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A thimbleful of red is redder than a bucketful.
- Henri Matisse
 

 

Friday, September 3, 2010

Don Kenn

Posted by Charley Parker at 11:50 am

Don Kenn
Don Kenn (whose blog also confusingly lists him as John Kenn) is a Danish writer and director of childrens’ television shows. In his limited spare time he draws “Monsterdrawings” on Post-It notes; as he describes them “…a little window into a different world, made on office supplies”.

The drawings, of ghouls and ghosts, sea monsters and living islands, haunted woods and city streets, combine the imaginative ramblings of doodles with a technique of hatching tones and range of atmosphere and effect reminiscent of Edward Gorey.

Kenn often juxtaposes passages of dense hatching with areas of open space, to excellent effect.

I understand the fun of using unusual art supplies like Post-It notes, and I certainly understand the appeal of off-white drawing surfaces, because I prefer them myself; but I think Kenn’s Monsterdrawings are too good to be wasted on non-archival materials.

I would love to suggest the nicely off-white Strathmore Series #400 sketchpads and the Sakura Pigma Micron markers I described in my post on My Pocket Rembrandt.

At the very least, somebody give the man a Moleskine.

[Via Sandbox World]

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Posted in: Drawing   |   15 Comments »

15 comments for Don Kenn »

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  1. Comment by Ben Hatke
    Friday, September 3, 2010 @ 12:13 pm

    No kidding! These are too good to let crumble away. I love the drawing of the boy with the guitar and ghouls in his wake.

    I’ve been raving about Strathmore 400 and sepia microns lately myself:

    http://househatke.com/zita_with_miko_web.jpg

    Thanks again for turning me on to the sepia colored pens.

  2. Comment by Sam
    Friday, September 3, 2010 @ 1:35 pm

    Those are amazing. Kinda reminds me of this artist who made these really weird children’s drawings…though his name escapes me. But thanks for sharing these!

    By the way, for anybody who is wanting to go to Art Basel this year, I found these great deals at this site called MetroFlats.com.

  3. Comment by mbs
    Friday, September 3, 2010 @ 2:44 pm

    so buy ‘em for him… the usual idea with drawing on post-it is that they’re free and ubiquitous…

  4. Comment by Li-An
    Friday, September 3, 2010 @ 2:50 pm

    Very nice. I never draw on post-it. Maybe I should try :-)

  5. Comment by Raining Acorns
    Friday, September 3, 2010 @ 3:12 pm

    Astonishing what he can do on a post-it note–though yes, I agree, I hope he’ll be willing to move on to more durable materials. We want these to last!

  6. Comment by Dave Dubé
    Friday, September 3, 2010 @ 4:46 pm

    Or – Archival quality ATCs.

  7. Comment by Daniel Sponton
    Friday, September 3, 2010 @ 9:30 pm

    Hello,
    very good the post as usually.
    I suggest to see
    http://www.quiquealcatena.blogspot.com
    which author is an excellent illustrator too.
    Good morning!

  8. Comment by RyanMCFC
    Friday, September 3, 2010 @ 9:37 pm

    People are much too fixated with permanence. Let the guy create on whatever inspires him. Enjoy looking at it, if it crumbles away so be it. In this day of total internet coverage it’s not like the images will be completely lost anyway.

    He is incredible though. I instantly loved every one of these in the same way I love the work of Tom Gauld.

  9. Comment by Bill Carman
    Friday, September 3, 2010 @ 9:41 pm

    One thing I’ve learned is that it is not that much harder to work with good materials. I would hate to think things that might have been lost of they were done on poor materials. All of those Durer or Rembrandt etchings and engravings on paper bags or their equivalent. If you can why not unless it is conceptually relevant.

  10. Comment by Bill Carman
    Friday, September 3, 2010 @ 9:42 pm

    By the way I have loved this guys stuff for awhile now. Just great.

  11. Comment by Daniel van Benthuysen
    Saturday, September 4, 2010 @ 10:29 am

    One upside to this choice of materials: he doesn’t need a very large portfolio…

  12. Comment by Leslie
    Saturday, September 4, 2010 @ 11:22 am

    These images remind me of stuff straight out of a Hayao Miyazaki movie. The ghostly creatures are like “No Face” in Spirited Away (http://bit.ly/aMixzb) and the tall creatures with long legs are also similar to creatures I’ve seen in his movies. It’s a great style.

  13. Comment by cherry hill
    Saturday, September 4, 2010 @ 7:36 pm

    These are so cute! Children would love this. Im an art buff myself. In fact I want to Learn Face Painting . Its not only an enjoyably hoppy, its also a great way to earn.

  14. Comment by Alina Chau
    Sunday, September 5, 2010 @ 1:14 pm

    Love the concept of these illustration!

  15. Comment by Miss Blue
    Monday, December 20, 2010 @ 12:29 pm

    Does anyone know if he sells these post-its? I would love to have a few on my walls….in little frames of course, not just stuck there with deteriorating glue ^_^

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