Christina Jonsson - Sketchblog

Christiansø

2011-09-02T16:03:00.002+02:00

Last weekend I had the opportunity to join a couple of friends who were invited to the danish island Christiansø. It was such a unique place.... very small, and old fortress still belonging to the danish army. No cars and no pets allowed and only 90 permanent residens. Very charming and very soothing to be in such a calm place, almost like a time travel back 50 or 60 years. Everyone seemed to have all the time in the world for each other. A truly very friendly place, despite their history. I will start by posting some of the sketches I made during my two-day-stay.

New sketch

2011-08-15T14:00:00.002+02:00

Hi there,
This blog has been sadly overseen the past year but life has come in the way sort of. Anyway. This summer I´ve been dedicating most of my spare time to a comic project of mine :-). very inspiring I must say. But I managed to make some sketches at least. And hopefully there will be more in a couple of weeks when I will go to a Danish island. This one was drawn a week ago while I was waiting paitently for my Iphone to be repaired. The very service minded man in the store fixed it within a couple of hours ( he probably saw the panic in my eyes), but there was at least time to make this sketch of the old city hall house in the centre of Jönköping ( in southern Sweden).

Siena

2010-09-17T10:41:00.003+02:00

Another sketch from Italy. This is from Siena. A place I tend to return to again and again. The atmosphere is wonderful. And the thousands of tourists that pour through the narrow streets don´t seem to be able to beat the feeling of a real living town.

Tuscany

2010-09-09T20:31:00.003+02:00

I went to glourius Tuscany for a the last few days of august. My attention was to fill my sketchbook obviously, between driving a small car from one medieval town to another. Though scared beoynd imagination the first day out in Italian traffic I got used to it pretty fast and the last day I shouted scusi!!! out loud when I was doing yet another strange manouver, for the Italians, that is. I didn´t cause any major accidents thank God and came home with a bunch of sketches. Here, the first of them. from Piazza del Amfiteatro in Lucca.

Slow day

2010-08-08T13:48:00.003+02:00

Summer vacation is over and I´m back to spending my days at the office in Skövde. Well, just two more weeks and then I´m off to Italy. Oh, I will draw heaps I hope. Here is one of the very few old, small and idyllic houses we have left in Skövde. The town was brutally (we thing now) modernized in the 60´s and a lot of the old houses were torn down. I really like the color of this warm warm yellow almost orange. Nice.

Bornholm illustrations

2010-08-05T17:09:00.002+02:00

In june, I visited the lovely island Bornholm. The round church is typical for the area. Below the very idyllic town Gudhjem. The food is great and I can really recommend a visit.

Easter sunday

2010-04-06T13:17:00.003+02:00

This old house is located opposites my parents. It´s a summer house these days and has a lot of athmosphere and old charm.

Could you help me out?

2010-03-15T00:14:00.003+01:00

I´ve collected a couple of hundred of sketches the last few years. Most of them from Sweden. I must admit that I´ve been thinking about collecting them somehow, maybe get the opportunity to publish. But there are a couple of major questions before I give it a real chance.
1. The text between the sketches. What would you like to read about? Should there be very little text or longer parts.
2. The sketches... will it be boring to have all i color? Is a mixture of black and white and color to prefer?
3. Are these type of sketches something you would be at all interested in picking up in a bookstore?
4. The text would be in english, the motifs from Sweden. Is that a crazy idea?
I would be sincerely grateful for some thought from you out there. And you can be brutally honest..... well not too brutal maybe but definitaley honest.
All the best and thanx
/Christina

the Neighbours

2010-03-14T22:19:00.001+01:00

No spring yet. We´re giving up hope here. Could someone pleeeeease move the gulf stream a bit in our direction.

2010-01-31T22:58:00.001+01:00

25 degrees below 0, celsius that is. It´s just tooooo cold. Ten seconds without a mitten and you can´t feel your fingers. I took a snapshot to base this sketch on. It was the only way and even that was almost too much.

Keep it warm

2010-01-27T14:17:00.005+01:00

Look at the picture above. It´s been snowing all day adding to what we already have. I´m staying in, working, and look at my new mug/thermos. Perfect to keep the coffee hot. Wouldn´t survive without it.

Playing with pattern

2010-01-23T23:22:00.002+01:00

I spent two days in Stockholm trying to absorb some inspiration and influences this week. I visited a fair and tried to really absorb everything I saw but but it was immensly nice to take the train back home again. And it´s the same thing every time. I met two dear friends though, had wonderful exotic food I never get to eat otherwise and had long and interesting conversations about art and exciting ideas. I´ve seen so many intreresting pattern and prints that I hade to doodle away in an atempt of my own.

Fantasy

2010-01-20T11:49:00.003+01:00

A wimsical piece of fantasy image. A medieval town made in illustrator.

Stuff

2010-01-13T14:02:00.004+01:00

Hi everyone! New year and another pic from my workplace. I have moved into a larger room which feels great. I have even two tables ( though I share the room) . One workplace is outside the picture. I´m sitting in an old apartment in the centre of town and share it with 4 other creators. It´s completely white outside due to all the snow we have gotten since Christmas. Many might think that Sweden always have snow in winter but here in the south some winters are more green than white actually.

The sketch is from Copenhagen. I visited this wonderful town in november and it was warm enough to sit outside and draw. It helped to have an irish coffee to sip on but anyway. Wish I can go back in summer.

At work

2009-10-07T16:55:00.003+02:00

Some days just start the wrong way. But there are ways to pave the way for creativity. A work place where you feel really at home is a good start. Today a chose a jazzy playlist and lit a candle. A the day has been good creatively.

Sketches from Visby

2009-08-25T17:24:00.006+02:00

Summer is almost over. I´ve had several weeks of vacation and complete freedom. For two weeks I took part in an archeological excavation on Gotland ( the big island just east of our mainland). Last week I spent some days at another one, one hour from here. It´s an interest of mine that has been slumbering since I was 20. Back then I seriously considered the proffession. Well, I´m pleased with my choice to take it up as an amateur, it has been a truly fulfilling experience with new friends and new knowledge. But I also got some days for myself and my sketching. One day I spent in medieval town Visby, where I drew furiously for hours almost without a break. Here are a couple of them.

Yesterday I got a very nice suprise. A heavy parcel arriwed with a few copies of The big book of contemporary illustration. I´m a very proud participant and are truly impressed with the work of the other contributors. Wow!!!

Sketches from Visby

2009-08-25T17:24:00.001+02:00

Evening sketches

2009-06-09T23:21:00.008+02:00

Good evening,

Time to go to bed but I decided to post these pictures that I made this evening. It´s daylight until 11 and I want to enjoy it. I wanted to capture some details in town so I took the bike and did a little tour. The bike is very handy since I can sit on the parcel carrier ( I hope this is the correct word ).As you can see we have some very nice lamp post. These are actually quiet new but produced in an old design. My home town is very well preserved and is a popular place to visit among tourists. Our location by lake Vättern is probably another major reason for a visit.
By the way, I was back to my eye docor today. My eyes are still healing and my eyesight is not perfect yet. But it will be eventually.

Waiting, healing

2009-06-07T15:10:00.002+02:00

Hi everyone,

I´ve been a bit invisible here again but this time for a very good reason. I´ve had surgery on my eyes to correct my quiet impressive near sightness. It´s been two weeks now and my eye sight is almost back to 100%. I have used contact lenses for my entire grown up life. It´s still a bit problematic to work long hours in front of the computor but sketching out door is fine now.
My first attempt was this one.

In Uppsala

2009-05-11T11:46:00.002+02:00

Hi everyone,

It´s about time to post something again. Last week I was the busy little bee driving around half Sweden for different commissions but I took time to make at least one sketch.

This is from Uppsala again. 4 hours drive from my home town. Uppsala has an old scholar atmosphere and I love the colours of the older buildings. 17th century colour scheme was quite bright and bold with a lot of ochre, yellow, pink and indian red. Sometimes even a smoky blue nuance. Here a view from beneath the cathedral. A lot of students on bike pass by me and through the portal.

Colorful

2009-04-25T13:52:00.004+02:00

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your nice comments. They keep me posting.

Last week I was out and about one evening and passed this old barn. The angle for the sketch is a bit boring since I was sitting in exactly in front of the building but the pond and the road limited my choise.

Having to do with the second best position for a drawing is very common, at least to me.

Have anyone of you experienced the same? I´m also a bit shy when it comes to sitting down in public and try not to

draw too much attention to myself.

Spring is sprung

2009-04-13T19:26:00.003+02:00

It has been a long dark winter but finally spring is here and with it some extra energy to spend on sketching. Sorry for not posting for so long but for some reason this winter has been very uninspiring.....and as usually, dark. The sketch above I did a couple of weeks ago in Uppsala. In Uppsala you can find the oldest university in Sweden, founded in 1477. The whole town has an academic air to it. I draw a very wellknown view with the cathedral in the background.

New year-new possibilities

2009-01-02T11:11:00.002+01:00

I´ve been absent from this blog this december. The main reason is that I´ve been occupied a moving out of my office and in to a new one. Exciting but a lot of work. The new year has started with very low temperatures. About -5 to -10 degreea C even in the middle of the day so outdooractivites are kept to a minimum. Yesterday I made a quick sketch from my livingroom tough.... eager to a least draw something, anything. I wish you all a happy new year. I´ll come back with the new view from my window.

2008-12-03T13:33:00.005+01:00

I recieved an award from Kazumiwannabe for creating a cool blog! Im very proud to be chosen but I´ve been a lousy blogger lately. ( I´m supposed to send it forward to ten others, but I will have to come back on that one ).I´ve been busy making plans for my upcoming move to a new studio/workplace. It has also been a dark, cold and snowy period that drains all energy out of you. There isn´t much good to say about Sweden in november. You just have to get through it. So there has not been much sketching outside work. But I´m very pleased that there has been some exciting incoming work despite of the financial difficuties that we all go through. Today I´ll post an old sketch. Maybe you´ll seen it before but it was the best one to illustrate the colors outside my window. Have a nice day everyone!

November starts off well

2008-11-02T16:59:00.004+01:00

Hi everyone,
The time of the year has come when the only way to sketch outdoor is from my car. Well, today it was sunny and nice but still the degree was around 0 C which is a bit chilly to sketch in. I got to park with a view though so I was pleased. The rest of the day I have been spending sketching on a childrens book. A new project of mine together with my sister.

Across the table

2008-10-23T13:19:00.002+02:00

This is Therese. She is sitting opposite me, almost invisible behind her huge screen. I have lacked a little inspiration for sketching lately but I try to convince my self to step out of my comfort zone and just draw what I have in front of me. And so I did. Have a nice day everyone.

This is good

2008-10-20T16:54:00.001+02:00

I found this site today....Josh Cochran such talent! Check it out!

A little something from this saturday

2008-10-19T22:08:00.005+02:00

Lovely, lovely weather this weekend. Sunshine, not to windy and with crispy and clear air.

I had a photoshoot scheduled and afterwards I headed for Njuta and a nice cup of coffee. In between I sat down and made this. I have the town church behind me and the main street on the other side of the houses in front of me.
Almost all leaves have turned yellow or brown now. But here I managed to found some sort that still remains green.
I will try to keep up the sketching but with winter coming it will be harder to find great sketching moments. I hope you all have had a nice weekend!

Sunday

2008-10-13T10:01:00.002+02:00

Hi everyone, had a pretty calm weekend. Coffee with friends, birthday party and a concert. It´s almost to cold now to do any outdoor sketching. I took some time sunday morning leaning against a fence and drew this little piece from Hjo ( my hometown ) It´s a part of the old quartiers with cobblestone and wooden housen almost climbing on top of each other along narrow streets. The bright yellow car at the left is one of the post office fleet. There were a bunch of them parked there but I decided that one was enough for this picture. Now I´m really starting to long for a sketching journey to Italy or Spain perhaps. The warmer temperatures, the nice landscape and architecture.... oh sweet dreams. Have a nice week everyone

Sis and Josefine

2008-10-08T17:25:00.004+02:00

My 12-year old niece Josefine is watching TV and my sister is doing the same thing and knitting a scarf at the same time.

Sorry, sorry, sorry

2008-10-06T21:31:00.003+02:00

for not being around on the blog lately. I´ve been working on this monster of a map and I´ve been exhausted when it comes to drawing. I´ve preferred doing other things at least to rest my poor hand. But now I´ve almost finished it so took the time to publish a small sketch of a base-player I did a week ago. It was during a break at a service and he was resting comfortably between songs. A small thing but I will be back with more. Just be a little patient.
Yesterday I visited a great watercolorexhibition by artist Johnny Alhgren. A lot of inspiration to continue with the watercolors. Today I´ve been at my sisters working on a new and secret project that we have started together. Let´s see what comes out of that. It´s strange how my creativity seems to increase during periods when I have to struggle with other things. Maybe it´s like a life saver. Sorry, now I´m starting to ramble. Have a nice time everyone and welcome back.

From Swedish theatre in Helsinki

2008-09-25T16:46:00.002+02:00

The street in front of the beautiful Swedish Theatre in Helsinki. Our feet were aching severly after hours of walking through the town and finally we ended up here at the theater café.

On Queen street

2008-09-24T16:59:00.002+02:00

I love september. These last couple of days the sun has been shining and I don´t intend to brag but the nordic light is fantastic. ( Maybe it´s a compensation for those winter months when there is none at all :-) )Today when I took a walk during my lunch hour everything seemed so crisp and clear and I wished I had brought my camera. But at least I managed to draw something, not anything special, just a little part from the city centre.

More from my trip

2008-09-22T22:29:00.005+02:00

Thank you for your nice comments everyone. It´s make all the difference to know that someone apprieciate your stuff.
I was surprisingly productive during my trip to Finland and I still have some sketches to publish. The upper one is from the very centre of town were the big ferries from Sweden and Estonia anchor just in front of you. There are Viking lines red fleet and the blue one´s of Silja line. It´s pretty impressing. Most countrymen of mine come here with one of these on a the weekend or over-night cruise, staying just for a day. In the background a glimpse of the sea and the archipelago. Finland is the land of a thousand lakes and that is not an overexaggeration, rather the opposite.
Each evening we of course had to get a bite and we happened to end up at this italian place two nights in a row. Great food and a very nice athmosphere. And a great place to draw some of the other guests.
The lady with the cards is from the airport though. She and some other gals, I believe they were danish, spent the time before getting on a plane with a game of cards.
I´m already looking forward to next fall when we plan to go to Ireland. Please let me know if you have any other tip were else to go to draw.

The Helsinki Harbour

2008-09-19T16:52:00.002+02:00

Late friday afternoon and time to go home. I will publish this one from Helsinki harbour before I close down the computor for today. It was warm and sunny when I sat there but I only drew a couple of the endless row of luxorious
yachts that laid there.
This week has been hopeless to plan due to some sudden new commission that is due next week. But I have hope for the weekend. Have a nice one everyone!

Along the boulevard, Helsinki

2008-09-17T15:34:00.002+02:00

Hi everyone,

Now I´ve manage to complete another of my sketches from Helsinki. This one is made outside the oldest café in town. At least that is what the guide told us. It is called Ekberg and has a completely real retrostyle. Nice to see that some places are untouched by the different styles that pass by and have managed to keep their soul. They served a nice lunchbuffé with hot soup, delicious sandwishes on the excellent finnish dark bread and great coffee. They seem to have the same thing about coffee as us swedes, it can´t be too strong. I love sitting on a café chatting with a friend and just keep the pen going over the paper.

First drawings from Helsinki, Finland

2008-09-15T08:26:00.004+02:00

Here comes the first studies from Helsinki, Finland. The upper one is from the big cathedral in the middle of town. Finland is a neighbour country to Sweden but it´s still obvious that there are a lot of differences in architecture and style. The influences from east are not strong, but still noticeable to us. The people of Helsinki was very nice and polite and it was a sothing experience to walk through a capital that was so calm and suprisingly quiet, even for us Swedes. A visit is highly recommended.

This trip was meant to be a handful of days of inspiration and sketching. I went with a couple of friends that also work with art and design and this combination was great. We strolled around, visited design shops and the home of famous architect Alvar Aalto. And we had plenty of time to sit down and draw. Luckily the weather was with us and we had some sunshine and really desent temperatures. Fall is really here now and the cold is nipping on your fingers every morning. I can really recommend this type of travelling, whith peers and people who have the same interest. I guess you have all experiences the same inpatient sighs over your never ending eagerness to sit down and draw.

During working hours

2008-09-10T17:48:00.002+02:00

Life has been busy lately and though I´ve done some sketching I havn´t had any time to publish. Monday I returned from a trip to Helsingfors Finland. I´ve never been before even if it´s so close. Shame on me. It was fun though and I will publish a bunch of pictures later this week hopefully.
At the moment I´m on a project from town Mariestad and I was therefore I was there photographing some days ago. I stole little time and sat down drawing on the bank of river Tidan.
In the right of the picture is the residence of this regions governor. I especially like the bridge with it´s old lamp posts.

Läckö Castle

2008-08-27T08:30:00.004+02:00

This is the castle I mentioned in a earlier post. It´s located on the end of cape Kålland in lake Vänern. The biggest lake in Sweden. This was the home of the wealthy count Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie and it has medieval origin before that. Today it´s a popular place to visit in summer. They have a summer opera and annual exhibitions. In the picture you see a part of it. It´s actually a watercolor and I´m very pleased that I find the medium somewhat fun again. It was my thing for a long time but eventually I got fed up and I felt I only did what was expected of me. So I turned to digital media instead or a combination of ink and digital. And my illustration commisions took me in new and exciting directions. Oh, here I found another one of the same place. I had a watercolor class here some years ago and it is a great place to practice painting shadows. Here you can actually form the shape of the castle by painting only the background.

A lot of red

2008-08-25T14:11:00.003+02:00

This weekend I sketched some old buildings again. If you come to Sweden you would see that many houses, especially in the countryside are painted in red. It´s quiet striking and suits the landscape both in summer and during winter when we certainly can need some colors. Ok, here comes a history lesson again so stop reading if it bores you. About three or four hundred years ago most houses up in the north were in timber and unpainted. By time they became grey and didn´t look very uplifting. The more fortunate had the privilige to build their homes in stone or brick material as they did further south in Europe. This became very fashionable and families less well off started to paint their timber houses in red to make them look at least somewhat like the brickhouses. It started out in the cities but since the paint was expensive many painted only the wall towards the street. There are still places where you can see this.

The paint they used and we still use is called Falu redpaint. It´s pigment comes from the copper mine in Falun in Dalarna and contains about 20 different minerals which creates this excellent color. It has a very warm nuance to it that looks great both in sunshine and in the shadow. Later it became very affordable and everyone was able to paint barns and houses with it.
The red building in the upper drawing is from Lidköping. The house in the big, big square was originally a hunting lodge or "castle" from 1600-something. It was built and used by one of the richest counts in Sweden during this time. I have painted his castle too and I will publish it later. His name was Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie and he was ridiculously rich. A soldier and a handsome player and the queens favourite. Well, today his old hunting lodge is a café and a tourist centre but it is a very nice building isn´t it. In the drawing below you can see some old houses that was spared during the big fire in Lidköping 1849. Almost all our towns that were mainly built in wood have been devistated by big fires during the centuries. It´s amazing that anything at all is left.

Part two and five

2008-08-18T22:50:00.003+02:00

During my watercolorclasses I always prepare some studymaterial for the group. Such as step-by-step instructions that I´ve scanned while I was painting them. These have been very helpful and quite popular. This painting is one of them, stage two and then the finished watercolor. I actually started to think about collecting some of the instructions in some way. It would be a nice project to work on either way.
Last week I made a little fieldtrip to the eastcoast. I set off to pick up a friend that had taken the ferry from Gotland to the mainland. It took me almost four hours to drive to the harbour in Oskarhamn and it was almost no time to stay and sketch but it was nice to get a glimpse anyway. Havn´t been there since I was in my early teens so I didn´t really remember what it looked like.

It´s been raining cats and dogs

2008-08-10T23:17:00.006+02:00

I remember when my first english teacher ( I was about 10 ) taught us this expression. And of course it stuck with us all. We saw little kittens and puppets tumbling down from the sky in our minds. Well, this week it has been the case... it has been pouring down non-stop. It suited me quiet well since this week it was time to go back to work again but it hasn´t left much time and opportunities for sketching or any outdoor activities. Saturday I ended up at the same place where I held last weeks watercolorclass and I made some sketches from a friends house and garden. In the evening I saw the movie Mamma Mia for the second time. Fantastic film and the songs are among the first ones I learned as a kid. As many swedish of my generation did. The funny thing is that we rarely knew the correct lyrics since we didn´t understand english. We sang along to what we thought we heard and those sometimes peculiar lines still pops up when I hear the music. I believe many in my generation still have moments of revelation when we finally hear what they actually sing.

A barn to paint

2008-08-02T21:36:00.003+02:00

This barn is located where I have my watercolorclass. Just close to Lake Hornborga. All rural buildings in the area looked like this in the olden days. Grey timber with a touch of burnt umber to it´s wall because of the tar in the wood. The roof is made of straw from the lake. During this class I´m running around helping my students all the time so it´s not any time left for me to sit down and paint- which is pity cause these outdoor painting days tend to inspire me.

Watercolor class

2008-08-01T23:58:00.002+02:00

Thursday to sunday this week I´m holding a watercolorclass for a group of a dozen "students".
Some of them have been coming back for 9 years now. Pretty amazing. We meet around 9.30 pm and then have a short practical go-through indoor before we go out and paint. It´s a bit hot so it´s essential to stay in the shadow.

Evening on the bridge

2008-07-29T14:17:00.003+02:00

Spent the whole evening by the water. It was sooo hot and you have to remember we are in Sweden here and temperatures above 30 degrees C are very rare. But yesterday was one of those days and the very cold and deep lake Vättern could barely cool you off. Rare that too. Last week the watertemperature was +16 and westerday almost 24!!!!
Sorry for going on and on about the summerweather but it´s a general "bad" habit among us here up in the north.

Visiting my sis

2008-07-28T08:16:00.004+02:00

For my birthday I was warmly welcomed at my sisters and we had a great couple of days together. Here is a view from their house. Their new heater on the left is the newest addition. They always have some project going on.

On the beach

2008-07-27T18:20:00.004+02:00

I´m probably many peoples nightmare doing this, drawing people on the cliffs in their bathing suits but hey, noone are really portrayed that well. My sister and niece are among the figures but that´s all I will say.This is how I´ve been spending my days lately. It´s really hot but we are fortunate to have plenty of lakes to take a swim and cool off in. I´m living within 5 minutes from the water... so now I´ll grab my towel and my bike and I´m off for an evening dip. Have a nice day/evening.

Smoked fish

2008-07-22T23:54:00.002+02:00

It´s nice in the harbour with the view and all the boats. But I preferred these little red houses today. The first one belong to the sailclub. Not a yacht club or anything fancy, mostly they have classes for kids, teaching them to sail.
In the middle fish are being smoked. I don´t know if that is the right word for it but the speciality our my town is smoked whitefish. And they use juniper for the process. You can even see a small junipertree in the picture. In the next house is our fish shop located. Great place to get your fresh fish.

In the park

2008-07-18T18:28:00.001+02:00

Summer in sweden is short but it´s so lovely to be able to just sit down and draw anywhere, without freezing your butt off. Could someone move the gulfstream a bit closer please. This one is from our town park. Hundred years ago Hjo was a vacation resort and the villas where built for the visiting guests. Some of the houses are still available as hotel accomodations. And all of them are all in different colors and shapes.

In Gothenburg.....again

2008-07-16T22:08:00.006+02:00

Hello, all blog readers. It´s really inspiring to continue this blog with the kind words you pour over me! The problem is that I get so eager to work with the blog that I forget about preparing for my watercolorclass in two weeks and my other commissions. The later have somehow spilled over and into my vacation by the way.... hm, how did that happen...... again!
Yesterday I jumped on the train again for a day in Gothenburg. The weather was perfect for a citytrip and I really felt like I needed some of the inspiration that you get from a bigger city. Gothenburg has appr. a pop. of 600 000 so it´s not that big and it has a relaxed and friendly athmosphere to it. I did one sketch that I was pleased with. In the foreground one of the canals in Gothenburg. Long ago there were more of them and the town was called Amsterdam of the north. But today only a couple is left. I didn´t get any of the many blue trams in the picture either but they pass over the bridge you see in the background all the time so maybe you can imagine one. The statue in the picture by the way seem to have a cardboardhat on.... and I have no idea why :-)

At Lake Hornborgasjön

2008-07-14T20:26:00.008+02:00

Here are two sketches I made by Lake Hornborgasjön this sunday. If any of you blogreaders don´t want a history lesson please stop reading now.

In the top drawing you can see a typical mountain for my region. It looks like a flat hat because of the last ice age. 10 000 years ago Scandinavia was covered with a really thick ice layer. When the ice started to melt and withdraw it brought with it the top layers of the mountains leaving just the very solid stone material left. When the ice line continued north it also left big heaps of gravel and other geological material and therefore we can see long soft hills in the landscape. You can even see a cople of them in the top picture.

When the ice age was over people came wandering in from the south and started to populate this area. The first findings are from 8000 bc. Back then they lived on the mountain sides in winter and in summer they came down to the lake to fish and hunt. The remains of the first family dog in Swedish history is actually found by this lake.

Today it is a very popular place for nature lovers. Each years thousands and thousands of cranes come here to mate and dance their peculiar dance. Thousands and thousands of tourists from all over watch them. Sometimes I wonder though if the cranes partly come here to take a look at these strange human beings.
The building in the lower sketch is built for the tourists and to melt into the landscape. The roof is made by reed from the lake. It used to be the most common roof material in these parts. It has become very popular move to this area and many artists and musicians love to spend time here.

A place of great importance

2008-07-13T22:48:00.006+02:00

I had to raise really early today despite it was sunday morning. I drove my artistic friends Barbro and Lennart to the railwaystation. They were heading off for Florence- (oh, no I´m not jealous at all). Since the gas prize these days is so high I felt I had to take advantage of the miles I had already driven and continued for half an hour to my friend Susanne for sunday breakfast. She lives in a very beautiful landscape close to lake Hornborga-sjön. And it is in these parts I organize my 4-day watercolor class each summer. Today i decided to spend the rest of the day making some preparations for my class, such as checking out places to sit, nice motifs and practical stuff as parking places. I started out down by the lake and I will publish some sketches from there tomorrow. Afterwards I continued to Varnhem, a great historical place. It was an important friary in the 12th century and the burial place for some of Swedens first kings. Today you can walk around and look at the remains of the friary and visit the church. It has changed it´s appearance over the years but the older parts are from around 1100. It is a pretty complicated building to draw and the perspective really put you to the test with all the steep angles that raise above you. It´s fun though. Since some of you wonder how I make these sketches I will publish an old painting I did some years in watercolor. I like that too but these days I prefer the must faster sketches and the coloring in photoshop (an increasing restlessness maybe).
Somehow I think that I tend to draw and paint in the same illustrative style whatever media I use. I don´t know what you think or if you have the same experience.
It was a nice day though- the only thing missing in the picture was a cisterciensermonk strolling around. Maybe I´ll add one......

An award

2008-07-12T22:26:00.003+02:00

This is from Anita Davies at Art by Anita Thank you very much Anita.
The rules of accepting are as follows:
Put the logo on your blog.
Add a link to the person who awarded you.
Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
Add links to those blogs on yours.
Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

Here are 7 great blogs I get inspired by and read daily:
Stef´s sketches
Per Hardestam
Camilla Engman
Andrea Joseph
Danny Gregory
Gennine Zlatkis
Suzanne Buchanan

My daily tools

2008-07-12T22:08:00.003+02:00

Sherrie asked me what paper and pens I use. I´m always searching for good sketchbooks and when I find something I like I buy it so I have plenty of books that are waiting for me. I tend to prefer square shaped books, with a threadbinding. My favourites measure about 25x25 cm. The binding allows me to draw over the back binding and since I often draw architecture I find that this format suites me. The paper must be opaque enough so I can draw on both sidesof the paper. That seem to be a problem tough. I sketch with a Pilot pen with reservoir tip, nothing fancy. But my bags tend to be filled with them. For many years I did nothing but watercolors but today I prefer these really fast sketches made on the spot. Back home I then scan the drawings I like and color them in photoshop. It´s important to me to keep the handmade feeling in the pictures especially since I color them digitally.

Holiday at home

2008-07-11T22:21:00.003+02:00

For a couple of weeks I´m on vacation. Or at least I try to. I spend most of my free time at home here in Hjo, a small town that other people come to for there summer holiday so the setting is perfect. I´m the one that is not perfect. I get bored after a few days off. Sketching is the best way to achieve the relaxed holiday feeling and at the same time keep my restless hands on something. This weekend my little town is crowded with people since we are hosts for the biggest craftfair in northern Europe. At least it used to be the biggest. I had some plans to draw some visitors today but it started to rain early on and it was not until in the late afternoon that I sat down for some sketching. I biked a couple of hundreds of meter and leaned towards the bike while working. Perhaps I have more luck with the weather tomorrow.

Tour to Gothenburg

2008-07-10T23:31:00.006+02:00

I spent yesterday in Gothenburg with a handful of friends all eager to do some sketching. The weather was a bit unpredictable so we spent some time at a café escaping the rain showers. To top sketch is from one of those showers. You draw what you have in front of you, right. Around the corner is one of the best art supply stores in this area so we didn´t suffer. The second sketch pictures Hampus, our youngest artist, in a moment of deep koncentration. In the afternoon, we wondered off in to Haga. An old part of Gothenburg that today is a area full of cafés and design shops. A lot of artists and musicians live in this neighbourhood. All year around it´s full of tourists and people just strolling around. A big reason is probably the relief in not having to share the streets with cars.
When I studied for my Design degree I lived really close by and this was actually part of my walk to university.

Back from Scotland

2008-07-01T09:57:00.006+02:00

Have been in Scotland for a week together with my choir, Skövde Gospel. It´s been a week of singing and laughing but I also managed to get some sketches done between conserts and sightseing. It was raining a bit almost every day wich also disturbed my sketching-moments. The first image is our hotel in central Glasgow. What immediately strikes you when you travel is the color palette that shiftes between different countries and within a country as well. Many might see Sweden as a cold and pale place but being abroad actually makes me realize how colorful our architecture is for one thing. Red and yellow houses with bright orange tile roofs is so common to my eye that it´s not until a visit other cities with a lot of grey stone houses that I see the differences. It was great to be back in Scotland tough. It has been 14 years since the last time.

These two are from Edinburgh. My choir got the opportunity to sing in the Great Hall of the castle. Afterwards we had a couple of hours to see the town. Far to little. Quite frustrated I did these two while we had a cup of coffee and in the last case leaning against a wall.

A visit to Munkfors

2008-06-23T10:12:00.003+02:00

Last monday I made a fieldtrip to Värmland with a little group of friends. We set off to see the permanent excebition in Munkfors by Lars Lerin. One of Swedens finest watercolorists. http://www.laxholmen.org/text_layout_2_T8_R2.htm

We had a great time studying his amazing paintings, had a little picknick and strolled around in the little community of Munkfors. This is one of many places in Sweden that thrived on the steel and ironproduction. These days it´s not so easy to get a job and many young people move away. I sat down and made some sketches around the old buildings.

In Lidköping

2008-06-19T11:11:00.004+02:00

The last week it has been colder again which doesn´t exactly inspires to outdoor drawing. Last weekend my friend and fellow sketcher Annika drowe off to Lidköping for some fieldwork. This is a couple of scenes from this very idyllic town. The river divides it in two parts and there is a certain grandness about it.

This interior is from a café located in an old 17th or 16th century building. The way it´s furnished with old country pieces is very scandinavian, at least to me. We had a coffeebreak here but sadly there had been some shifting in the ownership so the menu and coffe was not as good as it has been. I´ll try Larssons skafferi the next time.

Friday and time for ice-cream at Elin´s

2008-06-09T11:39:00.003+02:00

Friday we celebrated Swedens national holiday. I spent it at home in Hjo with some friends. We strolled down to the harbour and had some nice ice-cream at our ice-cream-restaurant "Aunt Elin´s. The view is kind of hard to beat. These days should be available on bottle for dark and cold winter days.

Late in the evening

2008-06-09T11:32:00.004+02:00

Another sketch from the farm. I borrowed a bike from my sister-in-law and visited a friend thursday evening. These days we have the same temperatures as southern Spain so it was a lovely evening. When I got back at 10.30 am I captured this sight in the last minutes of daylight.

Waterline

2008-06-05T16:57:00.006+02:00

Mornings and evenings are really the best times of the day to get out and sketch. This one was made the other day down in Hjo harbour while I was waiting for a meeting appointment. Not a bad way to spend an hour at all. And then the meeting was held in the beautiful garden of a café in town. I really love this time of the year. Even if it´s almost to hot to think outside the creativity is really bursting. Hope you all feel the same. In the sketch you can see the central parts of Hjo in the background. It´s nice with the variety in colors of the buildings.

Casa les Nyberg

2008-06-03T15:18:00.004+02:00

This is the home of my friends, Lotta and Lars.They have this huge and almost parklike garden, even though they live in a town. They are very much involved in the preparations to help build a school in Colombia. A great project that will benefit some of the indian children of Amazonas. Keep up the good work!

The farm

2008-06-02T16:42:00.002+02:00

For a week now I have been staying at the farm where I grew up. It doesn´t look the same these days and my brother is in charge not my father but it´s still very much home. The weather is so great and since the sun doesn´t sets until past 10 pm the evenings are pretty fantastic. I have been taking long biketours and walks just to be able to stay outdoor as long as possible.

Ouch!

2008-05-30T11:45:00.006+02:00

There are a lot of other things I would rather do than pull a tooth out. In this case it was some problem added to the situation so I had to go into surgery to get it removed. And now I´m waiting for the promised effects, such as pain for several days, swollen face and fever. Nice! I did some sketches before I went inside. It was a lovely morning.

Time for a break

2008-05-28T12:00:00.005+02:00

These two works at the advertising agency where I have my workspace. For many years I ran my illustration business from my home. But in the end I felt a bit isolated, especially since I live in a small town. I also wanted to have more input proffessionally. Now I have colleages and I do a lot of illustrations for advertising agencies anyway so it works really well. This is Cecilia and Pernilla taking a short break.

Sunshine and a hard days work

2008-05-27T13:49:00.007+02:00

It was a wonderful weekend but I unfortunately had to spend a great part of it indoor cleaning up and moving out of a part of my home. Some reparation work is at hand and it always amaze me how much stuff I have collected even if I´m pretty good at throughing and giving away from time to time. I treated my self to some sketching though. This is from our main square. I´ve done it before but not this particular angle I think. While I sat there I suddenly noticed that a quiet uncommon car had parked in front of me. I combined it with it´s opposite, a Volvo station wagon that most families in this country seem to drive. Eventually I ended up down in the harbour. I sat with lake Vättern behind me. In this sceneI particularly like the color of the old ware house to the left. Today it holds some facilities for guesting boat owners.

Does someone live in the park?

2008-05-20T10:54:00.004+02:00

I have my office or studio in the central part of Skövde. Just a few steps from our building is a park located, not a big one but a nice place to sit down and perhaps have your lunch when it´s warm. A while ago some construction work must have been going on cause a small wagon was suddenly parked in the middle of the park. It looked kind of a spontanious camping was taking place since I never saw any builders or construction workers around. It became even more odd when a portable loo was place by the side of the wagon. I couldn´t help myself but draw it.
On the side I added some people I saw here and there. By the way- the small text notes in swedish is my way to remember colors when I sketch. Since I add color later I tend to forget without those little memory notes.

Cold weekend

2008-05-18T22:51:00.006+02:00

Saturday and I have big plans to get out and sketch. But sudden rain showers makes it a bit risky. Since I have to go to Tidaholm anyway to take photos for a illustration job and I decide to combine it with some sketching. In the center if the drawing above is one of the old buildings from the Railway station area. No trains have passed here for decades but the buildings are still there, adding some atmosphere.
The drawing below is from my friend Susanne´s kitchen. She lives in an old cottage and has a big and dazzling garden. Even indoor most things are in green nuances. She prepared an excellent lunch for us, with rainbow salmon trout she has fished herself, potatoes and fresh salad. The stove spread a nice warmth and it didn´t matter much that it was so cold outside that I should have brought mittens.

May days

2008-05-16T09:00:00.004+02:00

I made these two last week when I was in Mariestad for a meeting. Took some time off afterwards since the weather was fabulous. It was even to warm to sit in the sun an sketch so I had to seek some shadow. These are both from the centre of the town.

May first

2008-05-02T10:21:00.005+02:00

I´ve been down with a nasty flu a couple of days so sketchbooks and pens have been sadly neglected. When I checked my diary from last year It was the same case then. Must be something with these longer weekends. Since May 1st is free for everyone a lot of people take an extra day on friday and gets four days off from work.
The picture above is actually from last year, but the same date. It´s the main street of a small town called Tidaholm a half hour drive from where I live. The image below I made yesterday and it´s from Hjo, where I live. The name is pronounced as "You" and our town slogan is "I love Hjo". It´s a very small town and kind of a summer resort. The lake on the right is Vättern, Swedens second biggest lake.

History, bloody history

2008-04-28T16:12:00.007+02:00

Today I had a meeting with a client half an hours drive from Skövde, where I have my office. On my way home I stopped to make this drawing. Up until a few years ago I did a lot of watercolors and I was all about drawing and painting the landscape. Then I got tired of it and turned my eyes to citylife instead. Today was actually the first time in a while I have chosen a motife like this. Andrea kindly commented on my lines and I think that they are the reason that I´ve left the watercolors somewhat behind in favour for the drawings. I love nice and fluent lines. The goal is to reach the point where the hand just move around without even leaving the paper and the brain stops analyzing the quality of the work. So what about the title.... well, this isn´t meant to be a history lesson at all but the landscape is full of it. In the early 13th century there were constant battles about the swedish throne. Between powerful familys and the also the danes put their feet in. In 1208 a big battle with thousands of soldiers from Denmark and Sweden fought just at this place and it was quiet messy. The Swedes won by the way.... :-)
The three steeples on the little church symbolizes three kings that met here during an easter a few years later. The thing in the middle is a bell tower and the manor lies in the background watching over the whole place.

A fieldtrip to Örebro

2008-04-28T10:37:00.006+02:00

Now when the temperature is more pleasant I try to find time to get away on fieldtrips simply to draw. One big plus about Sweden is that within one hours drive there are quiet a lot of towns to visit. Some small, some bigger. This drawing is from Örebro. I sat down on a bench in one of the squares and had the square market in front of me. Always a nice motife. Hardly visible in the centre is a statue of a revolutionary guy, called Engelbrekt, ( very cool name that is sadly forgotten among swedish parents of today :-) )from our medievel history. He became a big heroe and now he is standing there looking out over the buzy street life.

16 degrees celsius

2008-04-24T14:14:00.005+02:00

Sometimes it´s really hard to be descreet. I dont´want people to feel stared at and see to obviously what I´m doing. So I use a smaller book than I actually prefer working in and I take short breaks looking in other directions than the subject. A friend by my side is a real excellent disguise. Someone to chat with.

A cup of coffee

2008-04-24T08:30:00.006+02:00

A lot of sketches are made over a cup of coffee waiting for something or someone. These are from different places- the first very modern loungeplaces and the last one from a cosey place with worn in furniture and a livingroomfeeling to it.

In Malmö

2008-04-23T11:53:00.003+02:00

I have a lot of illustrations made over the year that a havn´t published for different reasons. But now I will try to make up for it. This one is just about one year old. Made in Malmö last april. Malmö is a town located in the very south of Sweden and it´s architecture and colors are much influenced by the architecture you find in Denmark.

The Hot dog guy

2008-04-23T11:15:00.005+02:00

A really frozen guy stood at Stureplan in Stockholm, hoping to sell some hot dogs this february day. I passed by his stand and couldn´t help but making a really quick sketch. Since I can´t draw with gloves on I automatically sketch really fast.

A grey place

2008-04-22T10:57:00.004+02:00

I did this sketch back in january. I was in Stockholm for a meeting and it was dark and freezing outside so I made this standing inside the lobby of Stadsteatern. It´s truly a grey and depressing view but still interesting to draw. I think it´s the steep perspective of the buildings that somehow saves the view.

The office dog

2008-04-21T15:14:00.005+02:00

This is Baxter resting at my feet. He is true character. An english Cocker Spaniel own by my colleage, Marie.

These two positions are probably how you most often find him. A couple of times a day he makes a bold jump up in my knee, maybe to see how work is proceeding.

Gothenburg

2007-09-08T21:54:00.000+02:00

Since the previous drawing was from Stockholm I better keep up the balance and publish one from the proud westcoast and Gothenburg. I had a wonderful saturday two weeks ago- just strolling through the centre of the town and making some drawings. The markethall in the background was a nice building to put in the centre of the picture.

Slussen, Stockholm

2007-09-08T21:45:00.001+02:00

Havn´t updated this blog since spring but now it´s time to go through the pictures I´ve

made during summer. This one is from Slussen in Stockholm. A busy, highly trafficed

spot of the town. The view is magnificant though- with the water and all the old houses.

The city hall to the left.

By the Göta canal

2007-04-23T17:37:00.001+02:00

I made this sketch one week ago. We suddenly had summer temperatures and it was impossible to crawl up inside during these wonderful bright spring evenings. This particular evening I drove up to Karlsborg and drew by the canal. An ice cream and the setting was perfect for a nice drawing moment. It´s nice with the colorful roofs in the background.

Speeding

2007-03-29T14:00:00.000+02:00

I made this quick sketch down at the railwaystation today during lunchhour. A huge transportationtrain passed by- a neverending number of carriages- at a very high speed. A quiet scary feeling since it came so close. I fell for this scene because of the little train with the yellow stripes-very cute. And the wires and peculiar posts make an interesting perspective.

Where are we

2007-03-27T13:46:00.001+02:00

27 of march and the same temperature in southern Sweden as in Italy and Spain. The square is full of people sitting in the sun and a low buzz of voices fill the air. The sense of an mediterranian atmosphere is strengthen by the bunch of greek looking men sitting conversating in the sun.

Last-minute-postboxes

2007-03-27T11:20:00.000+02:00

I made this one last weekend but I havn´t had any time to publish it due to an completely crazy workload. Always nice to be busy but there are limits. The yellow postboxes are last-minutes-one that are conveniently placed for drive-thru- very appropriete for me right now who is living in a last-minute-zone. The buildings in the background are the older part of the huge Volvoplant located in Skövde.

Before there were cellphones

2007-03-15T09:26:00.000+01:00

Luckily I have meetings so I get a chance to see the world outside my office. These last few days it has been a wonderful springweather. I didn´t have much time but I did something really quick. In Mariestad you can find this charming phoneboot. Beats any cellphone anyday at least when it comes to appearance.

In the middle of the day

2007-03-10T14:25:00.000+01:00

A quick lunch with a wiev. This is the big square in Skövde on a regular friday in march. I´ve never really liked those baloonlike lamps that seems to be everywhere. A lot of people passing by doing some errands during lunchbreak. It is quite nice really with the lack of green during this time of year. It can be so overwhelming with those bright green treetops. The pastel shades seem to go better with the climate.

Mariestad

2007-03-06T22:26:00.000+01:00

Had a morning meeting in Mariestad, half an hours drive from Skövde. After the meeting I drove into the oldest part of the town and parked my car on a place with a nice view to draw. In the sketch you can see the old theater in the background- a little pink delicacy.

Spring in the air?

2007-03-03T14:20:00.000+01:00

The second day of march and spring seems to be in the air. I´ve parked outside the supermarket and thought I should do a quick sketch before going in doing my groceryshopping. Dirty snow melting away on the side of the road and people jumping over puddles to avoid getting their feet wet.

MOT

2007-02-22T10:58:00.000+01:00

Early morning. Extremely cold but and I´m off to the MOT-control, in swedish bilbesiktning, in Tidaholm. Always an exiting event.. not. Came ten minutes early and sat in the car and did a sketch of the quiet ugly building situated in the middle of nothing. Can´t wait until spring.

Sketch from Hjo

2007-02-16T16:14:00.000+01:00

This time of the year can certainly be grey. There are nuances though even in the grey. Yesterday I left work early and found myself outdoor while it was still daylight. Doesn´t happen often in Sweden in winter. Hm. I sat down at a café in Hjo and did a really quick sketch of the wiew. The road signs make a distinct contrast to the colourscheme of february. By the way, if you come to Hjo, you mustn´t miss "Njuta" the best chocolateshop and café there is. A heaven for any chocoholic I guess.

Visiting the Stockholm furniture fair

2007-02-13T08:34:00.000+01:00

Visited the Swedish furniture fair in Stockholm on the 9th of february. Sat down for a while to capture a scene from one of the halls. So little time, so much to see.

Student

2007-02-06T09:45:00.000+01:00

One of my watercolorstudents painting monday evening.

More from Lidköping

2006-09-18T09:44:00.000+02:00

Down by the river

2006-09-15T08:56:00.000+02:00

New policy- leaving work an hour early and spend the late afternoon out and about drawing.

Yesterday I headed off for Lidköping. Beautiful sceneries especially around the river Lidan.

Nice septemberweather

2006-09-14T09:29:00.000+02:00

There has been this wonderful warm weather for the last few days- and I took the time after work to sit down outdoor and make a quick sketch.

Colleage at work

2006-08-25T10:12:00.000+02:00

Pernilla working in her very swedish looking chair.

Hometown of Salvador Dali

2006-08-25T09:40:00.000+02:00

During this years holiday I visited Cadaques in northern Spain. The town where Dali lived. After a exhausting walk in extreme heat we sat down by the beach and had a beer and some fritated octopus. Nice and relaxing and I made this sketch overlooking the view.

Piazza Navona and more

2006-08-16T08:47:00.000+02:00

More pictures from old scetchbooks. This however is a couple of quite ambitious watercolors made in Rome in september 2003. This one is from turistique but otherwise nice Piazza Navona. The most significant memory from Rome ( except from the grandness ) was the amount of Chinese and Japanese tourists gathering really close around the embarrassed artist while working.

Before I visited Rome I had the idea that the wellknown sightings as Pantheon was located with a lot of space around. Enough to give a good overview over the building. In fact that is not at all the case. In addition to that- hundreds of people stood in my way. My solution for the day became to give up Pantheon itself a draw the square in front of it instead.

Vienna

2006-08-11T22:47:00.000+02:00

Last summer I visited Vienna with my gospelchoir. In my sparetime-which wasn´t vey long- I made I couple of drawings on watercolorpaper- and later colored them. I rather like Vienna- but there is nothing pittoresque about it. And I usually fall for the medeival narrow type of places.