Gerhard to Gerhard…

Hi Gerhard,

 

Let’s get this out of the way first: it’s slightly embarrassing to address someone with whom you share a name, but I had no choice, my parents just decided that Gerhard is a fine name, so I’m stuck with it.

 

Fate, probably, since the name certainly caught my eye when I saw my first Cerebus phone book in a comic shop, many years ago, and bought it. It was “Guys”. Slightly fewer years ago I managed to buy one of your sketches, see attached. Since then, that pub has a special place in my personal Cerebus world.

 

And recently I realised that I’ve reached a point in my life where I can afford to actually think about getting a Commission, real art, from THE Gerhard! You definitely acquired the upper case ‘THE’ honorific in the internet; given my name and email domain, I get quite a few awestruck mails asking if I was THE Gerhard… 

 

That little sketch for me always was set in an empty pub, a summer Sunday morning, when the sun just creeps through the window. It’s hours after closing and hours before reopening, and the world still sleeps. No human or Aardvark present, just a few dust mites hovering. I always thought, wouldn’t it be nice to see what some other parts of the pub look like.

 

In your portfolio, you have a piece called “Fallen Mop”, that comes very close to that idea already. Just lose the mop and shift the perspective so that the little table is in focus. Since it started the whole idea.

The colours beautifully catch the early sunshine atmosphere, but I’m not sure I can stretch to a fully coloured work. I’m not particularly bothered about the details of the pub/bar/tavern, as long as it fits with the style of the sketch.

 

Is that something you could imagine working on?

 

Looking forward to hear from you,

 

(just a) Gerhard

 

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