drawer

spirit animals

2012-01-17T21:31:00.000+02:00

A couple of details of some things I'm working on. Strange spirit animals seem to be appearing on everything I draw, maybe I've been watching too many nature documentaries? Or then the spirits are restless, trying to tell me something.

work in progress

2012-01-11T08:44:00.001+02:00

Don't be afraid to fly

2011-12-18T00:21:00.000+02:00

Still trying to listen the story behind this one, to figure out the proper name.

With trembling hands

2011-12-16T03:22:00.000+02:00

Drawing some ornaments for a poster. The inks suck, my hands are trembling like hell... have to fix so many lines afterwards. Come on hands, work with me a bit!

It's getting colder

2011-12-07T21:08:00.001+02:00

"first snow"

First snow rained a couple of days ago. I thought it would be appropriate to draw this picture to properly welcome the coldest of seasons.

Work in progress

2011-11-30T23:45:00.001+02:00

Maybe this green tea I've been drinking lately isn't so good for me. It makes me draw strange pictures. This one isn't finished though, still needs something, something psychedelic...

The trees are watching you

2011-11-12T04:37:00.001+02:00

Should get some sleep but there's so many open eyes to draw...

Carnoustie Effect

2011-11-11T18:54:00.001+02:00

Cover art for Carnoustie Effect demo CD. I really like how this turned out, digipaks are always so much nicer than those ugly jewel cases.

Fatal Error

2011-10-26T15:45:00.001+03:00

Cover art for Fatal Error demo CD

Come clarity

2011-10-26T04:15:00.001+03:00

4 am, after several cups of tea and hours of drawing, things are starting to make sense once again. Why this clarity only comes at nights and why everything is so confusing in the daylight?

By autumn she was gone

2011-10-21T02:16:00.000+03:00

"casualties of a fleeting summer"

Autumn songs

2011-10-16T01:23:00.000+03:00

Hand made cd sleeve for a friend.

waves

2011-10-15T22:33:00.000+03:00

Some work in progress

The Berlin exhibition and trip was just great, met some great people who I already miss and hope to see again. Lots of drawing to do now that I'm home but my mind is still in Berlin...

Intersection

2011-10-04T13:01:00.000+03:00

I'm heading to Berlin this week, to take part in an exhibition called "Intersection" at the Freies Museum.
A while ago, the collaboration between Martin Bircher, Jonne Pitkänen and me gave birth to an interactive sound and video installation, "fogli di plastica a bolle d'aria".
First we had it here in Kouvola, in the Kouta Gallery at the Kouvola Art Museum, and now we are dragging it to Berlin. And I'm playing some noise/ambient music with Jonne at the opening of "Intersection".

Playing with the "fogli..."

I've been also drawing a lot, but finishing less. After the Berlin I'm going to isolate myself for a couple of months and finish every piece I've started to draw since the beginning of summer.

It will be here soon

2011-09-08T14:13:00.000+03:00

"Autumn Spirit II"

- You see me... You see me, there's no point looking away.
- Yes, yes I see you. But you're not due yet. It's not autumn, not just yet. Have you looked at the trees, the leaves are still green.
- But still you see me, though it's not the time. Have you let go of my gifts already?
- Have I let go? I have nothing. Nothing for you to take. Unless you crave emptiness? Or the feeling of loneliness, the feeling of wanting to lay down, wanting to be forgotten. You want those? I am as you left me.
- No, it is not what I want
- Then what? Why have you come?
- I already said why I have come. And you're wrong. You are not empty. Far from it. You feel emptiness, but to be empty... no, you are not empty. The longing, the mourning, the pain inside you, they cannot empty you, they cannot drain the things that fill you. And you know that. You say you have nothing, yet you feel so much. That is not nothing.
- So... you're here to drain me then?
- No, why I'd do that? To take away the things that give you reason? The only things that makes sense, that makes you open your eyes in the morning. There wouldn't be anything left after that, nothing to feed upon, nothing to grow if I'd take away all those things. I would starve. And so would you. We'd both die. That is not my purpose, to end existence.
- Then what, you want my ability to feel? I already gave up that once, you're too late.
- Yes, that you did, but you got it back. You don't give up anything you don't want to give up. There's always the choice and the choice is always yours, never mine. I have never taken anything from you by force, I have never collected anything that didn't already have the stench of death in them. I'm the collector, I take only dead bodies, I'm not the one killing them. I'm not the one sitting amid them, trying to hold on to something rotten, that is already gone.
- Fuck you and fuck off, I'm tired of listening to you.
- Yes, I'll go, it was not my choosing to come here at this time in the first place. It was your growing need to dispose something, the craving to let go. You take your time and think what it is you need to let go this time. But now, right now it is not the right time. Not just yet...

In a dark place

2011-08-03T02:43:00.004+03:00

Yesterday I had this dream that a good friend of mine was dead. I was sad and crying, not wanting to believe that she was really gone. But then I was talking with her parents, and they told me that although she was dead, somehow her spirit or ghost was still present, that you could feel her presence in this cave in a nearby forest. So I ran to look for the cave and found it in a grassy clearing. It was a cave in the ground, almost a straight hole down and I couldn't see the bottom, it was pitch-black. I started to climb down and immediately I could feel the presence of my friend, growing stronger the further I went down. But the cave was very dark, and there was water and I knew it was deep, bottomless. I also knew that she was down there, in the blackness, somewhere. I tried to move, to force myself to go down there but I couldn't. I was scared of the water, knowing I would drown if I went any further. So after awhile I climbed out of the cave, crying all the way up. And I hated myself for being too damn afraid to dive into the black water and find her.

So when I woke up, I started to draw this diver, someone braver than me, someone who can find her.

And I'm just wondering where you are when I can no longer keep everything hidden inside?

2011-07-14T05:14:00.005+03:00

"These things can no longer remain hidden inside"

About spacesuits. The thing that intrigues me in them is that the suit protects you against a hostile environment, that will kill you if faced unprotected. Inside the suit, there's a small closed and sterile space, in which you can breath, where you are safe but also isolated from the outside world and moving is uncomfortable and limited. So there's many reasons why they sit well for my purposes.

I don't wanna explode in fear

2011-07-09T04:17:00.004+03:00

Work in progress, a sketch of a new astronaut and some inks on a drawing I did earlier. There's something going on with these spacesuits/astronauts, more of them is lining up in my head...

Songs For The Living

2011-06-29T14:09:00.007+03:00

A skeleton illustration for Songs For The Living, which is a community art project founded here in Kouvola, open for everyone to join. Check out what it's all about and participate with your song: www.songsfortheliving.com

Getting there, slowly but surely

2011-06-03T02:26:00.005+03:00

Finally got the time to start inking this drawing I did sometime last autumn. It's not very unusual that some of the things I draw can end up waiting more than six months to be finished. Actually the best part is when going through my papers and sketches I find something that I already had forgot that I had done. It's kind of the same feeling you get when you find some cash from your pocket you don't remember putting there. It doesn't matter it's yours to begin with, finding something forgotten is like it was free or extra.

Junk and collages

2011-05-29T22:45:00.010+03:00

A pile of junk which I hauled today from the forest? Oh no, far from it. It's crafting materials for collages. It will all turn into something like this:

Above is one of three collages I made last year for a group exhibition. Making the collages was so much fun and inspiring that I thought I'd give it another go. I really like the process how the collage comes together. When I'm drawing things, I first see the image in my head and then I create every detail, I can shape everything just like I want them to be. But with collages it goes differently. I wander around looking for interesting things, stones, pieces of wood, rusted metal, any object that will speak to me in a certain way. Somewhere in these objects is a story, which I have to find and put together, and I can only shape things to a certain point. I have to work with the shapes the objects have, I cannot make them to be anything I want like when I'm drawing. So it's a nice change to how I usually work.

Work in progress

2011-05-28T02:13:00.002+03:00

One of today's drawings: rocks and roots and astronauts.

I have to say it feels damn good to be drawing again, I'm enjoying every line. Lots of new stuff coming up, if I only could concentrate a bit more, I'm on that stage where I'm jumping back and forth between drawings all the time, starting a new one and after fifteen minutes going back to what I was drawing before that and so on.

Trying to remember how to hold a pencil

2011-05-25T16:28:00.004+03:00

Ok, here we go. It's been ages since I last drew anything, let's see if I still remember how this goes.

detail / pencil sketch

The life after deadlines

2011-05-15T13:07:00.005+03:00

Yes, I'm still alive in case you were wondering. This far the whole year has just been too full of commissioned jobs and other projects so I haven't got much time to do draw anything for myself and this blog has suffered from a deathlike silence. Lots of great things has happened in a short time, yesterday I made my first musical performance on an open air stage, being a part of an experimental electronic music and video art performance named Boys on Toys: The Language of Electric Waste. The show was a part of Kymenlaakso 2011 happening at Turku. I hope to get some video from the show soon.

I feel kind of exhausted at the moment, but the things that have kept me busy for so long are now finished and the pages on my calender are almost empty for the coming weeks and even beyond that. I had almost forgot how it feels not having a deadline after deadline lurking in every spread of my calender. So after some holiday time, I'm going to concentrate on doing my own art projects at least for a year, that means a lot of drawing amongst other things. Also, this blog will wake up from its slumber.

Dark River

2011-01-23T11:44:00.002+02:00

Illustration for a book cover from last year.

Bunny Patrol

2011-01-19T15:11:00.005+02:00

This came out today, Tähtivaeltaja issue 4/2010, looks great. There's also copies of the same issue with different cover illustration, so don't be surprised if the cover of your copy is something else.

"Bunny Patrol"

Multiplayer at Gallery 1988

2011-01-17T05:18:00.006+02:00

My submission for the Multiplayer group show at Gallery1988 Venice.
Check out Gallery1988 website for all the artwork and to buy the prints. I guess the opening was quite a success.

Some pictures from the opening on Kevin Tong Illustration Facebook page

"Which Way To Dr. Wily?"
(Signed and numbered edition of 40)

With stars falling above us, I could have stayed there forever with you

2011-01-09T19:25:00.002+02:00

First drawing for this year so let's begin with something positive for a change. A memory of happiness:

"3 am (with stars falling above us, I could have stayed there forever with you)"

Multiplayer

2010-12-28T21:11:00.004+02:00

Signed some limited edition prints today and posted them to Gallery 1988. I'm participating on their coming Multiplayer exhibition.

And don't ask me, I don't know exactly what happened that my drawings ended up in Gallery 1988. Most of the time I'm still baffled about it.

The lonely people are getting lonelier

2010-12-23T11:26:00.003+02:00

"Christmas tree"

The local newspaper asked a couple of local artists to do their version of a Christmas tree, so here is mine.

Where has all the time gone?

2010-11-23T13:36:00.004+02:00

I'm not complaining about the projects I'm working on right now, lots of great stuff and great people I can work with, but the downside is that I have less time to draw. And when I draw something, it seems I'm always drawing something for other people, not for myself. So there are some things that are piling up inside my head, and they are getting a bit annoyed, some of them are already lighting up torches and stuff, and I'm guessing it's just a matter of time when I have a full riot in my head. I Need to get them out of my head soon, need to draw them out. But.... there isn't enough time. And I'm just wondering how my life turned out this way.

Here's a couple of details of illustrations for print products, I'll post the whole pictures when they come out of the printing machines.

Bunny Patrol, illustration (detail) for a magazine cover

Dark River, illustration (detail) for a book cover

Autumn wings

2010-10-25T16:05:00.002+03:00

today's work

2010-10-22T01:35:00.004+03:00

A sketch of something I first thought to be an epic fail, but it wasn't.

work in progress

2010-10-14T17:36:00.003+03:00

A couple of details from a couple of things I'm drawing. Trying to get something done though I've been dead tired all this week.

A Grim Lullaby

2010-10-06T18:08:00.004+03:00

"solitude sings a grim lullaby"

Well this was a slow process, first lines were drawn in February. Too often I abandon unfinished drawings for months, starting always something new before the old ones are finished.

work in progress

2010-10-05T15:27:00.001+03:00

Aberrant feelings from the summer

2010-09-23T14:20:00.004+03:00

"Your persistence makes me question everything"

Although I started to draw this at summer, it turned out to be quite autumnal now when I had the time to finish it.

Autumn Spirit

2010-09-21T00:53:00.005+03:00

I was walking in the forest, when suddenly the sky darkened and the smell of mushrooms and burning leaves filled the air. One of the autumn spirits stood before me as tall as the surrounding trees.
"You have to choose", it said with a voice that sounded like dead leaves rustling in the wind.
"Choose what?" I managed to ask after my feet had refused to move and running away screaming was no longer an option.
"You have to choose what I'm going to take away from you. It has to be something you care about, something that matters, something you want to keep."
I felt sick. My head felt dizzy and I thought I couldn't breathe.
"Why?" I whispered. "Why I have -"
"You know why", the spirit interrupted me. "It's autumn. Something must die, something must be lost, something must be taken away. You know that this happens. It has always happened, and so it will happen again. This is what I do. So choose and give me what I came for."
And so I did. With my head hurting and struggling not to throw up, I chose and gave the spirit something I wanted to keep. Because somehow I just knew there was nothing else I could do.
"Can I have it back later?" I asked, though I already knew the answer, but the question still slipped out of my mouth.
"No", the spirit said. "You cannot have it back. And even if I gave it back to you later, it wouldn't be the same anymore, it would be changed then, turned into something else. It would be different. So no, you can never get it back. It's lost to you from this moment on."
The spirit started to fade away, but before it disappeared into the woods it leaned towards me and pressed something very cold in my hand.
"Now I give you something in return. I give you mourning, emptiness and longing. And as long as you have these inside you, I'm not going to take anything from you. But as soon as you let go of my gifts, I will meet you again in the autumn and we will trade like we have done before."
The spirit stepped backwards and just vanished, leaving only a slightly rotten smell and coldness hovering in the air. I looked at my hand, but there was nothing, it was just freezing cold. The smell of autumn hang heavy around me. The warm days were over. The winter was coming.

morphing

2010-08-29T00:18:00.003+03:00

Been sick all week and my head and hands and eyes hurt and too much work and too much things and just started to draw something without thinking, thinking hurts too...

work in progress

2010-08-11T18:05:00.004+03:00

Today I have been mostly inking... and now my aching wrist says it's time to stop.

So many pictures in my head and so little time

2010-08-10T20:10:00.003+03:00

I'm struggling to find some time to draw, but it's not looking good. Maybe I have more time for my personal drawings in the winter... But here's something I managed to draw while hiding from other time consuming things.

street painting

2010-06-21T13:22:00.003+03:00

Still haven't been drawing anything myself, but instead trying to get other people to draw something. Last Monday we had a community art happening where we gave the people a chance to color our gray little town a bit more colorful.

Check out Kouvostoliitto-blog, here is some pictures and we also had a live video stream the whole day.

video installation

2010-05-17T14:31:00.002+03:00

It seems (again) that I have very little time to draw anything. It's making me more and more irritated and restless. There is some hard to find peace in those midnight moments when the whole worlds seems to be sleeping and I'm alone drawing and listening music. I can't find that peace and the feeling of clarity anywhere else. Now I have to sleep at night and it's next to impossible for me to draw at daytime, it just feels unnatural.

So instead of a drawing here is a video installation I did with the Kouvostoliitto-group. The installation is a part of Min Kouvola exhibition at Kouvola Art Museum.

A little videoclip of the finished installation:

And here is some pictures of the building process.

The Ark Project

2010-04-07T15:44:00.004+03:00

Some links about The Ark Project.

Here is my illustration: http://idnworld.com/creators/?id=MarkkuMetso

And here is the book: http://idnworld.com/books/?id=ark

I'm sorry I never healed the way you wanted me to heal

2010-03-13T14:05:00.003+02:00

"mended but not healed"

just for fun?

2010-03-11T22:03:00.005+02:00

I found a penciled sketch of this little bugger when I was fighting against the Mighty Pile Of Sketches who has made a permanent home at the corner of my desk and refuses to leave no matter how many clumps of paper full of hasty drawings and stupid ideas I rip out of its rotting flesh and throw in the trash bin. I have no recollection why I had drawn this, and then it occurred to me that this might be one of those rare pieces done in those silly little moments full of those naive thoughts that I might be able to draw something just for fun. Fun? I know that drawing just for the fun of it is totally lost for me, I can't get it back no matter what. Or maybe if I stopped drawing for at least a decade, lose all my artistic endeavors and never did another commissioned job for anyone. Maybe after that, I could draw something just for the fun. Maybe.

Thinking all this, I loosely threw some inks over the sketch and remembered how drawing was fun when I was ten and I was drawing superheroes and stuff. Now days I love drawing, I enjoy it, I can't come up with many other things I'd rather do professionally, it's basically the one thing I'm any good at. I have nothing else. But somehow it isn't fun anymore. Maybe it's meant to be this way, you have to lose the fun if you're going to do something seriously. Fun is being replaced with hate, frustration, unrelenting self-criticism and aim for perfection. It's hard. Harder than it was when I was ten. And even then I was a little bit frustrated that I couldn't draw the way I saw the images in my head. And I still can't.

Anyway, I like the way the tree branch came out, there's a nice sketchy touch in it, a very rare thing in my usually rigid inking. Maybe I try the same for some serious drawings. But thank you, my little horned friend, you made me remember something I hadn't thought for some time.

we are growing apart

2010-03-04T23:44:00.001+02:00

"we are growing apart"

exhibition

2010-03-01T21:01:00.002+02:00

"Broken"
March 1 - March 21 2010, Kouvola Art Museum, Kouta Gallery.

Go check it out if you happen to be in the neighborhood.

inks and pencils

2010-02-19T01:20:00.003+02:00

Some work in progress.

Stam1na - Viimeinen Atlantis

2010-02-17T20:24:00.004+02:00

I did graphic design and illustrations for Viimeinen Atlantis, a new album from Stam1na. The album went straight to number one on Finnish charts (selling by the way more copies than HIM, who also released their new album at the same week.)
Besides the normal jewel case, there's also two other versions of the album to which I also did the graphics, a Special Edition ( a 32-page book) and a gatefold LP. Both versions have sequential art, which I illustrated. I'll post pictures of them later, here is the jewel case:

A great project, great people to work with and what is most important, great music.

work in progress

2010-02-09T00:53:00.004+02:00

Here's something I've been drawing. First one is going to be an illustration for my exhibition poster. Still trying to figure out the name for the exhibition. Names are hard, especially names that should represent a whole bunch on pictures, not just one. I do have a lot of bad names though, they are really easy to come by. But the good ones, they are still hiding.
Names and words. Words to describe pictures... one reason why I even draw pictures is that I don't have words for certain things; they must be shown, not explained. But I do have to say, that I kind of hate that when a piece of art is given such a fascinating name as "untitled 1" or even more captivating "untitled 2".

This is usually the point where I lose my interest. Or here the most fun part ends. I got the pencils almost done and when I should start inking and coloring the pictures, I just start drawing something else. Finishing something doesn't intrigue me as much as the part of the process where I don't know what the outcome will be. Somehow you're always losing something, when things find their final shape. They become just one thing instead of being an endless amount of possibilities. The dreaming ends and all there is left is a reality which is bound into a one crippled form.

back in business

2010-01-28T12:41:00.002+02:00

I'm sorry about the slow posting recently, but I've been very busy doing client projects for the past months. Working and getting paid is always a good thing, but the downside is that at the same time there seldom is time or strength left to do any art. It has been too long since I last had time to draw anything and it really started to bother me. But finally those client projects are now finished, and after the release dates, I'll show you what I've been doing.

Now there is time for art again, and there should be, because I'm having my first solo exhibition at Kouvola Art Museum in March. There's going to be mostly older works from past years, but I'm trying do to something new also. Let's see how much I can draw in a month...

Yesterday night, I sat down, took a clean sheet of paper and started drawing. And damn it felt good after a long time. Once again I remembered, that this is where I find my little pieces of happiness: to be able to draw all night, listening good music, drinking tea, and not be distracted by anything or anyone. Doing something I somehow feel I'm good at, doing something that matters to me, no matter how small it might be in the eyes of the rest of the world.

So you can expect to see some new pictures soon. I hope you all still stick with me despite the occasional down time.

the ark project

2009-12-12T01:09:00.006+02:00

Illustration for The Ark Project.

Viimeinen Atlantis

2009-12-09T13:58:00.002+02:00

I've been busy doing client jobs, mostly for Stam1na, and this is one of them: http://www.viimeinenatlantis.fi. I did the illustrations, or maybe it's a sequential art, or a mysterious puzzle? I can't tell much about it, check out the website on a weekly basis and figure it out, as more things will be revealed.

It's that same voice again

2009-11-16T21:16:00.002+02:00

"a conversation with despair on the top of the hill"

album cover art

2009-11-09T13:24:00.003+02:00

I did an album cover art for Pitbull Terrorist. C.I.A. was released via Anstalt Records on November 6th. I'll post more pictures when I get my copy of the album.

art prints

2009-10-14T00:12:00.003+03:00

Some new prints available. Four different ones to choose from. Print size is 32 cm x 45 cm, white margins, the image area is 27 cm x 40 cm, 4CC 300 g/m2 paper.

You can get them from muud.fi webstore here. Or directly from me by mailing me here: markku(at)groteski(dot)net

When hope turns to self-deception

2009-09-25T01:47:00.000+03:00

"waiting for the tide"

work in progress

2009-09-14T14:58:00.003+03:00

I did some drawing yesterday.

almost there

2009-09-07T19:33:00.006+03:00

"hopelessly lost in the calm waters of solitude"

Leaking Reality

2009-08-26T21:30:00.014+03:00

It's been a bit of a slow season for me, or at least what comes to drawn art, but creativity needs some pauses from time to time. Or so I tell myself...

But there's some art stuff I've been involved, I did an audiovisual installation with the Kouvostoliitto-group for the Kouvola Night of Art last Friday.

Name of the installation was "Leaking Reality" and the basic idea was that the reality of Kouvostoliitto was leaking through some TV-sets into our reality. If you have no idea what Kouvostoliitto is, you can visit www.kouvostoliitto.fi or read this article where I speak something about the Kouvostoliitto art project.

Here's some pics from the Night of Art.

Work in progress

Almost ready

Tiina is making some final adjustments

Up and running

I'm setting TV-set number 2 at another location

Heidi is preparing for her role as an official of Kouvostoliitto

Tiina at our stand where we we're selling Kouvostoliitto stuff and also some of my art stuff

Trying to fit everything on the tables

Some customers

TV-screen at night

more cover art

2009-07-20T23:52:00.003+03:00

Some unfinished line art, a sneak peek from album cover art I recently did for a quite interesting band. But I'll tell you more after the release date.

äkä

2009-07-09T14:07:00.007+03:00

Cover art for Äkä demo cd, Scenes of Desolation.

nethescurial

2009-07-06T16:33:00.005+03:00

Illustrations for "Nethescurial", a short story by Thomas Ligotti. Tähtivaeltaja issue 2/2009.

art show

2009-07-06T15:20:00.005+03:00

A crappy photo before my camera battery died. Pictures on a wall, but not just any wall, it's an art museum wall.

There is a collaborative art show at Kouvola Art Museum (2nd floor), presenting different works from various local artists, including some of my work too. Go check them out, the show is up till the end of August.

nudes

2009-06-16T01:23:00.002+03:00

Sometimes you just need to draw naked women. I guess it's some kind of a man thing?

postcards for sale

2009-05-26T15:34:00.005+03:00

A mixed bag of postcards I scraped together from leftovers. Whether it's your friend, grandmother, lost cousin, dearest archenemy or secret love, I bet they all like to receive a postcard from you.
Or if you don't have anyone to send them, you can just hang the cards on your bathroom wall, where I heard some of my postcards ended up.

A set of ten postcards, 15 euros including postage (in Finland).
Send your order here: markku(at)groteski(dot)net

Also there are still some prints left.

please stop being ridiculous, I miss you

2009-05-14T04:30:00.006+03:00

"visiting the garden of lost friends"

work in progress

2009-05-10T02:10:00.004+03:00

A couple of things I finished drawing, next stage is giving them some colors.

zombies!

2009-05-03T21:36:00.005+03:00

You should never miss an opportunity to draw some zombies, so I did cover art for the new The Zombi EP.

new prints

2009-04-26T20:35:00.004+03:00

Two new prints available, "self-protection" and "through the ivory gate". Scroll down a couple of posts for more info how to order them.

paint it white

2009-04-03T03:38:00.006+03:00

"self-protection"

Mmm, I have to draw more wallpaper patterns, I got hooked immediately when I started to draw one for this.

art for sale -updated-

2009-03-19T18:22:00.016+02:00

Enough people asked for these, so here is some prints for you. Put them on a frame and there you go.
400mm x 300mm prints (the actual image area is 310mm x 210mm ) on a 4CC 300 g/m2 paper.

If you want one, send your order here: markku(at)groteski(dot)net
Price is 14€ each + 6€ for postage cost (in Finland). Delivered in a tube seen below.

There are eight different prints to choose from:

1/ "goodbye" 2/ "a boy with too much fear in his heart"

3/ "something fell from the sky" 4/ "lost together"

5/ "no more games"

6/ " a temporary escape becomes a home"

7/ "through the ivory gate"

8/ "self-protection"

I've grown weary

2009-03-05T03:39:00.002+02:00

"to disappear or die gradually"

solitude

2009-02-16T01:20:00.001+02:00

"the isolated king of the ivory tower"

can't go on like this

2009-02-01T10:26:00.003+02:00

"no more games"

betrayed

2009-01-19T02:47:00.002+02:00

"how could I have known that these words would turn against me?"

wish upon a star

2009-01-12T02:46:00.004+02:00

"a thousand wishes (a thousand secrets to no one to ever know)"

I met this nice cat that sat on my shoulder when I ate breakfast. So she earned a place in one of my drawings.

a place to lay your head down in sorrow

2009-01-08T14:36:00.002+02:00

"refugees"

III

2008-12-11T01:49:00.003+02:00

"these wounds need to heal"

II

2008-12-10T15:26:00.004+02:00

"thinking of you"

the king of worms

2008-12-03T01:49:00.003+02:00

I was reading a book about stained glass and this is the outcome.

t-shirt

2008-11-25T18:25:00.002+02:00

My design participates in the contest on lafraise.com. If you want that they print this T-shirt so that you can have one, please vote my design and let's hope others will too.

Direct link is here. (You'll have to register on laFraise to vote)

Thanks.

I

2008-11-11T23:21:00.004+02:00

"it all came out wrong"

You know the feeling when things are in perfect order in your head? But then you make the tragic mistake and try to say your thoughts out loud.

inhale

2008-11-01T23:37:00.002+02:00

through the ivory gate

2008-10-22T01:32:00.005+03:00

I had this dream where I was a child again. With some other children, I was running away from this group of soldiers who were chasing us- of course the soldiers were nazis - in an enormous house with endless corridors and staircases. Finally the soldiers had us cornered in an attic room, there was no escape. But then another group of soldiers, led by this huge bearlike creature, appeared and killed all the nazis.
The creature approached us, kneeled down and took of its mask. It was a little boy inside a polar bear suit. His face glowed like the sun and the whole room was suddenly filled with warm, bright light.
"Now you are safe" the boy said.

There was a really weird atmosphere surrounding the boy, something that I cannot explain with words or pictures. But I had to draw the boy anyway, so here it is:

tattooed

2008-10-10T00:28:00.002+03:00

work in progress?

2008-10-08T12:53:00.009+03:00

"So I was wondering..."
"Yeah?"
"What have you been doing lately?"
"Well, today I've been mostly drawing leafs"
"Leafs?"
"Yeah, leafs. I got this idea of an old woodling face that is encircled by leafs. Lots of leafs. It's going to look nice, but after a while, drawing leafs becomes quite boring. And it's very slow work."
"So... you're drawing every leaf then, individually? You do know that there are ways to give an impression of a whole bunch of leafs without actually drawing each one of them?"
"Of course I know, but the detail is the thing here. Have you even looked at most of my work, I happen to like detail, especially in trees."
"So what's the purpose of the detail in this particular work you're doing?"
"?"
"Don't say you're doing it just because you're in love with the technique and the details? And because its going to look nice? Haven't you always said that you don't much appreciate art that lacks the idea, no matter how perfect the technique is?"
"So do you want a lecture what the trees I'm always drawing mean to me? Or start a conversation about art in generally?"
"... no, actually I'm not that interested in you. I just want to look nice pictures while I'm having my morning coffee or having a break at work. Which brings us back to beginning of all this. Where is all the nice pictures I like to occasionally watch? There used to be new stuff here more frequently. But don't think I'm checking your blog daily. As I said, I'm not that interested in you."
"Well, drawing my graphic novel kind of exhausts most of my need to make 'nice pictures'. And I haven't shown much of the progress to anyone. I'm not going to until all the pages are drawn and inked."
"So when's that?"
"When they're ready."
"Oh, that's the usual answer when someone doesn't have the slightest idea when something is going to be ready"
"No, I have an idea and it's soon."
"...hmph...So can I see it?"
"See what? Didn't I just told that..."
"No, not the damn secret graphic-who-knows-what-it's-gonna-be-novel. I mean the leaf thing. Just write 'work in progress' and put it here, ok?"
"If that makes you happy, yes"
"Happy? Don't flatter yourself, there are lot of other places I can found nice pictures to look at, I'm not that-"
"- interested in me. Yeah, I got it. So here. Work in progress:"

"Hmm. Can't say much about it, cos it's not finished. Don't know if it's nice or not. Maybe you should post it again when it's colored and all. Like when it's done. People might get more out of it then."
"??!??!.... you don't say..."
"Oh, I finished my coffee, have to get back to work now. Let's talk again some other time."
"I'm looking forward to it..."

the smell of autumn

2008-08-29T18:21:00.002+03:00

The leaves are still green here but you can already smell it in the wind... autumn is coming.

I have all the time in the world

2008-08-27T20:57:00.002+03:00

"patience"

I thought you were listening the same

2008-08-13T23:49:00.003+03:00

I had to draw some company for the boy I did some time ago.

Badges

2008-08-01T21:26:00.004+03:00

I did a couple of badges today...

Various designs of Kouvostoliitto.

And of course some trees.

It took some tinkering, but these are also available with magnets attached in back replacing the pin. Just waiting to occupy some refrigerator doors.

horned

2008-07-11T04:15:00.003+03:00

prints

2008-07-04T23:53:00.004+03:00

I have two good-quality art prints, size is about 47 cm x 60 cm. Drop me a line if you want to purchase one or both.

edit: gone, they found a new home.

updates

2008-07-03T12:18:00.002+03:00

I did an overhaul to my portfolio, it has a new layout and I also removed lots of veeery old stuff which I think were quite irrelevant. Go and check it out.

the escape

2008-07-02T02:43:00.002+03:00

"My dreams never did fit here"

a big bully

2008-06-11T13:42:00.004+03:00

Yeah, sure it was the biggest and meanest crow he had ever seen, but there was still no damn way the bird was getting his best kite without a fight.

Detail of the boy:

the keeper of rain

2008-06-09T17:47:00.003+03:00

It has rained most of the day today. There's something about rainy days, it's like you're given an excuse to just stay indoors and do something different. Even though you normally stay indoors most of the day wether it was sunny or not. But the rain gives a feeling that all the people suddenly stop what they are doing, find a cover and wait the sky to clear. It gives a break and a moment to think. To listen the thoughts that are only possible when it rains.
Of course this could only happen if we all still worked on the fields all day.

But for me, rainy days are definitely for thinking. And as I'm watching the rain, I'm thinking that it has rained too long inside my head.

playing with scissors

2008-05-30T15:19:00.002+03:00

There was something very ominous about the way my scissors looked at me today...

white dragon

2008-05-30T03:18:00.004+03:00