about

This website is the portfolio of my artwork. I had an online shop after various requests from people who found my work on Mastodon and asked to buy my artwork ツ I recently removed this as I did not get on with any of the online shopping and printing services ~ if you are interested in buying any of my pieces or discuss a commission, please get in touch and we can discuss options. This will make it something a lot more personal and a lot more fitting to how I would like this process to go. (◠‿◠)

returning to art

After a sort of hiatus from art for many years, I resumed drawing and painting again as a way to switch off from my day jobs. And after sharing my work with a like-minded crowd in the fediverse, I decided to create this site. My plan is to write a little about how art can be the ideal form of escapism and to inspire you to start doodling, drawing and painting for the sheer fun of it, for the escapism it can offer and the happiness it can bring. Even if you don’t think you can draw, I would say: give it a go anyway ~ you might discover that you can and love it in the end ツ

If you are curious how I got here, have a look at my blog. I go back to old memories and tell the story that brought me back to my old love.

my focus

My art work explores various concepts around the topic of nature and the beauty of earth. While I sign each piece with my name, I chose to publish my work under the artist psydonym ‘humanum’, Mensch, a human being in line with the subject.

Nature, animals and plants, and especially trees, have always been close to my heart. And in these days of much dispair in the world, occupying my mind with subjects of nature eases my mind and is a reprieve from the stresses of everyday life.

my choice to go digital

Nothing really beats creating on paper, with pencil, brush or pen. There’s something quite special about the tactile nature of the movement across paper, to feel its texture and the linear processes involved in creating a piece.

On the other hand, experimenting and playing with ideas, sketches and drafts means using a lot of paper, using ink and watercolour pigments. And for a free flow of being creative, this means a lot of material used up and discarded during the initial process of sketching and coming up with ideas. Of course this is not a waste in terms of creating the final piece and merely a waste of the materials themselves.

When I returned to doing art again, I initially filled the many empty sketchbooks which had been collecting on my shelf. I loved it and it spurred me on further – and that is when I realised that my desire for resuming doing artwork again would mean I’d need to stock up on all the materials. And then I’d waste a lot in the long run.

Since I was little, I’ve always been keen to recycle, consciously avoiding waste and using recycled materials as much as possible, and recycle as much as possible when using anything myself. Before I switched to digital, I initially hated the idea of it. I’d seen little that I’d like. Trying it for myself, I found the digital tools to be too remote – the outcomes too cold, too sterile… I could not see how a digital process could be used for creativity and art. Then, I was gifted Painter (then owned by Metacreations, later purchased by Corel). Created for fine artists, this amazing application had papers with many different textures, so many different pens, pencils with many different hard-/softness levels, brushes and a heaven of options. It even had wet layers which let paint flow and disperse like real watercolour! I fell in love with digital art. Painter was a seemingly bottom-less box of art tools and offered the freedom of creating without wasting materials. It was one of the reasons why I persisted with digital at all.

My day jobs started taking over around 2001 when I began teaching and expanding my freelance work in web design. Time limits meant that my artwork faded into the background.

Fast-forward to now, I am returning to do art properly and won’t let it slip away again. I am still determined to work in a sustainable manner, avoid waste of precious resources like paper or paints/inks. This is why I went on the hunt for a suitable programme (more on that). I now work primarily digital using the wonderful open source programme Krita to create my pieces.

otherwise

My day job is design and I am split beween 2 areas.
I work with my little team on delivering inclusive web design to clients such as small businesses, charities and researchers. Take a look: eyedea.studio. I’ve also been teaching design for the last 25 years across varying institutions. To give back to the lovely web community with an open resource, I have published an online book to support my teaching which I update as and when: design for web.

If you’re in the fediverse and if you’re interested, you can follow updates on mastodon.art • @humanum — and if you’d like to talk about anything on this site, you’re most welcome to get in touch.