but by “chickens, turkeys and the village cats”! His surroundings – the forest and river, insects and fish – all left a deep and lasting impression on the young boy and to this day, flora, fauna and the diversity of nature’s beauty serve as the wellspring of his inspiration.

Yerko graduated from the Kiev Polygraphic Academy before embarking on his highly successful career as an illustrator.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tarzan Sketchbook

Dark Dragon Books, the publisher of the collection of my Tarzan stories, has decided to print a separate Tarzan sketchbook. This book will include all the sketches and drawings I ever did back in the eighties while working on the Tarzan comic. There will be some new drawings as well which I recently did in order to reconnect with my old jungle friend.

Here is a little preview to the upcoming sketchbook. Yes, this is supposed to be Jane. It looks like she spent more time in the gym, than hanging on the lianas and trying to keep up with her wild husband.

I wonder whether she managed to persuade Tarzan to buy her a little TV or PC, or at least a few glossy magazines, for she is apparently good informed about the latest trends…

 

 

Giants and girls 2

There was a giant once who was lonely. Most giants are, of course, or would be if they stopped to think about it...
They don’t think about this loneliness, however, because thinking isn’t something they go in for very much. Mostly they just get on with business of being giants, which takes up all their time and which is very hard work because it is laid down in the Rule Book fore Giants that, when they aren’t actually eating or sleeping, they have to stamp around the countryside bellowing at the tops of their voices and looking very  fierce. Looking fierce is hard work in itself as you’ll find out if you try it for half an hour. You keep on forgetting that you’re supposed to have a scowl on your face and you find yourself smiling at something. Than you have to start all over again…

Being kept so busy means that giants don’t have much time for thinking. When a giant does manage to get a few minutes to himself he generally feels so tired that he just drops off to sleep. He sits down first of all with his back against the nearest hill. Than he opens his huge mouth and gives a huge yawn. Then he spits out all the birds that have got sucked into his mouth while the yawn was going on. Then off he goes to dream-land.

But the giant who was lonely was different. He had long since lost his rule book and had never bothered to get it replaced. He didn’t go around stamping and roaring because he couldn’t see much point in it. It only made your feet sore and gave you a headache. Besides that, it frightened people away and he didn’t want to frighten people away. He wanted to be friendly.

What made him especially different from other giants though, was that he was always thinking, and what he was always thinking about was how much alone he was.

It was true that Angus (his name was, by the way, Angus Macaskill) did have one or two friends among the ordinary-sized folk. There was Morag Matheson, for instance, the shoemaker’s daughter…
 

 

She doesn’t look like a shoemaker’s daughter to me, does she!

However, if you like to read funny, charming and intelligently written fairytales, read The Lonely Giant by Alasdair MacLean.  

Just don’t pretend that you have outgrown the good bedtime stories! How can you be a great illustrator if the child within has left you. Think of, for instance,  the Hobbit novel, which Tolkien began as a simple bedtime story for his children. At the moment the whole world is talking about the Hobbit movie. More importantly  there would be no The Lord of the Rings without Hobbit!  Great things have often small, and sometimes silly, beginnings :)

I wish you a happy day with a good, healthy dose of silliness and laughter !