Pictures created using a combination of drawing ink and gouache.
"Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush is afire with God: But only he who sees take off his sees. The rest sit around and pluck blackberries" - Elizabeth Barret Browning
Being one of the most powerful oracles in the multiverse, Ombar is constantly visited by brave travellers who want their fortunes foretold. The routes that lead to his home are extremely dangerous and many perish in their quest to seek this puissant being's prophesies.
Ombar knows that it its core, existence is an unfortunate mistake and therefore his predictions almost always ends in mediocrity, disillusionment and disappointment . To soften the inevitable bad news that awaits the brave pilgrims who reach him, he delivers his predictions in sing-song accompanied by his cosmic Ukulele.
The Ukulele definitely helps soften the blow.
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One tells truth, the other lies. Her moods dictate which messenger's tidings she heeds. She has nine moods in total, each fueling the flame of a single candle: None of her moods are particularly pleasant.
I enjoy sharing the tools I use and processes behind my drawings.
I have heard that some artist and illustrators are secretive about their techniques and materials. That is super lame if you ask me.
Here are some of the stuff I use to create my drawings:
1. Copic Multiliners (0.05 and 0.03). Probably the most versatile pens I have used. Very fine lines, water resistant and the nibs and ink can be replaced. You can also do some nifty crosshatching and gradient shading with them. I also like the silver casing - much more stylish than the cheap plastic covers of Uni pins (but now I'm just being an art material geek.)
2. Da Vinci brushes: 0.3, 0.5, 0 and 2 are the numbers I use. These are high quality brushes and are quite affordable (R 50 each). You can get fine lines with them if you don't overload the tip with ink. If you use a diluted mix you can get great washes.
The 'hilt' of the brush also has a slight triangular form which gives you a nice grip. Since I love chewing my brushes when I get stressed (or overtired), I can attest that they taste better than most others I have used.
3. Micron Pen (0.05 and 0.2) Microns are ok. Definitely cheaper than Copics, so I utilise them more for doodling and sketching. But I use them in final works to give some definition to outlines, since they make a darker line than my beloved copic markers. Also pretty decent for stippling.
4. Rotring Radiograph. The King of Pens! Extremely fine point and wonderful line quality. Excellent for stippling. Mostly use this pen to put finishing touches and contrast on a picture. The Germans know how to make pens. Just friggin expensive! R 800.
5. Olfa paper knife. Use this to cut my paper and pencils and sometimes myself (accidentally of course!) Very sharp!
6. 2h and h Faber Castle pencils. I use this for construction lines and compositional planning. Nothing much to say about them. Sorry pencils!
7. Winsor and Newton blue black calligraphy ink. Wonderful ink and lasts forever. I use this to give my ink drawings some blue tints for a melancholic atmosphere. Ooh!
8. Kandahar Drawing Ink (Daler Rowney) For years I just used Winsor and Newton Indian ink, but have since moved on to this brand in 2016. I just feel you can get more shades of black with Kandahar and it is also easier to wash off your brushes. And I like the bottle more - looks like a little potion bottle.
And that's it! Hope this helps. Drawing is already very difficult, so it helps to use the right tools. BUT I must add that what works for me might not work for you. It's a process of trial and error.
Happy drawing!
It takes an extensive collection of tools to make any drawing, no matter how small it is.
I use a combination of uniball ballpoint pens, microns and unipins to create my pen drawings.
It was very small, but I still manged to create a shitload of work.
This is definitely my all-time favorite pen.
Copic markers work well with color pencils.
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My army of lamps is growing larger by the day: I fear that soon they will develope a hive - consciousness and revolt against me! How will I be able to reach my deadlines then? (Note to self: sleep deprivation due to impending deadlines may lead to erratic thoughts and paranoia)
Duskland Odyssey
Solo exhibition currently being showcased at Art@Africa (Clocktower Centre, V & A Waterfront, Cape Town)
To get the full exhibition catalogue email my agent Dirk Durnez at dirk@artatafrica.art
My artistic practice can be summarised as an act of building a parallel world, one drawing at a time. This imaginary world is called Duskland, and it functions as a space where I get to play around with ideas, characters and narratives. It is not a concrete world that is extensively mapped and coded like Tolkien’s Middle-Earth or Herbert’s Dune but is rather more nebulous and psychological in nature. It shares kinship with Alice’s adventures in Wonderland or Gulliver’s Travels and thus occupies a space in my head that evokes the feeling of a half remembered dream and occasionally even a nightmare.
I invite you to visit the crepuscular realm of my imagination and take to your own personal Odyssey through Duskland. This exhibition is a spontaneous act of playful creation: I have taken an intuitive approach in selecting which works and stories will form part of this body of work and I hope to create interesting new narrative constellations by juxtaposing my drawings, sculptures, animations and augmented reality artworks together, thus creating a kind of ‘play circle’ where my flights of fancy can cavort around in this dreamland of the imaginary and fantastical.
I own The Co-Op Gallery alongside my business associates, Esre du Preez and Willemien Kruger. Our beautiful little gallery is located in the courtyard of Dan Pienaar Mall, Bloemfontein. My section of this space is dedicated to showcasing high quality narrative artwork that contains an element of fantasy or surrealism.
These are my sculptures. They are produced in collaboration with CAST Studios and my primary representing gallery in the Western Cape, Art@Africa.
The materials we use are either resin, wax or bronze.
They come in all sizes: Some would fit snugly on a mantelpiece or coffee table, while others are very large public sculptures.
Email me at griessel.david@gmail.com (or go to the contact form on the website) if you are interested in acquiring one of these.
The bornze sculptures are editions of 15
Bronze.
Brown and cream patina
Edition 1/15
Top: large public sculpture. Resin.
Bottom: Bronze edition. Gold and turquoise patina
Public sculpture during Hermanus Fynarts Festival in 2020. It has found a home at Benguela Cove wine farm.
Unique wax hand carved and painted sculpture
Sold to a collector in the US
R 38 000
Resin Sculpture
Verdigris patina
Currently at the Clocktower gallery, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
Bronz
Gold patina
1/15 Sold
R 19 000
Public sculpture currently at Gearing's Point, Hermanus.
