Hi there! I’m Ivo De Wispelaere from Belgium. Welcome to my website where you can find my portfolio (illustrations, graphic design, …), my blog (not necessarily about art) and other stuff.
Currently I’m not working as a freelance artist, but under ‘Kunstenaarsstatuut’ (something particular Belgian) which allows me to do smaller paid work in a legal way. I didn’t have a formal art education; I studied Communication Sciences (as part of Political and Social sciences) at Ghent University but somehow I ended up making websites as my first real job, where I got introduced to software as Illustrator or Photoshop (aside from the obligatory HTML and CSS). My main job now is teaching webdesign and graphic design at https://www.groeipunt.be (adult education).
Fantasy
Silly fantasy
There should be more laughter in the far realms…
My main interests in creating art go to drawing/painting art models and silly fantasy situations. I like fantasy a lot, but I’m a bit disappointed that most fantasy series come down to the same thing: some wandering guy/woman with a troubled past, unknown of his destiny until… etcetera… Enter dwarfs, elves, orks, wizards and other usual suspects. But then there is this object, which will change the course of history if etcetera… Well, there aren’t a lot of original fantasy series anymore (in my opinion, I do not know them all, please suggest the good ones through my contact form 😉 ). I’m a huge fan of Discworld by Terry Pratchett, because he uses a fantasyworld to show us a mirror of our own society. That’s why I like the more lighthearted fantasy. My yearly inktober-projects evolve around a character in such setting (click here for my 2021 and 2022 contributions).
Modeldrawing
Model drawing
Exploring light, shadow and shapes
Modeldrawing is a fun way to keep practicing your drawing skills. Every model is unique, so every session actually is a new discovery of shapes, and a new challenge to put a more or less realistic human figure on the paper. Not that it is obligatory to go for realism, every artists follows his own path and some of my fellow modeldrawers achieve wonderful results in a more abstract or linear style as well. And apart of the drawing, model sessions are for my also are moments to come together with other people who like to draw: it’s a social event.
Unfortunately, with Covid-19, my regular model session group went on hold… Luckily, there were some people and organisations that took the effort to organize online modelling sessions, like Dr Sketchy (mostly burlesque models in their full-blown outfit) of Start2Wonder, with more classic model sessions.
The First World War
Flanders fields
The first World War as a theme in my work
I grew up in the province of West-Flanders in a small town just next to Passchendaele, not far from Ypres, in Flanders Fields.
Occasionally, you may find some echoes of the First World War in my work, as the small and big British war cemeteries (like Tyne Cot) were only a short bike-ride away, and I liked to wander around there. My grandfather (from mother’s side) served in the Belgian army in WW1, so there ’s another reason why I’m so interested in that part of our history… You can visited my First World War-page here.
