Nina Johansson

Just a quick one from a bus ride I did recently with my niece Elsa. “Rasta” may refer to rastafari in Swedish too, but it is also a verb for “taking a break”, plus the name of a restaurant along the E4. Many coaches stop there on their journeys through Sweden. We had a “Today´s special pasta”.

16 x 19 cm, Lamy Safari and Faber Castell Polychromos on Fabriano Rosapina printing paper (sketchbook page).

I like drawing people, but have serious problems with portraits – you know, when it´s actually supposed to look like someone. This summer I´ve had the opportunity to practice on a person who doesn´t mind sitting still while being stared at and drawn – meet Elsa, my 14-year-old niece.

We have been spending quite a lot of time together this summer, both in the summer house up north and in our apartment in Stockholm, and she has encouraged me to draw her on several occations. Thanks, Elsa, I´m lucky to have you to make me practice, I´m not so disciplined myself ! : )

Take a look at Elsa´s blog (in Swedish) if you have a minute!

Both drawings:  16 x 19,5 cm, pencil and cheapo Muji gel pens on Fabriano Rosapina printing paper (sketchbook pages).

This is the last painting from the exhibition – and the largest. It´s been a real joy to have this show, and the response – both in real life and here on the blog – has been overwhelming. Thank you everybody for joining me on this journey, and I hope you will keep visiting the blog now that it goes back to ‘normal’ drawing mode for a while.

134,5 x 43,5 cm, watercolours on Fabriano Artistico 300 gsm rough grain watercolour paper.

A part of the long street at Långgrundet. Tomorrow the last – and largest – painting in the exhibition is coming up.

51,5 x 24 cm, watercolours on Fabriano Artistico OR Archces 300 gsm rough grain watercolour paper.

House no. 40. This is again one of the older paintings in the exhibition, and one of three painted on the spot.

33,5 x 33,5 cm, watercolours on Fabriano Artistico OR Arches 300 gsm rough grain watercolour paper.

House no. 10, Långgrundet. This is one of the first paintings I did for this exhibition, it´s from 2008 when I was beginning to experiment with this Norrbyskär theme.

21,5 x 20,5 cm, watercolours on Fabriano Artistico 300 gsm rough grain watercolour paper.

The guesthouse at Norrbyskär.

19,5 x 20 cm, watercolours on Fabriano Artistico 300 gsm rough grain watercolour paper.

Those of you who have been following my posts with paintings from the exhibition, will recognize the little cable tower from the Northern cape of Norrbyskär. It´s been playing the lead role in two earlier paintings too. This one is rather small, and had been posted before on the blog – I made it last summer, so it´s one of the few “oldies” in the exhibition.

19,5 x 20 cm, watercolours on Fabriano Artistico 300 gsm rough grain watercolour paper.

One of the larger paintings in the exhibition, another end of the stable belonging to the Guest house (the supervisor´s estate in the old days). This stable isn´t much of a stable anymore, it contains living quarters for the people working at the Guest house, and some smaller hostel rooms. I´m always amazed at the details they built into the houses around 1900, even the stable got some decorations on the roof. Would ‘pinnacle’ be the right word for one of those pointy things on the roof tops, or is there a better word for it in English? Please give me some advice in the comments!

88 x 50 cm, watercolours on Fabriano Artistico 300 gsm rough grain watercolour paper.

This is one of the school/church buildings again, the one they say there are ghosts in. I don´t know about that, but it sure looks a bit creepy in the tiny apartment under the roof…

19,5 x 19,5 cm, watercolours on Fabriano Artistico 300 gsm rough grain watercolour paper.