Beacon IV: The Storm Sanctuary Painting

Born 1975 & raised just outside Stockholm, Sweden. Started drawing at an early age using only black crayons, immersing myself in comic books, cartoons & scifi. My influences as an illustrator include Katsuhiro Otomo, Masamune Shirow, Tsutomo Nihei, Buichi Terasawa, Hayao Miyazaki, Guy Davis & Jean-Claude Mezieres. I have a background as a comic book artist & writer, working for 215 Ink, a small press publisher based in Philadelphia & as part of the New York Times bestseller anthology FUBAR. I started painting in 2009 and haven't looked back since. My biggest influences as a painter are Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, Anselm Kiefer, Gerhard Richter, Lee Lozano, August Strindberg, Joan Mitchell, Zdzislaw Beksinski, William Turner, John Martin & John William Waterhouse. I prefer to work in the style of abstract expressionism using a rather dark & bleak palette but have started to approach the light as my style & technique continue to evolve. This includes also the adding of more scifi, fantasy & mythical as well as realistic elements into the mix. I usually work on a larger canvas or wood boards but presented here, if not stated otherwise, are my latest works on paper. I found that working on a smaller scale allowed me the freedom & much needed push to evolve as painter. The plan is to eventually transfer this new energy, style & technique to the larger canvas. I rely much on mood & energy when I work, pushing the colores & layers until an image or feeling presents itself. The title usually comes when the painting is done, in the form of just one word or a full sentence based on a gut reaction to the finished work.