Behind The Scenes

This is the short story of the evolution of Gabriel's logo kobold.

It was an experiment with ink on paper. As children we had painted Rorschach patterns. We blotted ink on sheets of paper, folded them and pressed it together. We interpreted the resulting patterns and shapes and had fun doing it. It was just like lying on our backs in the grass looking up at the clouds and discovering animals, objects and all kinds of things in them. Who has not done that?

In memory of childhood, a tribute to light-heartedness, the artist made the ‘Roof Ridgies’ with ink on sheets of paper. Loosely based on Schiller's thought experiment of Homo Ludens, “Man is only fully man where he plays.”

The name ‘Roof Ridgies’ comes from the initial working title “The Firsts”. “First” pronounced in German means roof ridge in English, it is a multilingual play on words. “Roof Ridgies” could be translated back into German as “Dachreiter” (roof riders – the ones riding on the roofs). This opens up possibilities for stories. It will be interesting to see how it further develops.

Thus in 2006, ‘The Roof Ridgies’^© arised.

 
The Roof Ridgie no. 3

10x10cm
Ink on paper
2006

The Roof Ridgies no. 1, 2 and 4

10x10cm
Ink on paper
2006

In 2008, Gabriel further refined the third Roof Ridgie, making it a cordial Sprite. With its heart nose, it has a sympathetic appeal. It is a being of a sweet, laid-back nature

Developing sketches

15x12.6cm
Mixed media on paper
2008

Hob, The Goblin

10x10cm
Ink, acrylics, white lacquer on tracing-paper
2008

– the final logo sprite, 2020:

Digital vector graphic