As you might have read in my previous journal entry, I was in London last week for the Parallax Art Fair which took place at the Chelsea Old Town Hall. For those who are also invited for a future show, or otherwise just curious, here's how I experienced it.

It was wonderful. Everything was well organized and the staff was very friendly and helpful. You could tell that they genuinely cared about the participants and the artworks.

What I enjoyed most though, was the diversity of the artists and how they interacted. A mixture of completely different people from different countries and different backgrounds, respecting and enjoying each others presence, not just for the decency of it but due to the one thing they all shared: appreciation for art.

Unfortunately the amount of sold artworks was very low but that didn't stop anyone from enjoying those 4 days, least of all me. The experience itself, the colorful people and the fun and interesting conversations with them were simply priceless.

Long story short, if you ever get the opportunity to partake in such an event, don't hesitate! Trust me, you won't regret it.

Henrik


PS: I put up some photos on my homepage. You can see them here if you like.

I was invited to participate in the PAF exhibition which takes place from 16th to 18th February 2012 in London, UK.
I submitted three works as required and yesterday I received an email saying that two of them have been selected for the exhibition.

It's the first time that I take part in something like this and I find it very exciting. I've also decided to travel to London during that week and actually be there at the exhibition. It's not mandatory but I figured what could be a better reason to visit London than this, right?

Anyway, just wanted to share this cool news with you guys. Also, to anyone who lives in London and/or has experience with PAF: if there's anything I should know, feel free to drop me a line. I could use, and will appreciate, any suggestion.

Thanks in advance,
Henrik

I receive a lot of questions regarding my art, and although I'm trying not to ignore anyone I don't have enough time to answer the same questions over and over again. So I decided to answer them in my journal for everyone who's interested.

Q) How long have you been drawing?
A) I've been drawing on and off since I was a kid, but in the past five years I've been a lot more active on that front.

Q) How old are you?
A) It's right there on my user page but alright, I'm 40 (update: 42).

Q) Have you studied art, or had any art training?
A) No, I'm self-taught. My drawing skills are just the result of what I like to call "the 3 P's": Passion, Practice and Precision.

Q) I like your ideas. Where do you get your inspiration from?
A) Different things. It can be an experience, a thought, a feeling or even a song. Getting an idea is easy, if we're open to it. The hard(er) part is to translate that idea into an artwork using our artistic language and limited tools.

Q) Would you draw me/my friend/me AND my friend/... for free?
A) Nope. Maybe one day, when everything else in the world is free. Until then, you're welcome to commission me.

Q) Are you planning to write some tutorials about drawing?
A) I am, really. It's just that writing a decent tutorial is a time consuming thing, at least for me, so I don't know when I'll be able to make one. It is on my to-do list though.

Thanks for reading,
Henrik

PS: Let me take this opportunity to thank you guys again for all your kind comments, favs and watches. I appreciate every one of them

I've been featured in the AntiDull Online Art Magazine, an e-magazine that features traditional artists and art photographers from all over the world.
They contacted me a couple of weeks ago and said they wanted to use two of my drawings for the April issue. One of them ended up on the cover too which was a nice surprise.
You can check them out here. There are a lot of great artworks to enjoy.

Also, I'm working on a new drawing. It's a still life with the usual weirdness I hope I can submit it by the end of the week (edit: already done)

Thanks for reading,
Henrik

I've been tagged by my good buddy A nice dude but right now he's nr. 1 on my list of people who I'm gonna get soon!

Anyway, according to the rules I have to write 8 random facts about myself, so here we go:

1- My nickname is the name of my favorite character from my favorite book by my favorite writer Donald William Shimoda from 'Illusions' by Richard Bach.

2- I hate mathematics and politics. Instead, I love biology, physics and chemistry. I was the only one at school who had the key to our school lab. I also had a small lab at home. My parents were always afraid that I would blow something up someday. (un)fortunately I didn't

3- I'm a movie freak. Every time I go to the local videotheque I can hardly find a movie I haven't seen before.

4- I can easily remember the name of every song, artist, movie or actor I've ever seen or heard. I don't even try, I just do.

5- I love the sound of the classical guitar. I also have one myself which I play every now and then.

6- Every time I draw I listen to the album 'No Angel' from Dido. I don't know why, it just feels right.

7- I have sleep problems. I don't remember the last time I fell asleep quickly and slept through the whole night.

8- I never pass on chain letters. Same goes for journal tags so I'm not going to tag anyone now. Sorry folks, if you wanna share something about yourself, feel free to tag yourself

I heard something quite interesting the other day so I thought I'd share it with you guys.

A fellow deviant sent me a message asking me if I knew that Shia LaBeouf has put "prisoner of my own" as a big tattoo on the side of his ribcage. She also sent me a picture of him where I could clearly see it. I was like "what the...?" so obviously I didn't know
For those who don't know Shia, he is a young actor known from "Disturbia", "Transformers" and "Indiana Jones 4" (currently filming).

Here's the picture and a piece of an interview where he talks about the tattoo:

...
Q: That's cool. Do you have any other tattoos?
Shia LaBeouf: [pulls up shirt to reveal another tattoo on side of his back] Yeah, there's this one right here.

Q: Oh, that's cool.
Shia LaBeouf: It's like an artist drawing his own prison.

Q: And what inspired that one?
Shia LaBeouf: Just life. That's where I'm at.

Q: Did you draw it yourself or have a friend that did it?
Shia LaBeouf: No. It's an art piece that I've seen many years ago. It's always been a cool visual for me. It's kind of how it feels too. You know you do put yourself… because you always talk about the stardom or what not and the more you do this, then the more successful you are. You're entrapping yourself, you know, because regardless of if you want to be a personality or not, that's part of the game, so that sort of represents that to me a little bit.
...

Interview source

i'm resubmitting my entire gallery. the images are being replaced by ones with a watermark 'cause i'm tired of seeing my work being ripped and placed on websites and online galleries as if they were their own. even here on DA!
i've received a lot of notes from people who have seen such cases (thank you guys!) so i figured it's time to do something about it. i also want to give you all an advice: watermark your work! it can happen to you too.
take care.
Henrik