Inspired by nature

Deer are a recurring theme in my creativity. My deer drawings are my own inner images. I don’t know why. It’s just the way it is. Deer is the ultimate masculine animal. Horses just can’t compare. They’re feminine animals. They don’t have the same masculine strenght and potency.

I visited a taxidermist in Florida a few years back. There was a huge deer model in his parlour. The skin had not yet been mounted, so all the muscles were still on display, intricately sculptured in plastic. Michelangelo couldn’t have done it better. I got so enthusiastic that if I had had a bigger home I would have made him sell me the model. It’s one of the few times that I regretted not having a camera.

The meeting of the deer and the hunter is a meeting of kings. I’m a hunter myself, but still can’t help but see it as a tragedy. In my imaginary world, the deer never runs away. The deer only survives thanks to the mercy of the hunter. The only thing it can do, is to impress with its beauty and courage. But it is the intruding hunter who rules over life and death. I never draw dead deer.

Strangely enough, I don’t feel the same about moose. Most of the moose I’ve ever drawn have recently been shot. They are just props; the proof of the hunter’s strenght and masculinity. It’s a trophy, explaining his pride and joy.

Untitled,
Signerad Leif 2006.
Ink on paper.