Weekly Artist #1: Kristoffer Zetterstrand

Kristoffer Zetterstrand (https://zetterstrand.com/) is a Swedish artist best known for his Minecraft paintings. His early works are an interesting mix of retro and classical, sometimes suspended in mid-air like models set out for display. His use of strong, clear shadows show how flat the pixelated “props” are even in his own fictional space.

His process is also an interesting one. He first creates 3D models and uses old artwork of his to texture them. Then, he experiments with the lighting and camera angles until he settles on a view that he likes. Lastly, he paints them using oil on canvas. This last step is what really interested me in his work; although the concept starts out as digital, the end produce is a meticulously painted piece. What would be much easier to edit in digitally, he paints onto. I suspect he uses a grid system to keep the pixels sharp and consistent, as that is what I have seen many others do when painting pixelated objects onto real-world surfaces.

Overall, I am very inspired by the way he smashes together retro video-game pixel art with more realistic parts, all put together in a way that looks as though it were a physical model with parts glued onto it, and all painted traditionally.