Layered by Hand, Finished Digital
Alexander Adiels works from Stockholm, building each illustration the way a painter builds a canvas, one material at a time. Gouache lays down flat colour first, aquarelle softens the edges, then pencil, ink, and graphite add the linework that holds the composition together. The final step happens on a screen, where the layers are merged and cleaned up without losing the texture of the original materials. Prints like Villy Valley, Vylda, Lyrma, and Vilia carry that texture through to the finished image, a warmth in the line that purely digital illustration rarely has.
Choosing a Size and Frame
At A3, the layered texture reads as fine detail, good for a desk, a shelf, or a tight cluster of two or three prints. Move up to 50 x 70 cm and the linework gains breathing room without losing definition, and this is the size most buyers choose for a single statement piece above a sideboard or bed. At 70 x 100 cm or A0, the hand-built texture becomes the main event, visible from across the room rather than up close. Every print is produced on 225g matte fine art paper with archival pigment inks in our Berlin studio. Frame options are oak, black, or walnut brown, with oak suiting the warmer gouache tones and black sharpening the contrast in the ink linework. Unframed prints ship flat, ready for your own frame or a gallery-wall arrangement.
More From Our Living Artists
Adiels' style sits comfortably alongside other modern illustration, where the shared vocabulary of clean line and flat colour makes for an easy gallery wall. For more working artists in this vein, browse our Support Living Artists collection, or explore the 50 x 70 cm format if you're building a matched set.