Not sure if this should really be counted as a tutorial, but it might be of interest if you want some ideas for how someone (in this case I) goes about making a larger image.

This is the video I recorded while making Vättebron, my Christmas card for this year.



Original work time about eight hours, using MyPaint and GIMP.
The finished image you can find here.
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Griatch

Awesome, Griatch. I have a friend, who is also into "gnomes", I'll be sure to point him in your DA direction. I absolutely love your artwork/depiction. It reminds me of Hollow Bottoms creek where I used to play as a boy (Vermont) and all of us children would tell the wildest of tales about leprechauns, elves, and faeries.

This was another one I loved watching! It's really interesting watching the different parts and eventually figures take form out of a lot of smudges. And the detail is amazing, stuff I'd never think to draw and didn't really notice when I first looked at the final product, things like rocks and leaves and snow on the leaves, lighting and the sun shining through the trees, reflections in the water... I had to go back and take another look!

It was cool watching the Vaette take shape, especially the two crossing the bridge. At first it was the one and watching you figuring out what to do with him, then there's suddenly a second one he's reaching out to. Awesome!

Really neat, I smiled several times through the video. You're really talented, thanks for sharing this, it was a treat.

Out of curiosity, did you use your new, larger drawing pad for this? If so, how do you like it? I know you said the larger surface might take some time to get used to.

Griatch - This was absolutely awe inspiring. My wife and I both watched the entire video breathless as this masterpiece took shape. Not only was the music moving, but we both agreed that you are up there with another painter we admire....Thomas Kinkaid. The way you use layer upon layer upon layer and the highlights and attention to detail reminded us of his techniques. Truly amazing work!

Griatch, I watched the whole video and it was fascinating. You make it look so easy. I particularly liked watching you paint the Vätte. They are so heartwarming.

Thank you for sharing.

Thanks for the comments! I recording like this is really quite fun for me to have as well, since I don't think much about how I work while doing it. I notice I flicker all over the canvas much more than I think ...


I'm pretty sure the modern "garden gnome" look is at some level inspired by Vätte or similar entities in other countries. I remember being fascinated by these legends as a kid, especially since you don't have to more than two generations back to find people who really believed in these things as children. My Grandmother (who is now 93) can still recount stories from her youth about how people thought they'd seen Vätte, trolls and Tomte in the forests (she has a few observations herself).


Yes, there are a lot of details in this one; I notice much of it is lost when scaling down the image as well. The original is 7000 pixels wide after all. The Vätte are all completely improvised on the spot, so they all came to be pretty much when I tried them out in the painting.
I used the new drawing pad for this. All in all, it didn't take that long to get used to, which is nice. I don't use the on-tablet buttons much however, still preferring the keyboard (which offers more combinations anyway). The larger surface does not offer better resolution that I can notice. But the larger surface does force you to make larger movements and I think I might notice less strain in my wrist due to this, a good thing if so.


Thanks! This is high praise. Glad you enjoyed it and that it was inspiring. The music is released under open Creative-Commons license, I can recommend Jamendo.com for getting legal music downloads from often very good (but usually sadly unknown) artists.


The Vätte are intentionally rather goofy-looking here although they are not necessarily nice entities in the legends (not like the Tomte which was usually friendly). Glad you like the video, always hard to judge if it's too boring etc.
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Griatch

I also got to watch your video last night Griatch. I was mesmerized from beginning to end. The painting is outstanding and the little Gnomes made it so interesting which made it unique to your style of work.
The Fairy Tale like music brought it all together as a very pleasing video to watch.
You are a very talented man.

Every time I see your work it makes me want to learn to paint.

You are the most talented person I even know Griatch. Your work is so mesmerized. People don't realize how much work is involved and the amount of time had put in doing something like that.

A professional artist like yourself take pride in their work so that's why it's a time consuming.

As for the music! that went well with your video. Oh good taste in music by the way

Thanks for the comments! I'm glad the music fits with the video and that I get people inspired to paint, that's high praise!

@Lorri
Thanks for the nice words, very kind of you. As said, I'm however not a professional artist. I'm a happy amateur - something one constantly gets reminded of when seeing actual professionals doing their magic.
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Griatch