"Dahlin" Drawing

Portrait / figurative artist based in the Netherlands.

Repertoire:

+ Portraits
+ Nudes, emphasising anatomy and draftsmanship
+ Vintage scenes based on antique photographs
+ Re-imagined classical/mythological golden oldies
+ some oversized semi-abstract landscapes

My approach to inspirational input is that of an omnivore, feeding in 360º on both 'high' and 'low' culture in terms of music, performing arts, dance, cinematography, design and visual arts . My creative output has always been similarly divers in form. (i.e. sculptures in stone/metal/wood ; paintings ; murals and photo-based digital work) Only recently I have been able to narrow things down a bit.

For a decade, circumstances forced me to focus on one mode of expression (2D, digital), and a couple of years ago I circled back to the place where my creativity once sprouted...

DRAWINGS

Early 2020, I started drawing again, after not having done that for more than a decade, and not this seriously since my childhood/adolescence, when I hardly did anything else.

I draw in a sparse yet naturalistic style, capturing many nuances and often adding layers dealing with realities of existence beyond the obviously visible. They are expressed in colour, direction, gesture, texture, juxtaposition of elements.

My images are spiked with a promiscuous mix of style features, which often makes labeling them as such into a somewhat laughable exercise, merely justified by heightened findability.

In my own way, I'm basically chasing Beauty in various ways. In a time of constant remix, I (ethically) use what imagery is available to me as raw material, and while trying to refrain from 'commentary' or any overly conceptual approach, I consider any wisdom that might seep into my work while playing, a gift from Above.

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In the decade preceding my current adventure as a late-blooming draftsman, my medium has been a Mac with Wacom tablet and much maligned but truly magnificent Photoshop. Plus a high end printer (specialised art printing service for large formats) to get physical output. These were photomontages/manipulations. Scroll all the way down for a couple of them that I left on this page.