In the very cool picture to the left is Rien Poortvliet (1932-1995), a Dutch draughtsman and painter, known for his illustrations of nature and gnomes. He provided these for Wil Huygen's series Gnomes, a collection of books that were eventually adapted into an animated series in 1985 based on their combined artwork and writings. I am also going to be working on a page about this! On this page I'd like to share some of his beautiful artwork.

What I like most about Poortvliet's artwork is that it carries a strong feeling of homeliness, and ties the fantastical beauty of the natural world perfectly in with a delightful, charming world of myth. You can feel the joy and love emanating from his gnome paintings, in a way that is very comforting. The level of detail in his landscapes is also incredible!