Otto Frello is one of the most interesting artists I’ve come across. He started his career as an illustrator and drew hundreds of technical images for handbooks on various subjects. By doing this he gained a huge amount of knowledge about architecture, aircraft, plants, fashion, jewelry and what have you. He started to tire of drawing on demand and wanted the freedom of doing just what he wanted to do. His own paintings, which he started in the his late 40s are as far removed from the serious technical drawings from the handbooks as you could come, while still being technically excellent. If you meet the guy and experience his sense of humour, you will hardly understand how he managed to do serious drawings.

This is my portrait of him. It is meant to capture a number of his character traits and his invented characters. The backdrop is based on his painting “Three Jars”. This painting is currently on display in Copenhagen’s Roundtower (Rundetårn).