keiross - Tumblr blog

[keiross]

So it was my birthday the other day. To celebrate I cleaned my kitchen sink. I also went down to the canal in my neighbourhood to draw this and the coolest thing happened - as I was perched by the path a couple of guys walked passed, and then out the corner of my eye I noticed one of them was approaching me, and he was like "Is it you? I think it's you!" He seemed nice but I didn't recognise him. With a big smile which radiated all kinds of positivity he said "I love your Instagram!". How nice is that? I'm Insta-famous 😬

Well random passer-by-dude, thanks for letting me know because you made my birthday! 😊 It was such a nice surprise. I mean I do all this drawing because in many ways I have to, and I suppose it stopped occurring to me that my scribbles may give other people a smile or some form of enjoyment or something - so thanks dude, because being told that was the nicest birthday present, even better than a clean kitchen sink 😬

[keiross]

I'm trying to find ways to express feelings through art, or at least be able to identify feels and then channel them so my paintings have meaning for me. So I took this very familiar and mundane scene from my everyday and in my head, connected it to an existing strong emotion/feeling I have. I combined the emotional energy from the feeling and scene with some visual inspiration. In this case it was the work of an old British impressionist I stumbled across called Alfred Sisley, whose brush strokes are so fun and exciting for me. I put those two things together and then got lost in the painting.

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Traveling sketchbook

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My recent trip to Aegina in Greece documented in my sketchbook

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Pen portrait practice. One of the only times things make sense in my head is when I draw. Like, suddenly everything fits together and feels natural. It’s a different mode of feeling. Some of the drawings above used pencil first, some not, others were from life, others from photos - but all of them transported me to a different realm where confusion, fear, anxiety, sadness took a back seat to a central feeling of calm. Embrace drawing everyone 😊

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Selected waves of light which my eyes absorbed in Berlin, got translated into electricity in my brain, turned into movements of my arm and resulted in marks in my sketchbook.

[keiross]

I wrote and illustrated a kid’s book. It’s about a sweet little flamingo who has to leave his home in the east, ends up in Berlin and the story focuses on his search for new friends. There are some funny bits and it has a happy ending with a theme of diversity and acceptance.

The flamingo is basically a refugee but anyone can relate to searching for new friends in a strange place.

In case you want to support me and the Flamingo, you can buy a copy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/keiross

Or read more about it and me here: https://berlinlovesyou.com/keir-edmonds-mr-flamingo/

[keiross]

Portrait practice with acrylic

[keiross]

These are my running shoes. Sometimes when I run in them, I get goosebumps. The tingles spread from the top of my head, wave after wave, down to my feet. When I'm running well, my back straightens, my shoulders and upper body lock in place, and I feel incredibly strong but light. At times like this, I start to feel like a passenger, I'm aware of my body working hard, I'm aware of my speed, but I'm disconnected; my brain is chilling on a sofa with its feet up just watching the buildings and trees shoot by and it almost feels like flying. It feels so amazing, it sometimes makes me involuntarily laugh out loud.

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Colours become clearer too. When I run by the river, I sometimes see more shades of green than I could imagine. When the seasons change, each day can become more beautiful than the last. One crisp autumn morning, there was a thick mist by the river and shards of golden sun cut through the haze like lazers. Leaves glowed like they were magic. When I run by the water, I consider that each particle of light took about 6 minutes to travel from the sun, bounce off the water and hit my eye, and in that time I ran a mile. I reflect that I'm also just particles moving through time and space.

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I consider that the energy I am using to move never belonged to me. I'm just a vessel that was lucky enough to borrow it for a split second as it shot through me before returning to the universe.

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Sometimes at weekend I just run through the city, going where the streets take me, getting lost, discovering new places. I run passed tourists, clubbers, people on bikes, red lights. It feels like I am there but disconnected. I relive memories. Even though Berlin is a concrete shit hole, the grey industrial wastelands take on a wondrous quality.

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I only started running six years ago. For many years prior, I smoked 20+ a day, drank heavily and took other stuff. Those days are gone and the high I get from running is higher and purer. I once experienced a sense of euphoria so strong, it kept hitting me, wave after wave, that after about 45 minutes I could almost taste it. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

But the most important thing about running is how it's guided me through tough times in those 6 years. This is why I run.

[keiross]

Yawning cathead, smiling doggo

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Quick handjob, oo-er 😏

[keiross]

Another attempt at an old-fashioned selfie. If at first you don’t succeed, isolate yourself and keep painting instead of being social.

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Some colour work in my sketchbook of my local neighborhood (two acrylic paintings and a coloured pencil drawing) 🎨🌈🏚

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Some early summer sketchbook action from my life in my neighbourhood. Berlin in the sun is the place to be.

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Familiar sights of the neighborhood in Berlin Kreuzberg 🌆🏚🚓

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Berlin vibes 🌆🏚🕌🚇

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some paintings of my hood (aka ‘kiez’ auf deutsch), Berlin Kreuzberg