About the art of Melchior van Rijn

- a short introduction -

Being an artist: a learning proces

In my perspective, the road I have chosen to walk as an artist still mostly lies ahead. There is yet so much to learn, to master and to improve. Being an art historian got me familiarized with the great names in art. The confrontation with all that enormous talent often made me doubt myself and my abilities. Maybe it would be better to just give up art and live a normal life. Then again, by now I know that this insecurity is exactly one of those things that makes me a good artist. Doubt provides one with a sharp eye. It turned me into quite the perfectionist. However, I still have a long way to go and I´m not at all certain in what direction I will develop artistically.

The fact that I´m mostly self-taught (besides what I picked up at secondary school and at the university) has as many drawbacks as it has advantages. Because I had to find out everything for myself, learning new skills and familiarizing myself with new materials has been relatively time-consuming. Without the watchful eye of a teacher there is a whole lot more ‘trial and error’ going on.

On the other hand, I never needed the motivation of a school environment. I always had a pretty good idea what I needed to work on, and I realized pretty quickly that it takes a lot of practice to get things right. My collection of books and reference materials that I used to study from grew day by day.
If there’s one thing I learned being from an art historian, then it’s how to look properly. I developed an eye for detail, for the cohesion of a composition, for atmosphere. I am convinced that a good illustrator must first and foremost be able to see.

I always disliked the way Dutch art academies force students to ´develop their personal style´ within a very short period of time. I believe the development of a personal style is something that should not be hastened, and, like life itself, grows with every experience. Thereby I also include experiences that are not directly related to holding a pencil or a brush. In my modest opinion a hasty specialization cuts the learning process short and narrows the artists possibilities to turn to different subjects or styles later on. Well, perhaps I personally am just a bit too slow in my development, but there you are… I guess I´m still gathering experiences.

Storyteller in images
So I’m still learning. That’s the main reason of my all-round approach to being an illustrator. Doing a lot of different projects forces me to constantly re-invent myself. Besides I really like doing a lot of different things.

This makes it hard to put a label on me. In order to explain to people what I’m about as an artist, I usually describe myself as a ‘storyteller in images’.

For me, a good illustration must be structured and ‘told’ as it were a story. Like a story I put in a beginning, a middle part and an end, and not necessarily in that order. When needed I use layers, subtle metaphors or violent shock effects. And what I show is often just as important as what I don’t show. I don’t like leaving things to chance, like you do when you use your camera to take a picture. Everything I put in has meaning, whether it is a crooked tree adding to a certain gloomy atmosphere, or waving grass to indicate a there’s sweet summers breeze blowing. There’s drama in everything, even the smallest detail.

Myths and fairytales
It’s no surprise that I’m very fond of myths and fairytales. These stories relate about the great themes of life, such as love, sex, death or betrayel, to name a few. These are sensitive subjects that tend to make people uneasy, and are often considered to be unsuitable or even taboo for normal conversation. Art, myth and fairytales seem to be appropriate places for them. By telling stories people learn to deal with their fears and weaknesses and the evil that lurks in the world. That is one of the reasons we tell our children all these terrible fairytales (besides them being a lot of fun of course).

I have a special interest in the artistic depiction of these great fairytale themes. I believe in order to really involve the one who ‘ listens’ to a story, the storyteller must also be fully involved in the subject matter.

For me, creating an image is always a matter of great personal involvement. When working on it, I must ‘ live’ the story. This approach often results in a very personal touch. What I strive for is to make art as honest and authentic as I possibly can.