Three by Three: Guest Artists in Focus

QUESTION 2.  Reflective metal is notoriously difficult to render; what mental shift or observation technique allows you to see light instead of the object when capturing it?

• ANSWER 2.   For inspiration, I use reference photographs that I either take myself or find on websites like Freepik and Pixabay. It is important to me to convey a soul in my images, that "something" that lifts the subject out of the photograph and into the art. I am fortunate to have been born with an absolute color memory. I have a good understanding of colors, which is of great help in the process. The objects are created from light and values. For me, it’s about trusting the process and depicting what I see – even though I can hardly believe it will really turn out the way I imagine. But fortunately, it exactly does that. Sometimes to my surprise.

Pernille Dysthe
Painter

MEDIUM: oils, watercolor, dry pastels, and different sorts of pencils

BIO: I live in Norway, just outside Oslo. My interest in drawing and painting was sparked when I attended the Rudolf Steiner School as a child. I have always expressed myself creatively, through piano, writing, drawing, and painting. Creating illusions through images is exciting. I feel that AI art often tries to beautify reality, but I believe that deep down, we humans seek what is real. I hope that what has emerged from the communication between brain, hand, and emotions will hold great value in the future.

INSTAGRAM:    @pdysthe

QUESTION 3.    Hyperrealism often requires intense focus and patience—what emotional state or ritual helps you enter the level of stillness needed to sustain that precision?  

• ANSWER 3.     I have always had a channel-like focus. Whatever I’m interested in, I go into 100 percent. At that point, I shut everything else out. It doesn’t need to be completely quiet around me. I am so absorbed in what I’m doing that everything else disappears. Drawing has become an addiction, an urge within me. I can sit for many hours without noticing the passage of time. To be honest, I have one guilty pleasure: I often listen to an audiobook while I work.

QUESTION 1.    Your work spans charcoal, watercolor, colored pencils, graphite, pastels, markers and oil paint — how do you decide which medium will best serve the texture or temperature of a subject?

• ANSWER 1.   Most of the time, I decide on the medium before I choose the subject. Then I have to find a subject that inspires me and fits the medium I've chosen. I first and foremost need to feel inspired. Then it could just as well be the materials that inspire me as a specific subject.
  
  Painting shiny effects is what occupies me the most these days. It can be various materials like silver, gold, bronze, glass, and steel. To challenge myself, I use different media to recreate these on paper or canvas. For example, how to bring out gold with watercolor, colored pencils, or pastels.

Medium: Watercolor

Medium: Charcoal Pencils
Inspired by reference photo from R. F. Pereira.

All copyright and reproduction rights are reserved by Pernille Dysthe.
Artwork may not be reproduced in any form without the artist's express written permission.

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Medium: Graphite Pencils