 Andreas
Grunert About
I was born in
March 1958, grew up and went to school in a village called Brünlos.
This small village is a part of highland called Erzgebirge in the
Southeast-Germany.
Even as a child, I enjoyed it to express my imagination by painting.
Although I never received good grades in the art lessons, my interest
in drawing remained not only, it increased. I improved myself with
every painting.
As I became a teenager, of course I started to have a crush on "stars"
too. The only difference between me and other kids in my age was,
that I drew the posters of my "stars" at my own.
1974, I began a teacher-education.
1978, I graduated
as a teacher for elementary education. It was (and is) my dream
profession.
During my studies I found out also my favorite motives for painting,
mainly kids. In this time I created my first portraits of children.
For the next 23 years children stayed my favorite subject, especially
during the years of service as teacher in Germany and abroad.
In Lebanon I spent my best time in my life and
in my job as teacher. I was there from 1993 to 2001. During these
years I painted many children, of course especially my pupils.
After my stay in Lebanon, I started to paint also for other people.
Of course it was not possible anymore to confine myself to draw
only portraits of kids. From that time I painted also a lot of portraits
of babies, animals, adults and stars. The result of my work during
all these years are about 400 children from 40 different countries
that I immortalized on paper.
Since January 2009 I started to work as a self-employed
painter and I devote myself to the wishes of my clients.
Some of my thoughts about portrait-painting:
A photo is worth a thousand words but a realistic portrait drawing
tells a story that is worth considerably more, it's an heirloom.
A portrait is a solid and simplified construction representing an
expression, a state of soul, a condition, a feeling, more than a
mere combination of two eyes, two ears, a nose and a mouth.
A portrait is a living assembly of play, of forms, of proportions,
without falling into mere caricature, or being a dead photograph
with life or human meaning. The lifeless imitation of forms is far
removed from true portraiture. A portrait is above all an act of
love, for the artist ought to "dissect", analyze, and
see into every detail of grimace, gesture or sign to make of them
a living synthesis.
Most of my portraits are based on photos, they were sent to me by
my clients. Now I prefer to make photos myself. All of my portraits
are drawn very precise with each detail and each single hair. For
each portrait I need -because of my love to the smallest detail-
between 8 to 10 hours. I developed my own techniques and tricks
during the last 34 years. Time just ceases to be when I draw and
each portrait is a labor of love that I thoroughly enjoy. Absolutely
nothing is quite so rewarding to me as stretching the 3-dimensional
image of a child or other motive onto the 2-dimensional surface
of a high quality sheet of paper. One of the most enjoyable and
rewarding experiences of my life is to be able to give joy to others
by creating the likeness of a loved one or beloved kid.
I often get asked if I ever have attended any art courses.
The answer is NO. I am a real autodidact, but it is process of learning
without end, training with patience and love. And I believe the
ability to draw pencil portraits is a very special gift to me.
My first self-created Homepage (http://andreas-grunert.npage.de)
is online since March 2009. I use it to show my paintings, to introduce
myself and my ideas and my convictions.
I enjoy sharing the beauty of my pencil-kids with everyone.
Charline
Julien
►►
Some of the artist's artwork
Contact:
agru-portraits@freenet.de
Online portfolio andreas-grunert.npage.de
|
