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I used to do a lot of watercolour works in the earlier years of my career as an artist and illustrator. This post features some of those paintings from 2014–2020. I still have a soft spot for watercolour – I might get back to working with it again some day! It is such a gentle yet challenging medium, and always gives that sort of soft, earthy vibe. It makes me think of nightless nights and the delicate, humble nature here in the Nordics.
My paintings are available as art prints on Society6. You can also get some of them on various other Society6 items, such as jigsaw puzzles, stationery cards, wall tapestries and so on. Society6 store is based in the United States, and international shipping is available.
Use the links below to browse all the available products with each individual piece!
Mielikki
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Mielikki is a forest spirit and goddess of hunt in old Finnish folklore. She helps hurt animals and knows all the healing herbs. I created this illustration of Mielikki originally as a commission for the Graphite art magazine in 2018. This piece is available on Society6 as art prints, posters, jigsaw puzzles and cards.
Blooming Forest Art Print (shop this item)
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Blooming Forest is a painting from 2019. It celebrates the coming of a new spring after the long, dark winter. The wait is always so long, until suddenly there is light and life and blooming everywhere!
I am often asked how I create the highlights in my watercolour paintings: the secret is masking fluid. You paint your details on the paper with the masking fluid, prior to adding darker colours. Once your painting is completely dry, you can peel off the mask, and now you have crisp light details on dark background! It does take some planning ahead, but this process can be repeated several times on various coloured layers. You can read a bit more about the different tools and techniques that I use over here.
Midsummer Night Art Print (shop this item)
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Midsummer Night is a watercolour painting from 2020. It is my personal tribute to the northern nightless night when the nature barely sleeps. You can walk in the woods in the middle of the night, with endless, dusky light and birdsong surrounding you.
North Sky Art Print (shop this item)
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Autumn is my favourite season, hands down. I love to breathe in the crisp, cold air and smell of the forest floor. And who doesn’t love the warm, deep autumn colours?
The approaching winter always feels very emotional somehow, nostalgic and gloomy, comforting and depressing at the same time. But I am always happy to welcome the night sky after the long, bright summer. Seeing the northern lights, familiar constellations, our home galaxy. As you might know, I am a hopeless stargazer, after all.
Frost Art Print (shop this item)
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Frost is one of my older watercolour pieces, from 2015. At that time I lived nearby the tiny village where I grew up as a child. I used to spend a lot of time in those woods alone in the 80s and 90s, watching the trees and wildlife and imagining things vividly. Those forests have some magic in them. I learned it as a kid, and never stopped experiencing it whenever I visit the trees.
One afternoon in December the winter arrived, with frost everywhere but barely any snow yet. The light was extraordinary just after sunset at four pm – it was dusky yet somehow bright at the same time. Everything seemed simultaneously warm and cold. So beautiful. The next day I painted Frost.
Tiny Elves
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Tiny Elves (2014) is a portrait of the same woods from my childhood. Whenever the snow arrives and fills the landscape, it is the true definition of a winter wonderland.
Images, text & artwork © Ulla Thynell.