Abstract ink raven painting

Ink, 8×12″ https://www.etsy.com/listing/1098023902

Just to try something realllllly crazy, I painted some of this month’s ravens with blue ink instead of black.

Rainfrogs, enjoying the spring of 2021

Eurovision is back on! May!
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1028132999

Enjoying the very early spring, it’s a bit hard to focus and look at things since it’s too bright from ice and new Sun. April! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1028128225

The earliest spring of all early springs – the first roadtrip gas station break, a handful of willow branches with fluffy catkins (willow chicklets!) and the upcoming cold from looking at some icy lake beauty for too long. The first days of March!

The smoldering raven

Was experimenting with colors a little bit, so todays raven came out orange-red. I uploaded them into the shop also. https://www.etsy.com/shop/5erg.

8×12 ink on canvas

8×12 ink on canvas

The Rainfrog Chronicles II

Hello,

a couple of new rainfrog drawings have emerged over the weeks, they are also very seasonal and colorful. I’ve also added some inspirations.

Some time ago someone looked up and noticed a huge hole in the sky.  She phoned it in and was asked to immediately shut the hole down and stop doing whatever was causing the hole, because otherwise the space would get in and fry us up alive if it remained open for too long. We got a couple of other trial holes and a sneak peak, did a review on it and decided we don’t want the planet to burn to crisp. For about thirty years everyone stayed on track and the trial holes in the sky were healing steadily and starting to close down. Years later on a very regular day, someone started secretly smoking up some skyhole gas into the sky, hoping they wouldn’t get caught and noone would notice. A great plan in all the details, besides the huge sky hole getting bigger right above their heads that really ruins all the sky photos. This has been the story of a huge secret factory with very small hands, and it will have a happy ending soon.

 

The rainfrog enjoying suntanning

 

Rainfrog in its own element

 

“The desert rain frog is spending the day dug into sand. It emerges at night and wanders about.” Wikipedia

 

Rainfrog enjoying the urban nature at the botanical garden

 

Rainfrog having such a great day, its arranged its own folk dance

 

The paintings are for sale and ship internationally, you can find the listings when you click the links or see the cartoon sketch category here.

The rainfrog chronicles cartoon drawings

These are ink illustrations on paper and are available here.

“The rainfrog is going to steal a cow instead” is inspired by a story I heard about the tribes in isolated forests where the process of proving yourself includes showing others that you can kill someone from the other tribe. At some point the tribe elders realized a single killing ends up being a long line of separate inter-village bloody vendettas which will never end and that isn’t useful for anyone. After that they’ve come to conclusion they will secretly start stealing cows from one another instead of killing one another. Chivalry is not dead. So if someone pisses you off, it’s a possibility that you can solve it by stealing a cow, but you have to do it in a really skillful and an impressive way.

The rainfrog is going to steal a cow instead

***

“The spider saga” – the rainfrog is truly considering what Mr.Tolkien has written into his diary: “True courage is about knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one.” And then Mandela had gone and said: “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” After that you have to consider the words of Winston Churchill “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” And at the end of the spider sagas, you can reflect on the thoughts of Oscar Wilde: “It’s an odd thing, but anyone who disappears, is said to be seen in San Francisco.”

Tolkien wrote: “True courage is about knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one.”

***

“First flower of the spring” – for a Nordic rainfrog, the spring is extremely important, because it’s rebirth for most of the nature and everyone has to relearn some of the daily things. You’ve forgotten completely how the ground looks and that there are colours in the nature, and daylight, you crash your car a couple of times because you have forgotten the Sun, you crash your bike a couple of times because you have forgotten the physics, you start remembering feelings. Sometimes this is all delayed, so you’re a bit angry at the weather, curse you, weather!

But at the end, every rainfrog gets a kick out of the first yellow blossom they see and it makes them think of the wonderful blooming summer ahead.

Nature versus paintings

Who is the blacknwhite’st of them all! I’ve been making these abstract black and white forest paintings and one day I woke up and the entire world looked like someone had put on filter on it! It was the best two days of all winter, really amazing!

Next week when it will get to -20F, maybe we will get something amazing again, keeping my fingers crossed! Aurora borealis wise, we were not that lucky this week, there was a huge aurora on above the North,  Feb 22th I think, but it was cloudy. I have my Aurora Forecast app set to alarm me, but it’s my morning routine these days to check it too.   If you’re in Estonia and want to keep your eye out for northern lights and you use Facebook, you should join the group “Eestimaa virmalised”, you won’t miss a storm.

Besides Aurora there is another light show you have to see once in your lifetime – it’s light pillars and you see them because the water crystals in the air reflect all the light sources in the city all the way up to the sky, like this: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160208.html The Sun might have a pillar too sometimes.

If you happen to see either one of these, you’re very lucky because you probably witnessed the only or one of a couple of days in the year it’s possible, so take a mental picture!

Portrait photo is taken by Triin Erg

 

 

The forest artwork is available here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/590823765 (shipping is worldwide).

Vaja on maalida talve

Lumi

Ootame lund! Esimest korda sadas lund oktoobris. Tartus oli oktoobri keskel just olnud oranž kuumalaine, mis oli Ophelia poolt lõunast siia põhja linnakesse puhutud ning parkad seestpoolt vettima pannud ning seejärel ainult nädal aega hiljem pidi botaanikaaias jalutades turistile kobrastest rääkides lumelögas varbaid leotama, siis tekkis küll idee, et lumi oktoobris –  see polnud see milles me kokku leppisime, see polnud see mida me tellisime,  tühistada.

Täna jaanuaris peame aga lumevalvet ja leppisime kokku, et kui ta tuleb,  siis hüppame kohe autosse ja hakkame aga pildistama ja vaatama, enne kui on hilja.

Oodates hoian kitsad püksid jalas selleks, et püsti seismine, aknast välja vaatamine ja Fairy‘ga mandariinide pesemine oleks mugavam võrreldes istumise ja teleka vaatamisega.

 

Tere

Lõpuks ütleksin tere, sest see on uus teema! Peab ütlema, et see on inspireeritud sellest, et ostsin endale uue kilekotitäie õlivärve, enne seda oli mul 9 värvi ja nüüd on ligi 30. 30 õlivärvi on inimese jaoks ilmselgelt liiast, et nendega alustada, uute värvide ostmine ei aita selle vastu, kui neid kasutada ei oska. Alustada võiks 1-3 värviga, see on piisavalt lõbus; ma tahaks alustada sinisest.

 

Mis on värvituubis

Siinjuures vaatan ühte sinist värvi, nimega tseruleum (Cerulean blue). See on soe sinine, mis on natuke hallim, kui tsüaansinine. Seda võib proovida segada sellisel moel, et võtta näiteks tsüaansinist (cyan) koos valgega ja lisada hästi natuke muda, ehk siis väga väike kogus kas musta, kollast või punast. Kollase asemel võib proovida ka rohekat, siis on võibolla kergem segada.

 

 

 

Õlivärvid välja pärast mitut aastat

Minu esimene taaskohtumine oma ammu ostetud 9 õlivärviga toimus nii, et proovisin maalida ühte abstraktset portreed. Selleks valisin võimalikult kontrastse pildi mis tuleks välja hoolimata sellest, et ma eriti õlivärvidega praegu midagi teha ei oska peale selle, et võtan pintsliga paletilt värvi ja asetan selle lõuendile. Sellest praegu piisab, paksude värvidega plödistamine on piisav. Allpool on kolm etappi.

Õlimaal lõuendil, esimene samm “Öövalve”

 

 

Õlimaal lõuendil, esimene samm  “Öövalve”

Õlimaal lõuendil, valminud töö “Öövalve”

 

Teiseks tekkis soov alustada ühte abstraktset maali liustikujärve matkal nähtu põhjal. Kui me seal ringi jalutasime (Islandi saarel), siis väga sinised jäätükid peegeldasid oma sinist värvi ümbrusesse ja nägid külma udu ja tumehallide pilvede taustal välja nagu midagi oleks valesti – keegi oli oma kohati isegi erksinisest plastmassist jäämäed randa unustanud, need ei näinud tõelised välja ja see, et vahepeal pistsid vee alt pea välja hülged – unustage ära, see oli ilmselgelt lavastatud stseen. Sellegipoolest tegin pilte nii palju kui jõudsin – igaks juhuks kui hiljem peaks välja tulema, et põhja saared päriselt näevadki iga päev sellised välja. Antud foto on tehtud keskpäeval, pilvede alt on natuke näha madala päikse soojemat kuma ja pilt on üsna valgusküllane hoolimata sellest, et taevas on tumehall.

Helesinine Jäämägi Islandi saarel

Õlimaali tehes sai rõõmuga kasutada sinist, halli ja kollast. See on looduslik kombinatsioon ja seega on juba esimesest kihist alates rahustav, sest pole vaja midagi ennenägematut tõlgendama hakkama, sinu ees on lihtsalt üks hea helesinine 1000 aasta vanune jää(lume)tükk keskpäevase roosaka päikse taustal – sellise olustiku puhul ei ole mingit sisemist kahtlust, et see on harmooniline, põlvkonnad on ses osas juba kokkuleppele jõudnud.

 

Abstraktne õlimaal inspireeritud fotoretkest “Jäämägi Islandil”

 

Ma ikka katsun näpuga neid maale pealt iga päev, ega nad ära küll ei kuiva vist kunagi.