Born in Norway anno horribilis 1978. Studied art from 94-97 and began work as a graphic designer to earn a steady income. Worked as a tattoo artist for a few years, and designed several album covers for various bands, but tragedy struck and cruel fate intervened. On disability since 2015. A combination of AI generated images and digital painting (Photoshop), paired with a twisted mind & macabre fantasy, is what fuels my artistic drive. Inspiration often comes from places people don't want to go, or see, or even acknowledge exists. I look for beauty in darkness, and try to convey (and invoke) emotions and deep thought through my art.
"Moose at Sunset" in Cipriarte Gallery, Venice - Italy.
"Malice in Wonderland" at Thompson Gallery, Zug - Switzerland.
"Religion Must Die" at Andakulova Gallery, Dubai - UAE.
"Menstrual Masturbation" at Casa del Arte Gallery, Palma - Spain.
"Leche con SIDA" at Cipriarte Gallery, Venice - Italy
"African Gothic" at Nicoleta Gallery, Berlin - Germany.
A few people have asked me how I go about making my works. Some have even said "oh, it's just AI, you don't really do anything!", so today I want to give you an example of what the process looks like.
1. Making the sketch:
I have an idea for an image, instead of wasting a lot of time sketching every little detail out, I usually take advantage of AI for this step. For most pictures I make, I will have several sketches that I put into Photoshop and stitch together, but for this explanation I will keep it simple and just use a single sketch from AI. (I usually ask for a charcoal sketch on rough paper, just because I like the texture)
2. Blocking in the color.
The next step is putting the sketch into Photoshop, and start blocking in the colors. This can be done with a limited palette, or I can go wild... Depends on my mood I guess. Again, for demonstration purposes, let's keep it on the simple side. (I keep the sketch visible while doing this, painting color on a layer beneath)
3. Refining the details.
This is perhaps the most time consuming step in the process... Turning the sketch on and off, and punching in little details, and smoothing out those big blocks of color from the previous step.. At this stage it starts to resemble something.
4. Final Polish!
After the last step is complete, the image is almost done. Now it's time to finesse the shadows and highlights, and to top it all off I use the curves tool to adjust the contrast, saturation, and/or hue of the final image. That's it, voila:
- Samael
"Solo Cellist" exhibited at Andakulova Gallery in Dubai, UAE
"Hush Little Baby" exhibited at Nicoleta Gallery in Berlin, Germany
"Hypothermia" exhibited at Andie Art Gallery in Athen, Greece
