Portraits and other stuff

I haven't done much the last days. Again I had a cold ... I take all colds I can get this year. Hmpf. And that happens every time I paint on my new chinaesk-picture. Maybe I should throw it away? Nah, I'll not do that, but I should begin another one.

It's my way to paint different pictures at the same time. It's good to have some distance between the layers, to have a look on it again to make modifications. When you sit right in front of a picture with your nose in the linen you have only a small space your looking at. So if I'm getting to bed I see the picture again and again and can decide if I like it or not. I'm a little bit of a perfectionist when it comes to painting, even I adore chaos in my studio ... and other rooms ... That's the reason I need so long for my pictures. It has to grow, I don't have a colour concept in the beginning. I put layer over layer and the colours change, getting luminous. Vandyckbrown over mauve it's not the same like mauve over vandyckbrown. You can change a colour so it shines in another way. Of course on a photograph you can't see the colour in a proper way. Only if you take a look at the original you can spot the fine nuances.

But what I really wanted to say: I have a new idea. A portrait of course ... I love it to paint faces. And I hope I can paint my pictures and I'm not getting sick again.

in the end ...

Now a picture is ready I've began five months ago right before China. After China I've painted four other pictures and began a fifth one before I decided to end this now. Sometimes it needs time.
It shows a dream of me again. Not really the dream, but a episode of it. I'll not tell the meaning of this dream, because I never tell such things openly. It's much to personal. Plus I was a man in it ... again. I've changed it to.
So it shows a jigsaw piece with a lot of symbolism. But even that symbolism will have a different meaning for everyone.

The name of the picture is in English: "The dream of the samurai"

new picture

Not really a new picture, because it´s ready since the end of November. Today I took a photo of it.
I made a new category. It´s called "Chinaesk" - a wordplay: China and grotesk (engl: grotesque).
When I was in China, I saw a lot of lotus flowers. The flowers were withered and I could see the seeds. I´ve got the impression of eyes, which followed me around. So that inspired me of the picture "September".
The sketch to that picture I´ve made in China and I´ve given it as a present to a chinese artist. Her name is Zuo Hong - she is such a kind woman. She was like a second mother to me ;-)

This picture can be found here, too:

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