Sebastian Krüger Biography |
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Sebastian Krüger was born in Hamelin, Germany in 1963. Krüger naturally developed left handed, however (as was a common practice) was forced to write with his right hand. Today Krüger writes, draws and paints with his right hand, and throws a ball with his left. |
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Krüger grew up the son of an architect. His artistic deluge began at age 3, when his father dragged him to numerous Disney movies. Krüger became plagued with drawing Donald Duck. His mind would recall Donald vividly, but the image kept moving around in the young artist's mind, it wouldn't keep still, causing Krüger to waste piles of discarded paper. Krüger's parents wouldn't allow him to purchase a still image of Donald at the comic stand. So he would study and memorize the image, then hurry home to draw it. If he felt unclear about a particular detail, he would revisit the comic stand for further study. Unknowingly, this trained the artist's mind to retain an accurate impression of the subject, to observe and memorize the details. A talent that would later become essential to the artist's work. |
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Krüger's elementary and high school education were uneventful. His fanaticism with lines and drawing continued until after high school, when Krüger enrolled in the Braunschweig University of Fine Arts. In his first painting class, he was handed a paint box with little colored squares of watercolor paint and a large paintbrush. These articles made no sense to Krüger (a detail minded artist). Generally he found the art classes boring, and below his standards. And further, didn't see value in attempting the homework directives of practicing, what he perceived to be, mediocre methods. Krüger never engaged in the homework requirements and consequently received poor grades. |
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To pass the time Krüger drew pencil drawings of the teachers. Not all of them, only those that he felt had interesting features or characteristics. Krüger might have failed out of school, but his caricature drawings had gained enormous popularity among the student body and faculty alike. This allowed Krüger to remain in school and continue his studies. In retrospect, Krüger found school useful in that he learned valuable color theory. |
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Krüger’s first assignment (in the real world) was to paint cover artwork and inlays for video cassette movies. Supplied with a set of brushes and acrylic paints, it was sink or swim. He began teaching himself how to paint out of necessity. Krüger learned that he had to paint in many layers to get the desired effect. Also discovering he needed to use a brush down to one single hair in size to paint the finest details. |
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Sebastian Krüger proved to be an effective teacher as well as a star pupil. He has since painted the cover artwork for many important magazines such as Stern, Spiegel and Rolling Stone. And additionally completed a three year cover contract with Capital and L’Espresso Magazines. Krüger has also done feature spreads for Playboy and Penthouse, and has designed and painted several commission works for LP and CD covers. |
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Early in his career, Krüger met the members of the Rolling Stones. He was invited backstage by the band, who had become familiar with the artist’s work. Krüger was obsessed with the look of the band, and especially with Keith Richard’s face. |
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Krüger identified with the Stones, both artists forced to repel the doctrine of their generation in order to practice their crafts with freedom from the established precepts, and resultingly staked their rightful claim as innovators in their respective fields. The Rolling Stones have come to occupy a large place in the artist’s heart and in his artwork. Krüger has become good friends with the band over the years, especially with Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood. |
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Krüger considers himself a portrait painter. Although many of his early commission jobs were for cartoons and caricature type images, Krüger’s free time was dedicated to his greatest love, portrait painting. In 2005 Krüger made the decision to discontinue painting cartoon or caricature-like genre commissions. Nowadays Krüger mostly paints for himself or creates commissioned pieces for private collectors. |
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Krüger’s approach is to study his subjects carefully. He reads their biographies and studies photos and video clips of each person before he paints them to get a strong impression of their characteristics. Then, while painting, Krüger becomes his subject, right down to the clothes they wear. Krüger once said, “I was Keith Richard’s shirt today” while walking out of his studio (after 12 hours of work). Because Krüger so intimately becomes what he paints, he believes that all of his paintings are a kind of self portrait. Krüger has a no nonsense approach to his art, so when he hits the zone with one of his paintings, he paints like he is possessed. Painting almost non-stop with incredible speed for hours on end. |
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Many Krüger paintings were completed in one to five days (albeit long days), although some of his recent large-sized paintings have taken as much as six weeks or more to create. Krüger is revered by fellow artists and art aficionados, for his consistent ability to capture the true nature of his subjects, displaying precision detail and remarkably accurate use of light and shadow. Krüger utilizes different techniques, most famously exaggerated features, to capture his subject's personal aura. |
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There are currently in the neighborhood of 800 original Krüger works. 700 paintings and 100 drawings. Encompassing many different styles; with no two alike. |
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