Artist of the Month is an interview series where Tegnerforbundet each month introduces a member who is represented by artwork in our Sales Department. With this initiative, we want to give readers an insight into the members' artistic work and highlight the importance of drawing in their work.
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Per Ragnar Møkleby (1974) has for almost three decades established himself as an illustrator, draughtsman and graphic artist, with an extensive body of work that spans collaborations with publishers and newspapers such as Gyldendal, Cappelen, Aschehoug, Damm, Dagbladet, Vårt Land and Aftenposten. His work is characterized by a distinct ability to observe, which gives his illustrations a striking precision, often imbued with a subtle but sharp humor.
Møkleby's anthropomorphic depictions of animals, where animals appear with human features, are particularly noteworthy. This is part of his distinctive style, which combines portrait-like depictions with deep characterization, whether it is people or animals he depicts. Møkleby was educated at Kingston University in London, where he completed a bachelor's degree in illustration, as well as studies at Einar Granum Art School in Oslo.
His artistic work has received widespread recognition, resulting in the Critics' Prize for Best Children's Book and the Ministry of Culture's Picture Book Prize for children's books in 2013. Per Ragnar Møkleby currently lives and works in Skien.
TF: Hi Per Ragnar. Can you tell us a little about your artistic work?
PRM: I've always drawn and have provided illustrations for magazines, newspapers and books since I was in my teens - which is now a few years ago.
TF: Why do you draw? Tell us a little about your work process.
PRM: Drawing in itself, and telling stories through drawing, is, and always has been, a driving force for me. It's also always been exciting to explore new ways of drawing and creating images, so I've never settled on a particular expression or technique that's mine. I often develop an expression adapted to the needs of the different projects or what I find exciting at the moment. I've had a few regular editorial assignments, and then I usually have one expression/technique per magazine or newspaper. Different techniques lead to different ideas and visual solutions, and I find that exciting to explore.
I often find it most appropriate to work digitally as it's so flexible, which is why the illustrations I do are often drawn in Photoshop or Procreate, although I dream of creating more illustrations in analog. I also love drawing in analog and am very fond of drawing what's around me in my sketchbook, and I have shelves of books full of drawings and text from everyday life and holidays. This has led me to Urban Sketching and reportage drawing, and now I also hold courses on this.
I also draw and paint a lot of animals and then I prefer to draw directly and untidily in ink or watercolor or something else I have at hand, and then try to save the drawing afterwards.
TF: Can you name any cartoonists/illustrators who inspire you?
PRM: There are of course many, and through social media you see more and more people from all over the world who can inspire, but someone I keep coming back to is Ronald Searle and Ralph Steadman. They are/were both drawing virtuosos and full of visual play, ideas and willingness to execute. Otherwise, we have a very solid group of newspaper cartoonists and book illustrators in Norway that I delight in, and between them it's almost impossible to pick out any individual cartoonists. Some inspire me because they have such great ideas (e.g. Bloom), others because they are constantly evolving and trying new things (e.g. Svein Nyhus), some because they expand my perceptions of how to illustrate (e.g. Gry Moursund) and others for the fantastic way they observe people (e.g. Siri Dokken).
TF: What themes concern you as an artist?
PRM: The universal humanity, and the belief in the importance of the community we all have across everything that separates us, is something I think characterizes what I do. We're all grumpy, weird individuals trying to live our lives to the best of our abilities, but most of us mess up sometimes for ourselves and others, so we have to be patient with each other.
It's also important for me to not just look at the infinitely large world out there through a small screen, but sometimes to look at the small world around me and give it some time, attention and a place in my sketchbook.
TF: What role does illustration play today?
PRM: I think it has a great role, and as part of the communication of thoughts and ideas from person to person, I think and hope it can have an even greater role. Illustrations are often created with a clear intention to communicate, and good, man-made illustration has an immediate ability to communicate that I strongly believe in.
TF: What does it mean to draw for you in your work?
PRM: Drawing remains the foundation of my work!
TF: Tell us a little about your work in Tegnerforbundet's sales department!
PRM: In the sales department, I have some animal portraits drawn in ink and watercolor. I started drawing animals to play with line and color. Then I discovered that it's a lot of fun to not only study them as an example of animal species X and get to know it and its anatomy, but to treat them as portraits where I try to express a - of course imaginary - personality through strokes and spills of color.
I also have some digital graphics based on analog ink drawings that I have scanned in and then played with the colors in Photoshop, inspired by screen printing and pop art, among other things.
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