Showing posts with label 2013. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2013. Show all posts

Glowing heart

watercolor on paper, 2013-2014 
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Thingshuset website illustrations

Cover image,
ink, 2013 
Art,
 ink, 2013
Music,
ink, 2013
Litterature,
ink, 2013
Illustrations and background-images for the cultural association Thingshuset's website. The drawings represent the different areas of creative work that the association is promoting: Art, music and litterature. 

thingshuset.se

Zugzwang



illustration for the short story "Transglottism" from the book "Zugzwang", by Eduard Màrquez. Translated from Catalan by Lawrence Venuti.

Transglottism was the first illustration I started working on for Asymptote, in november last year. The story takes place in a stuffy library auditorium, where a student and the simultaneous interpreter, in the middle of the boredom starts and amorous affair, through the air and the airphones. It's a resourceful and amusing story and on the site there's also another beautiful short story by Eduard Màrquez, which I recommend you all to read.

 Read the full story here

The Hay Smells Different to the Lovers Than to the Horses


detail 

"The Hay Smells Different to the Lovers Than to the Horses"
ink and digital
2013-2014
Illustration for "The Hay Smells Different to the Lovers Than to the Horses" by german author Philipp Schönthaler.

An excerpt from the translator Amanda DeMarco's note:
"The Hay Smells Different to the Lovers Than to the Horses" comes from the 2012 collection of stories, Life Opens Upward, which explores the psyches of high-performance athletes. Schönthaler's 2013 debut novel similarly examines the pressures associated with pursuing a career in our high-performance society. Whether it's the stress of athletics or professional achievement, the formal question—what happens when people try to 'optimize' themselves?—underlies the specific human dramas that unfold in these two books....." 

Read the full story here

Farthest from Death


"Farthest from Death" ink and digital, 2013-2014
illustration for "Farthest from Death" by Elina Hirvonen
Read the full story here

Poetics of Wonder: Passage to Mogador



"Poetics of Wonder: Passage to Mogador" 
ink and digital 2013-2014

Runner-up of the 2014 Close Approximations contest for emerging translators (Fiction) This story is written by the mexican author Alberto Ruy-Sánchez. It's a bit mysterious, a little erotic and a piece of beautiful literature. Saffron is a essential metaphor in the text, that's the reason I included the flower in the illustration. The text is also a lot about Morocco, and I've been very inspired by morrocan mosaic. 

detail
Read the full story here

Footprints




"Footprints", ink, acrylic and digital 2013-2014

Illustration for "Footprints" by japanese author Hideo Furukawa.

Read the full text here: http://www.asymptotejournal.com/article.php?cat=Fiction&id=60&curr_index=6&curPage=current

Man and Bronze Statue

"Man and Bronze Statue", ink and digital 2013-2014 

Illustration for the play "Man and Bronze Statue" by the singaporean poet, novelist, playwright and critic Yeng Pway Ngon, 

This play was really fun to read and it gave me many inner images. During the time I was working on the image I was looking a lot at different Surrealistic artist and in some way the images I looked at connected with the text. The play contains a big dose of absurdistic humour and a social critique somewhat reminiscent of Samuel Beckett. There's even a nod to "Waiting for Godot" in the dialogue between the Statue and the Man:

"STATUE: Of course I've come. Who do you think I am, Godot?

MAN: Who's Godot? Is he another bronze statue?

STATUE: He might be. He might not be. He's someone who says he'll come and then doesn't. - "

Read the play here

I Make Mistakes


"I Make Mistakes", ink and digital 2013-2014

Illustration for "I Make Mistakes" by Tanja Šljivar, Winner of the 2014 Close Approximations contest for emerging translators (Fiction)

In this image I wanted to create the perception of two "worlds", or dimensions in the same image. I believe the text is about looking back to a time long passed and the atmosphere is nostalgic and the structure of the text is also a bit impressionistic. So I added the corridor and the table with the books and wineglass as a symbol for a portal to another time. My advice is though to read the text, my summary can not give this beautiful short story full justice.

Read the short story here

The Expedition to the Baobab Tree


































"The Expedition to the Baobab Tree", ink and digital, 2013-2014
Illustration for "The Expedition to the Baobab Tree" byWilma Stockenström, translated by J. M. Coetzee, on Asymptote. This excerpt is from a novel from 1987, that will be re-published in april this year.
From the publisher, Archipelago books: "In J.M.Coetzee’s stunning translation: a powerfully symbolic story in the voice of a slave that explores the depths of imagination, isolation, fear, and love. A slave woman is the only survivor of a failed expedition into the depths of Southern Africa. She shelters in the hollow trunk of a baobab tree where she relives her earlier existence in a state of increasing isolation. We are the sole witnesses to her moving history: her capture as a young child, her life in a harbor city on the eastern coast as servant to various masters, her journey with her last owner and protector, and her life in the baobab tree." 

 Read the full text here

Serpent city


"Serpent city"
ink on paper
47,5 x 22 cm
2013

Original scan-version 

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the sketch

Prints Tall


I got a suggestion from one of my followers and friends to make prints of my painting "Tall", which I though was a great idea! So, now there are prints of the painting available to order from me! Here is the full painting

Size: 35x28 cm
prize: 200 sek + postage

email me at engstrom.leif[at]gmail.com, 
or comment on this blogpost! 

about the cover Tiden är kort in Orkesterjournalen


A spread in the latest issue of Orkesterjournalen, about my cover for Gilbert Holmströms new album Tiden är kort. In the text I tell a little about how I got the commission, how I made the painting, how the collaboration with the record label went on and so forth.
In the same issue there is also a big interview with Gilbert and a review of the album!

The whole text can be read, in swedish, here: 

"OJ:s illustratör Leif Engström fick uppdraget att göra omslagsbilden till Gilbert Holmströms nya platta Tiden är kort!. Här berättar han om arbetet med målningen:

"Jonas Kullhammar (på skivbolaget Moserobie) hörde av sig till mig i vintras och undrade om jag skulle kunna göra en målning till en platta som skulle släppas senare samma år. Motivet skulle vara en bild av ett paradis, ett grönskande och vackert landskap med många djur, exotiska, färgglada blommor och träd och gärna några blånande snöklädda höjder i fjärran. Jag hade haft kontakt med Jonas tidigare och jag nappade på att göra uppdraget. 

I iden ingick även att bandmedlemmarna skulle vara med, så jag fick tänka med ett utrymme i bilden där ett foto av dem skulle kunna klistras in. Så jag började skissa, letade upp bilder på djur och växter som jag tecknade av och la in allt i en skiss som jag gjorde i datorn, som jag sedan skickade till Jonas för granskning. Skissen fick okej och jag började föra över den skiss jag gjort till duken som den färdiga målningen slutligen skulle målas på. Målningen är målad i olja på duk och i ett för mig lite ovanligt avlångt format, eftersom bilden skulle passa in på ett tresidigt cd-konvolut. Jag köpte några mycket smala penslar för att kunna få till de riktigt petiga detaljerna. Målningen är företrädesvis målad med oljefärg som går att lösa i vatten (vilket är en otrolig fördel då det inte alls luktar lika mycket och man slipper de farliga ångorna från andra lösningsmedel), med undantag av en tub med ultramarin som jag fick lösa i terpentin de gånger jag behövde använda den i utspädd form. 

Eftersom bilden på konvolutet skulle vara uppdelad på 3 sidor fick jag tänka till för att få varje sidas bild att bli en intressant och vacker komposition samt att tänka på att placera viktiga saker i bilden så att de inte hamnade i skarven mellan sidorna. Text skulle även placeras i mittendelen av bilden och därför valde jag att lämna den biten av gräsmattan ganska så tom och lugn. Delarna satte jag sedan ihop i datorn, för att få tillräckligt bra upplösning- och skickade iväg den till skivbolaget. Den grafiska formgivaren Stina Moritz har sedan lagt till fotot på bandmedlemmarna (i vinterkläder), titeltexten, låtlista, med mera. Det har varit ett roligt och annorlunda projekt för mig, och slutresultatet blev ett i mitt tycke lyckat omslag till en fin samling låtar" "

Tall







"Tall"
watercolor and ink on paper
2013

Edit: there are now prints of this painting available to buy, read more here!

Affisch Musikestet 20 år


Affisch för Musikestet, Solbergagymnasiet, Arvika. Tecknad i tusch, färglagd digitalt. 

I år är det 20 år sedan musikestetiska programmet startades på Solbergagymnasiet i Arvika. Lördagen den 7 september kl 19.00 bjuder de in till en storslagen jubileumskonsert på Ritz. På scenen står både elever och lärare från förr och nu. Mer information om evenemanget här:https://www.facebook.com/events/215346981963550/?fref=ts

"Tiden är kort" i Svenska Dagbladet

I förrgår (28 augusti)  blev jag omnämnd i Svenska dagbladet, i samband med omslaget till Gilbert Holmströms nya platta! Känns roligt och stort! Läs hela recensionen här.

Tiden är kort released!



the left part of the painting
the song titles
the front picture and part of the photo on the inside
21 august, this album with my album cover was released. The album is called "Tiden är kort" and the band is Gilbert holmström new quintet. check it out in your nearest record store or order it online here http://www.moserobie.com/ 

Album teaser Gilbert Holmström

Here is an album teaser for the upcoming release "Tiden är kort" by Gilbert Holmström (which I have made the album cover for) In store August 21st!

Read more about the cover here

Moserobie website  
Moserobie facebook

Jan's adventure

"Jan's adventure" - the working title of a story I have written and made drawings to. I showed this panoramic drawing at my exhibition at Galleri 39, Arvika. You find a photo from the exhibition at the end of this post. 
This is the first page, where Jan looks for his friend i the garden. He get the idea to search for her at the greenhouse, but the rope bridge breaks when he steps on it and he falls down in the abyss....
he falls headlong into the abyss. He reaches the water with a big splash.
He swims through the water and he suddenly sees someone on the beach. She help him up on the shore, she give him some dry clothes and they continue the travel together.
The big pagoda in the valley.
They walk into a dreamy, black smoke where a man sleeps at his desk.


the man at the desk wakes and they talk to him.
they walk out of the smoke and find the goddess Kisika in her garden....




Photos from my exhibition at Galleri 39, Arvika

Below are some photographs from the preparations and the opening of my exhibition at Gallery 39, Arvika in May!
The first time I opened the door to the galley, ready to hang up the pictures.


On the wall, some of the originals from my comic "The light sphere"
Preparations
  
The opening of the exhibition.
photo: Ulrika Sortelius
 Jazz music with the trio "Långa Trion"; Måns Allroth, Mats Dimming, Robert Henriksson

Thank you all for coming!