New Illustration: Landscape and History! The Storm on Lake Lucerne

 

As a Burgundian Wars-era (1474-1477) Swiss Foot Soldier crosses a windy pass, in the distance, over the picturesque and beautiful Lake Lucerne, a storm approaches. The wind blows, and two large golden eagles appear to be approaching the Soldier...

This illustration, I loved painting every detail of the wonderful landscape around the Lake, was made especially for "The Alpine Arcane Trophy", a "Sorcery:  Contested Realm" tournament taking place in Baden, Switzerland, in October. The illustration will be published as a special playmat for the winners and as a special card.

I thank the Organizers so much for giving me this wonderful artistic opportunity!

Here's all the information about The Alpine Arcane Trophy:

https://alpine-arcane.ch/

A new book illustrated entirely by me is in the works! "Die Hexe Quendel". Coming Soon

 

The book cover: text by Baerner Rose, illustrations by me

This children's book is a wonderful story of magic, solitude, self-confidence, and self-esteem set in Nature. The protagonist is the young witch Quendel and her Cat. The bilingual text is in Standard German and Bernese-Swiss German. It's a must-have. It's a project I've been deeply involved in for months: a project I'm particularly passionate about and into which I'm pouring my whole heart!

As always, I thank Verena Zuercher and Landverlag for this wonderful opportunity.

Landverlag Langnau, Switzerland

Anyone interested and wanting to pre-order it (I hope it's successful, Verena and I are putting all our passion and dedication into it 😊) can do so on the Buchhaus Bookshop website:www.buchhaus.ch

The Christmas edition of "Sonah" Magazine has arrived, along with Christmas gifts featuring my illustrations!

Thank you so much! I love them!

You can find magazines and illustrations on the Sonah Publisher website:https://sonah-verlag.de/

 

New illustration! For the cover of the December issue of the Magazine "Sonah". The Legendary Woman in the Moon (Frau im Mond)

 

The new illustration for the Magazine "Sonah" features the legendary figure of the "Woman in the Moon," portrayed at the spinning wheel, a character from German folklore once again inspired by the ancient gods. This continues the depiction of legendary figures such as Wodan/Odin, Donar/Thor, Holle/Erda, and others.

As always, I thank Frau Anika Meyer for giving me the opportunity to paint this subject. And of course, I LOVE winter landscapes!

You can find the Magazine and Christmas Cards, along with many other wonderful products on the Sonah publisher's website:

https://sonah-verlag.de/

Donar: the God of Thunder, on his chariot! New illustration for "Sonah Magazin", autumn 2025

 

Donar was the Old German name for the Norse god Thor. 

Myth, then legend, said he used to race across the skies, unrestrained, in his chariot pulled by two goats. The rumble of thunder was the sound of the chariot, the lightning flashes that flashed in the sky during storms were the sparks emanating from the chariot's wheels, in its mad rush (as well as from his mighty hammer Mjollnir).  Tanngnjóstr and Tanngrisnir was the name of the two goats (literally Teeth thin and Teeth grinder in old Norse).  

I once again thank Anika Meyer from the bottom of my heart for giving me the honor and pleasure of illustrating such a beautiful subject for her wonderful Magazine "Sonah".

Holda (Frau Holle) and Wodan-Odin, are the previous figures of the pantheon and folklore that I had the pleasure of illustrating for "Sonah", Magazine and Publishing House:

Sonah Verlag - Die Region Saar-Mosel-Rhein neu entdecken

Odin, disguised as an old wanderer with cloak

 

Here is the new illustrations for the Magazine "Lebenslust Emmental", summer and autumn 2025 issues

 

A canopy collapses on the pulpit at the end of a sermon...new illustration for Sandra Rutschi's new story about proverbs. This time it's about "Alle Gute kommt von oben" (All good things come from above). The story is really beautiful and funny, especially in the ending :-)

Thanks as always to Marie-Claire Hofstetter, Torfinn Rothenbuehler and Sandra Rutschi for their trust. 

Here is the cover of the autumn issue of Lebenslust Emmental and the illustration for Sandra Rutschi's new short story: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". 

Summer has definitely arrived here, and the heat is already making itself felt in mid-June. A couple of summer subjects, taken from "Sorcery: Contested Realm"

 

One of the landscapes I enjoyed painting the most: the English village in summer, surrounded by wheat fields.

Always for Sorcery, the workers in the fields. Thanks to Erik who had the idea to render the labor of the workers under the light of a summer sunset.

A small detail: a blue tit escaping from its shelter among the wheat stalks 

New illustration! For the cover of the Magazine "Sonah Magazin", summer 2025 issue

My first illustration on prehistory (and on the cover)!  A landscape from the prehistoric Carboniferous period (360-300 millions years ago), when the world was dominated by immense forests of giant ferns and horsetails. Oxygen levels were extremely high, and the swamps were traveled by enormous insects and amphibians.

Shown here are two giant Meganeura dragonflies (as large as modern hawks) and a huge two-meter long proterogyrinus like amphibian.

I am so grateful to Anika Meyer for allowing me to illustrate the cover of her beautiful magazine Sonah  https://sonah-verlag.de/

The original watercolor and gouache painting on the work table next to the Magazines

The two "Foot Soldier" (Token) illustrations made for "Sorcery Arthurian Legends"

 

Here the two paintings are placed side by side, so that the British Arthurian Foot Soldier (in a coastal landscape reminiscent of the English coast) and the Saracen Foot Soldier appear to confront each (even the ground line of the background almost seems to be one the counterpart of the other, in the two illustrations)

Here are the two small cards. 

I take advantage of this space to repost the Illustration "Plague", because, having recently seen the new -beautiful -  "Nosferatu" by Robert Eggers, this image came to mind. There are natural analogies, I think, with the part of the film where rats carry the plague and a street in the (fictional) German city of Wisborg is shown.

Even in this illustration, since I love German medieval and Renaissance architecture, I had fun inserting elements typical of half-timbered houses.

This is one of my favorite illustrations and I enjoyed painting it!

Here is a detail of the work in progress

New illustration for the spring issue of the Magazine "Lebenslust Emmental"

 

For the new story by Sandra Rutschi here is my new illustration: an old house in the architectural style of the Bernese countryside, with a garden and... a blooming rose, hidden behind a rose bush.

It was a special joy to paint this illustration, because it combined my passion for typical architecture with that for cottage gardens. Thanks as always to Marie-Claire Hofstetter, Torfinn Rothenbuehler, and Sandra Rutschi for their trust!

New illustration for the winter issue of the Magazine "Lebenslust Emmental"

 

A woodcutter screaming towards a snowy forest: here is the illustration for the new short story by Sandra Rutschi "As you call into the forest, it echoes out". Many thanks to the suggestions and precious Art Direction of Marie-Claire Hofstetter!

Wodan (as a young God) riding Sleipnir. New Illustration for "Sonah Magazin", winter 2024.

 

Wodan (here represented as a still young God riding his eight-legged steed) is the name that the populations of Central Europe gave in the Middle Ages to the Scandinavian and Norse God Odin

(Old German: Wodan, Wuotan, Woden; Old Dutch: Wuodan; Old Saxon: Uuoden; Old English: Woden; Old Norse: Odinn). 

Even in Southern Germany he is a figure at the center of many legends, such as that, among others, linked to the horseshoe. Beautiful and in-depth article by Anika Meyer (Editor and Art Director I thank very much for allowing me to illustrate such a beautiful subject!) on the topic.

sonah-verlag.de

The God Wodan - Odin in his appearance as an old wanderer with a blue cloak and gray robe

Even the Frau Holle of fairy tales is the derivation of Holda, an ancient mythological Goddess (Hertha - Jord) among the wives of Odin and mother of Thor

Third group of illustrations for "Sorcery": The Templar Avatar, Medieval Forge and White Coursier

Here is a second group of my illustrations for "Sorcery: Contested Realm" Arthurian Legends

 

In this group I show some of my favorites among the illustrated subjects: the small medieval village "Hamlet", with its half-timbered house in the foreground on the left, the spring plants in the background, the thatched roofs...

The "Hunter's Lodge" in the depths of a forest, with the light penetrating the old trees in the background, the sleeping dogs in the foreground, the details of the vegetation...

The burning castle: I loved this subject! The research on the effects of light in a nocturnal context, the reflection of the flames on the forest, the full moon in the background of a distant landscape, with a silver river flowing in the distance (and castles... I always love them).

I brought these subjects together because I loved working on different lighting effects and details than usual

The "Plague" illustration: I also loved trying my hand at this subject, so different from the usual ones. This illustration owes a lot to Erik's suggestions, his idea of ​​the unhealthy and pestilential atmosphere suggested by the greenish colors of the background was, as always, FUNDAMENTAL! Thanks Erik!

"Sir Ironside", this is a much more usual historical subject for me: two knights who met in a duel. The chaimail armor and weapons are typical of the 13th century, what was different and what I tried to depict as best as I could was the detailed face in the background. Erik's great tip was to think about old movie posters.

See you soon with a new selection of Arthurian illustrations!