Merry Christmas, my wife!

I have worked hard during the last autumn period of our art school in Säynätsalo, Finland, to finish my Christmas present to my wife. Here is the final outcome, presented by her - as a shy person, she would like to show only her hands, not her face. Our friends say that certain similarity between her portrait in this painting (based on an B&W photo from Switzerland,1966) and her current status exists, however. This work was hang on the wall of our corridor, without any frames. I think that it is good enough without them.

Rapid drawing with calligraphy felt-tip pens

These two modest drawings, among other similar pieces of art, were done when sitting in a small town on the island of Karpathos, Greece, several years ago. Three widths of pens were available - 1 mm, 2 mm and 3 mm. I recommend these tools when rapid drawings should be done during a holiday (or even business) trip!

WW is an excellent site for exhibitions!

"Wanha Woimala" (= old power plant) has been - and will also be in future, I hope - an excellent site for the annual KOPRU exhibitions: a most peaceful, historical building in the middle of the stream - never too warm, how high the temperature outside may be. The views towards the river through the high windows are great, too!

- More photos from 2013 exhibition soon...

Pictures from the KOPRU Night Exhibition 2013

The annual exhibition of the art society KOPRU took place in Vaajakoski, Central Finland, 6.-23.8.2013, in Wanha Woimala (= old power plant) which is an excellent site to present our works - a peaceful and cool building in the middle of the stream. This year's exhibition therefore carried the name "Woimaa Wirrasta" (="Power from the Stream").

These first photos were taken during the weekend festival "Kosken Kohinat" (= rushes of the rapid), referring to the previous waterfall, situated just beneath the power plant.

There is an interesting piece of art in the photo below: the mosaic pot on the shelf was made by my wife - her first presentation in KOPRU exhibition!

- More photos in this blog very soon...

Learning to paint with oil colours

After starting oil painting during last winter's art school season I have found this technique very interesting. I am familiar with ink and colour pen drawing as well as acrylic colours but, for some reason, regarded oil colours too difficult for me. But now I know that they are not - and the wide variety of shades which are the results of mixing only five basic colours is very challenging!

An equipment to hold the canvas in vertical position is needed when working with oil colours. Drawing horizontally, on the kitchen table, is easy - but to see the whole oil painting canvas with one look and not to drop any colours from the brushes on finished areas is not possible without an easel. I borrowed one to continue working home during summertime. I recommend relatively large model because it is more stable than smaller ones.

JYVÄSKYLÄ ADULT EDUCATION CENTRE Spring Exhibition April 27-28 2013

The annual art exhibitions of Jyväskylä Adult Education Centre are open during this weekend in several branches.I am joining an art group which meets weekly in Vanha Pesula which is situated some 20 km from the city center, in Säynätsalo. We have collected our works, finished during our winter term, on the walls of our atelier. The exhibition is open 11-16 and free. Welcome!

Orthodox Cathedral of Sortavala

Orthodox Cathedral of Sortavala in Russian Carelia, on the shore of Lake Ladoga (Laatokka). No more corrections - let it be like this. - This painting describes the church like it is today, with blue color on roofs and domes.

Final site for the drawing of Summassaari church

Here it is, at last: drawing of Summassaari in the middle of new frame!

Framing was actually very cheap: an old frame (with glass) from second hand market = 1 € and passe-partout from a local art shop (prepared to the final form)= 8 € makes total 9 €!

Reflection on the glass is certainly a problem - not a big one, but one should still look for a satisfactory point of view to see the drawing. I may remove the glass - I am not sure yet. My wife, however, says: "Let it be".

Orthodox Cathedral of Sortavala, Carelia

I will first thank Maria in Sortavala/Joensuu for this beautiful photo of Sortavala Church!

This cathedral seems to be in very good condition today. The colour of the roof and domes have chanced to blue (I have seen an old painting of it in Jyväskylä where the colour is different).

Some problems have caused a delay in the finishing of this acrylic painting.

I should start the drawing by making a decision about the vertical lines. My friend Petteri helped me by transferring them parallel (like in a photo taken with a tele objective). This, however, caused certain shortening of vertical lines (you can try it by taking a photo book and keep its upper side in a shorter distance from your eyes than the lower section). I finally got an agreement with myself by taken both the direction and the length of the lines into account (which means that the result is something between tele and normal objective views). I am not sure if I was right but "let it be"...

Next problem is the sky.

I like to draw (and I think that I am relatively good in drawing) but the colours are very difficult for me (actually, I am no painter yet). I will therefore thank my teacher Minna who helped me to correct the shade of blue (which was much too dark in the beginning)!

Last problem still stays: I started this work on a thin paper
by WINDSOR & NEWTON (excellent for drawing!) with pencils but, for some reason, decided to turn acrylic. Thin drawing paper does not suit to wet techniques! I shall now find a solution to this problem - how to get the even surface of the paper back again. "Let's see..."