ST. KÖNIGSHAUSEN • Graphic Design • Illustration • Comic

  Sketching and letting the idea take shape.     Proper outlines on the Watercolour Paper. Soak a dark tea with little water. Create the paintings background with different layerings of tea wash. Add some details with the tea to shape the white foxspirits. And use Watercolours for the tea cups.                            The final pair of "The Tea Foxspirits" with poem and signet seal.

A pair of 2 Watercolours on Water colour paper 20 cm x 40 cm.  The brown shades are made of tea. I wrote a poem on both of the pictures. It´s  inspired by drinking chinese tea (gonfu cha). More about chinese tea culture on Wikipedia.   The poem on the first picture says: "Stiller Nebel, duftender Tau... ( Silent Haze, Fragrant Dew...)                                     And the poem continues on the second picture:   ... der Fuchs unsichtbar lacht" (The Foxspirit Laughts Silently).   The calligraphy is inspired by chinese characters, the letters written from top to bottom.    

I´m the Nemo Fox Pictogram of St. Königshausen – developed from the Fox-Profil-Picture (below). The first step to make a Pictogram with high recognition is to simplify the shape and to find out what details are not essential for the design. I made a few quick thumbnail sketches of the Nemo Fox to find the right balance between a stylized design on the one hand and not to lose the characters important characteristics on the other hand.       The next step is the digital compostion of the Fox. The definition of the design, to define the coloring and to make sure the pictogram is working in small sizes too.    Voilà! The finished pictogram in context with typography, ready to be used as Facebook-Header for St. Königshausen :) https://www.facebook.com/st.koenigshausen/

left: first concept of Fuchsfeuer in my sketchbook right: working out the details of the design     Prepare the black background and transfer the design on top of the dark painted wood. Then I continue to draw the fine lines with acryl-pencils. And Voila!

Fuchsfeuer / Kitsunebi − Painting on Wood, 20 cm x 30 cm.  Inspired by Kitsune ( 狐, キツネ, the japanese Foxspirit), the picture shows a Fox with a glowing ball (狐火 kitsunebi or kitsunebi-tama). More about Kitsune on Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitsune          

Tief unten im Meer, wo kein Sonnenlicht hinabreicht, herrscht absolute Finsternis. 
Dies ist das Reich von faszinierenden Lebewesen wie Quallen und dem Tiefsee-Anglerfisch. 
Diese Tiere haben eine ganz eigene Art zu kommunizieren.  Hier in der unendlich scheinenden, 
schwarzen Weite des Ozeans sind optische Signale angesagt. Mit Biolumineszenz kann man locker 
Beute oder einen Partner anlocken, warnen, drohen und mehr. Quallen-Gangs ziehen unbemerkt im Schutz der Dunkelheit umher. Sie umzingeln lautlos ihre ahnungslose Beute, um dann plötzlich leuchtend aufzutauchen. Da gibt es kein Entkommen mehr und das Opfer wird lebendig aufgefressen, wenn es nicht entsprechend Bakschisch zahlt. Oder der immer hungrige Tiefsee-Anglerfisch. Er wartet reglos auf der Stelle schwebend und lockt Meeresbewohner mit seinem Leuchtorgan an. 
Dieses Leuchtorgan ist die ultimative Beuteattrappe. Er wedelt damit unwiderstehlich vor seinem Kopf herum und lockt Interessenten direkt in sein riesiges Maul.

The Dreaming Fox − Acrylpainting on Canvas, 15 cm x 15 cm.            

Everything started with a spontaneous idea that I had to scribble into my sketchbook at once. A few days later I started to work on the picture. I made a sketch of the Dreaming Fox in the intended final size. After that it took time to find the right colours. First I thought of a dark night sky but later I´ve decided to paint a sunset.    The Dreaming Fox is ready to fly!

  I had a rough idea of the picture already in my mind and started directly the scribble in the intended size.                 For the coloring I worked with complementary colors. After that I applied strong black outlines to give the picture a Comic-Style.                 The finished picture. Nemo Fox is ready to take a sip of delicious tea and planning of new creative stuff.

The Storyboard was developed for the Short Film »Naoko« by Florian Freund (screenplay and stage direction). A Storyboard pictures the essentially series of frames with drawings before the film is produced. It helps to visualize the scenes. Storyboards can include arrows or instructions for the movement of the film camera. The Short Film was realized in cooperation with Anker Film, MHMK and BR. For more information about the Short Film »Naoko« check out the BR Short Film Online-Library: https://www.br.de/br-fernsehen/sendungen/kurzfilm/naoko-florian-freund-kurzfilm-100.html Here´s an excerpt of the 15-page Storyboard that I´ve created for the Short Film »Naoko«. All rights by the author Florian Freund.   page 02 -------------------------------- page 05 -------------------------------- page 07 -------------------------------- page 15 --------------------------------

Maneki-neko Waterpainting on Water Colour Paper 20 cm x 40 cm.  I used different layers of tea to create the background and watercolour for the other colours. Maneki-neko (the beckoning cat) is the notorious japanese lucky charm. Maneki-nekos come in all kinds of colours. But the traditional colour combination of white, gold and black is regarded to be the best for ultimate Maneki-neko Good-Luck-Power. You can find more about Maneki-neko on Wikipedia.   I painted the Maneki-neko Picture two times with different "Good Wishes" in Kanji on it.                                      

Nemo Fox Portrait − Acrylpainting on Canvas, 15 cm x 15 cm.    

Fox Mindfulness  − rough painting on wood, 30 cm x 30 cm  Achtsamkeit strebt nichts an. Sie sieht einfach, was bereits da ist. — Mahathera Gunaratana  

Entwicklung des KOLIBRI-Characters für das Magazin. Dazu grafische Gestaltung von Titel und Layout für das Online Kolibri-Kulturmagazin seit 2021.  Das KOLIBRI-Kulturmagazin ist ein Online-Mag für Grafik und Literatur. Keine Diskurse-über-Kunst − nur Kunst. Ungefiltert. Ehrlich.  Der KOLIBRI erscheint in unregelmäßigen Abständen und featured in seinen Ausgaben verschiedenste kreative Beiträge zu unterschiedlichen Themen. Hier der Link zum KOLIBRI-Kulturmagazin − Signale:  https://wortlaterne.jimdo.com/kolibri-kulturmagazin/

I was searching for a Maneki-neko and I found it after a while in my sketchbook. Colored proper Outlines on the Water Colour Paper. I created the brown background with tea and the other colours with watercolour paint.  

Hello Ox − Bye-bye Rat! Das 2. chinesische Tierkreiszeichen nach der Ratte ist der Büffel (oder Ochse). Acrylfarbe auf Papier 24 cm x 17 cm.   Ganz viel Info zur chinesischen Astrologie gibt´s auf Wikipedia.