Back from the US

I just came back from the US where I attended the Spectrum Live show.

The show was an extraordinary experience. I particularly enjoyed the conversations I had with many artists, clients and fans.  I have seen some extraordinary pieces of art and met a few young and very talented artists.

My publisher and host John Fleskes from Flesk Publications and his team were extremely kind and they made sure that we all felt comfortable, relaxed and happy. I shared the Flesk booth with a few legendary names from the field of illustration and comics, Bill Stout, Gary Gianni and Mark Schultz.

A few other famous artist were at the booth as well signing the Spectrum Fantastic Art Live book, Mike Mignola, Phil Hale, Brom, Iain McCaig and Android Jones. These five gentlemen were the special guests of the show.

Here are a few photos from the show.

My exhibit at the Flesk booth, with my wife Anita and our dear friends and indispensable helpers Jean and Morgan Bantly.

Talking to John Fleskes (left to right), James Gurney and Bill Stout.

A group of art students, wonderful smart young people, in front of my exhibit.

Talking with Jean-Baptiste Monge and his wife at their booth.

Visiting the booth of talented Andy Brase and his wife Tamara.

At my booth trying to please a book buyer with a signature and a little drawing.

Serbian fairytales



Golden Apple and the Nine Peahens, detail

A few months ago I posted an entry about a book project on Serbian fairytales that I am participating in (click here). After that I was approached by a person from Imagine FX who wanted to talk to me about the Serbian fairytales for a fairytale fantasy art special issue of Imagine FX magazine. I said yes, and after that got a number of very nice questions from them. The interview will be published in the issue 84.

Here is a part from that interview that you might find interesting, in one or another way, and one of the illustrations from the fairytale named Golden Apple and the Nine Peahens.

 What specific Serbian tales struck a chord with you, and why?

There are three Serbian fairytales that I like in particular. The first one is Baš Čelik (Steel Bashaw) which is one of the most popular Serbian fairytales. My book The Legend of Steel Bashaw is based on this ancient folk tale. What I like about this tale is that it’s dynamic, inspiring, exciting and it possesses all the fantastic elements that make up the epic journey of a hero fascinating. It is in a visual sense very inspiring for the illustrator.

The second fairytale that captured my imagination is called The Real trouble cannot be hidden. There is a fascinating detail in this tale, which I did not find in any other story. That part of the tale goes as follows; A very modest, honest and poor man decides to work for a wealthy person. In return, and when a whole year has passed, the rich man will pay to him what he thinks that our poor man has earned during that year. When the first year of hard labor for our honest man came to its end, the rich guy, being a greedy person, paid him with a tiny little coin. Obviously the hardworking man was inadequately paid, but never the less, he gratefully took that little coin and went home. He came across a stream and said: “Dear Lord, let this little coin float on the water in case I really earned it. And let it sink to the bottom if I did not earn it.” Of course, the coin sinks to the bottom and our good man goes to his boss and gives the coin back to him saying: “ Take this coin back, for I did not work hard enough to earn it”. After that he spends another year working for the rich guy, gets another coin, coin sinks to the bottom of the river, and he gives it back to the owner once again. After the third year of hard labor he was paid with another coin, he goes to the river and, this time, the coin starts floating on the water….I find this story very fascinating (although it is just a part of the whole tale). There is a beautiful symbolism in it. It is so remote from the way of thinking of most of us today. On one hand this kind of behavior would be considered as quite irrational, even insane in our contemporary materialistic world. On the other, I think that many of us, after reading it, would somehow feel that this little story embodies a kind of mysterious sanity of a higher (deeper) level, so to say.

The third Serbian fairytale which I am quite fond of is called Usud, which means Destiny. There is a fascinating detail in this one as well. First of all, the same fairytale is to be found in the literal heritage of several other nations. I know about the Chinese and the Irish version. All three of the versions have the same main theme, but they differ in details, and this has to do with the historical and cultural differences between the countries. However, only the Serbian version contains this particular detail. The story goes as follows; A man who had lost all his riches and did not have luck in his life any more, although he worked very hard, decides to go in search of Usud, who was supposed to know the reason for his troubles. During his journey he encounters different people with various problems, who, upon hearing about the purpose of his journey, ask him to ask Usud about the reason for their own troubles. One of this troubled “characters” from the story is a river. Our guy needs to cross the river, but there is no bridge and no boat. So, he asks the river to bring him to the other side. The river does it but, just as others, asks him to ask Usud why there is no life in her waters. Our guy eventually finds Usud and gets all the answers ,including the answer to the river’s question. And the answer to the question why there is no life in the river was: “ Because nobody has drowned yet in that river. After a person is drowned in the river, there will be life in her waters”...Well, what do you say about that? For a long time I did not understand the meaning of this controversial detail from the story. But a few years ago I read Joseph Campbell, who was one of the greatest mythologists (comparative mythology) of the 20th century. I was especially impressed by his famous and extremely influential book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. After that I was able to understand the symbolism of this creepy detail. This part of the fairytale is one of the very few direct links to the Mythology and the Mythological Truth that I have ever found in the Serbian fairytales. In fact it undoubtedly reflects the first function of Mythology, which is to reconcile the human psyche with one of the major and most horrifying truths of Life, which is –Life feeds itself with Life. There is no Life without Death. Today I eat you, tomorrow you eat me, as Joseph Campbell wrote in one of his books. It is horrible, but it is absolutely true, and Mythology has found a wonderful and clever way of presenting these kind of big and scary truths about the existence in the form of such symbolic stories.

Is national character important in fairytales?

In these times of globalization and intense intercultural interaction, when many things that have marked the previous ages are irreversibly changing and vanishing, a kind of global culture is being shaped. In order to survive this process, as well as to participate in it most optimally, it is an imperative for a person, as well as for the nation, to have a developed sense of his/its own identity. In order to be able to function properly in this newly emerging global culture, one must know who he is first. For I believe that if you don’t know where you come from, you cannot know where you go to. Besides, this new global culture can only profit from the diversities that are brought in by the unique national elements. In that respect the national character in fairytales is indeed important.

Golden Apple and the Nine Peahens, illustration no. 3



What and How

The following lines were taken from the Introduction to the article about my work that will be published in International Artist within the section called The Art of Illustration. These words reflect my own feelings and thoughts about illustration and fine art. Some of you might disagree, or even dismiss it as unnecessary and pretentious. Anyway, it is our right, perhaps an obligation as well, to refuse things that we cannot identify with. But, before we do so, we should think about it first, because what appears to be unattractive today, might become quite relevant tomorrow.

“When people ask me to characterize myself as an artist, I often say that I am a painter (fine artist) who has been deliberately lost in the World of Fantasy Illustration. The main reason I see myself as such is that the pictorial aspect of painting plays an important role in my work. In the contemporary illustration, fantasy illustration in particular, it is more important what is depicted, than how it is depicted. In other words, a clear, readable and attractive depiction of a theme/subject/story seems to be a primary concern for many illustrators. How that particular subject matter is being translated into the pictorial language, and how much emotional content this language evokes, comes to the second place. Generally speaking Illustration tends to be more descriptive, for descriptiveness  is an organic part of its very nature, whilst Fine Art is more suggestive. This suggestiveness is  an imperative for, as well as the consequence of dealing with the subject matter on a deeper level and in a more personal way. In my illustrations I try to combine these two approaches, first of all through a suggestive alla-prima painting technique, than through my choice not to illustrate the text lines exactly, but rather what is between them, and finally through use of the secondary compositional  forms to emphasize the primary aspects of the composition.

Although I did (and still occasionally do) the Fine Art painting, including Fantastic Realism, still-life, portraiture and landscape painting, my heart is leaning more towards Fantasy Art. The reason is that Fantasy  Art deals with the kind of themes that are closer to me. I guess that, deep inside, I am still a child who finds his refuge from the harsh disillusioned  real world in the world of the fantastic and the imaginative. This might be seen as an escapist behavior. On the other hand, I am very much attracted by the symbols and archetypes, their hidden meaning and message, that are making up much of the world of Mythology and Imagination. These subject matters and themes are more inspiring to me, they are in a way less pretentious and easier to comprehend. More importantly, they hide within themselves a hint of a greater and more universal Truth, instead of the partial or little Truth(s) that is being presented through often socially engaged pictorial and symbolic vocabulary of the main stream Contemporary Art…”

A detail

Impressionistic approach – the depiction of light was more important that the actual shape.

Suggesting the shapes by “putting the right color, on the right place”.

Oil “aquarelle” technique – lots of medium used.

The application of four different painting techniques – Oil “aquarelle”, usual second layer  brushwork, partial glazing, and the final touch done with pallet knife.

An example of the “wrist brushwork technique”.

“ Apple? ”, 65 x 50 cm, 23 1/2 x 19 3/4 inch, oil on Masonite, 2009 / 20012. An illustration from one of my book projects in progress.

Northern Light Workshop

This past weekend I was in Stockholm, Sweden, where I was teaching at a workshop together with my dear friends Jesper Ejsing and Justin Gerard.  The workshop was tremendously good organized by David Brasgalla and his charming wife Kate. Also, their friend Razmus was indispensable and provided us with virtually all we needed in order to make from this workshop an unforgettable experience.

There were more than 20 students (all very kind inspiring young people) from different countries like Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany and France. At the end of the workshop I talked to many of them about their impressions and they all agreed that it was very interesting, inspiring and that they have learned a lot and that they would love to come back next time. I was glad to hear that because, after all, that is what this workshop was all about.  

At the end we all agreed that the only drawback to this workshop was that it was too short…

As for myself, I enjoyed the introductory speeches of Jesper and Justin tremendously. These two gifted men are true masters in their own fields of artistic expression and they were a great source of inspiration and knowledge for both the students and myself.

Here are some photos from the Northern Light Workshop.

Jesper Ejsing  revealing the secrets of his craft.

Justin Gerard talking about his art and about (according to him) his best painting, that he made when he was only four years old (a beautiful story!)

(I don't know this guy )

The class full of busy young artists eager to learn new things and to expand their knowledge.

David and Raz(mus)

Justin showing us his digital “tricks”, with Jesper next to him.

Trying to figure out what is wrong with my painting

My unfinished demonstration piece.

Conan commission – final part



The Frost Giants, oil on mdf board, 65 X 50 cm / 25 1/2 X 19 1/2 inch

The Frost Giants painting is finally finished. It has been a gigantic struggle,  partly because of the sudden and significant shift in the composition, that took place due to the change of the background;  and partly because of the fact that I was not able to work on this painting in one piece, but had to interrupt the process many times. It was a real struggle and, to be honest, I don’t know who won the battle, the painting or me.

However, I would like to say a few words about the composition of the piece.

This is basically a central composition that is slightly shifted to the left in order to create a subtle and  necessary imbalance, for when created consciously and in the right way, imbalance stimulates the energy flow (motion) through a painting.  

There are four major directions along which the energy flows through the painting. I call it the “energy flow”, but I suppose it could also be called  “directing the spectator’s  attention, or gaze”.

The first is the circle (white arrows) that is created by the sword and the axe of the back giant, the Conan’s sword, and partly by the sword of the collapsing giant. I said “partly” because this last sword is positioned in a way that creates an opening in the circle. This opening allows the energy of the blow of the Conan’s  sword to break through and to flow out of the circle.

Secondly, The sharp edges of the cape of the falling giant, the outstretched giant’s left arm,  the bottom edge of the glacier (iceberg) behind him,  the giant’s hair and the long line of the cape (red arrows) are pointing out the direction of escaping energy. Following this last line created by the giant’s  hair and the long edge of his cape, the energy flows out of the circle but, because of a gentle curve at the cape’s end, it goes back  to the center of the composition via the outstretched left giant’s leg.  The general form  and  the direction of the glacier in the background, and the positioning of the snow-covered hill slope beneath the feet of the three figures (pink arrows), emphasizes the direction of energy flow of the Conan’s sword.  I could depict this movement even more dynamically, but I chose to use a more subtle solution, for I believe that this subtlety penetrates deeper because it is mostly subconsciously perceived.

Thirdly, the figure of Conan, with its outstretched left leg,  pierces like an arrow the central, relatively compact mass created by the giants. The energy (the spectators gaze) flows from the lower part of the leg, via the four points of highlight (blue, 1,2,3,4) towards the top of Conan’s helmet. It ends up in the center of the composition, but then  via the highlight 5, the energy moves further down the Conan’s arm, and at the highlight 6 it turns sharply to the right and goes to the red top of the sword. Than it follows the circle ( white arrows), or it goes back to the center of the composition via the line cape-curve-leg, or it takes the shortcut via the line cape- hair.

Fourthly, the major highlights are the three  green circles that form a kind of triangle. This triangle allows the energy to bounce back and forth between these three central points of attention. This, in combination with the previously mentioned lines of the energy flow, enables the energy to stay inside and to circulate freely through the middle part of the composition, instead of being scattered all around the painting. This scattering of the energy usually creates a pictorial cacophony which, if not consciously intended, reduces the impact and the general quality of the painting.  

At the end, if you think that I premeditated all this, you are wrong. I did it intuitively and later on, when I was halfway, I realized what I did and why… and it felt good. For me, this is the right way to do it. First feel, than rationalize.

The details

The following conversation between a professor and an art student is fictive, it never took place in reality. Nevertheless it addresses an important issue and sums up the discussions about this particular subject that I had during the years with my professors and fellow artists. The purpose of this little dialog is to raise the question and the awareness of the issue, more than to offer an answer.

I have used the segments and details from my own paintings to illustrate this dilemma and to make it more apparent. Basically this issue deals with two crucial aspect in painting ( or should I call it the crucial insights) – the problem of composition, and the problem of content ( in other words the atmosphere or the suggestive power of the image).

Professor - …Pay attention to the whole, don’t get lost in the details.

Student - But, I love details.

Professor - The composition in its entirety should be the subject of your concern, not the details. The whole is more important than the details.

Student - But, the details make up the whole. Therefore they are also important. What if a detail is really good, truly beautiful, and in fact better than the rest of the painting?

Professor – In that case we should “kill the darling” by repainting the detail in question.

Student – But, can I keep the detail and “kill” the rest of the painting? I like details…

Professor – No, you cannot.

Student – I mean, can I cut out the detail and call it a whole painting?

Professor - No, definitely not… You must sacrifice your “darlings” in order to save the whole. When you are finished with your art education and become a master in your own right, you can do whatever you like. But now, and for the time being, you have to follow the instructions.

Student – But…can I…?

Professor - That would be all for today. I need a cup of coffee. See you next week. Good day to you…

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Tarzan - or never say never again!

In 1992 I stopped doing comics. But a few days ago, first time after twenty years, I drew a page of Tarzan comic, and the reason for that was quite exciting…

Stay tuned  especially if you are from the Netherlands, or speak Dutch, and if you are a fan of good old-fashioned Tarzan comics, for I will soon reveal more about this project!

More posters

Two weeks ago I posted an entry about my beginnings as a commercial artist and about the posters that I did almost 20 years ago for VerkerkeReproducties.

Here are some more  posters painted between 1993 and 1997. This is a selection from the various poster genres that I was doing at that time.

When I was young I believed that a proper commercial artist has to be able to cover different subjects and types of illustration, and I did my best to develop the necessary skills in order to achieve this aim.

Nowadays, after I have tried all of that, I must say that I am happy that I have found my own “voice”, which is, I believe, the ultimate purpose of this journey.