H.P. Kolb was born on June 28 1957 in Heddesheim, Germany (close to Heidelberg). In his childhood he already preferred expressing himself through pictures rather than words. In his workpads in school one comment from his teachers kept reappearing: “Well explained through the drawings, but please write more!”
When he was 14, his grandfather, also a landscape painter and autodidactic, showed him how to work with a paint brush and oil colors. Ships and the sea were the first motifs. After finishing school his parents did not allow him to learn an artist’s profession. Therefore, he became a chemist. Although it interested him, he did not feel like spending the rest of his life with this – it just was not his world.
The Digital Airbrush.
Fascinated by the possibility of creating every idea and every painting technique in the computer, just as with the traditional airbrush, he realized that he was able to increase the resolution and size of his images to a high degree, which made it possible to give his images an even greater amount of detail and photorealism. This defined his new style.Today he has driven this technique to perfection and taken an exceptional position in modern art. With his unique photo-surrealistic style he is melting the incongruous into a astonishing unity. His digital paintings evoke power, sense of reality and great visions. The direct and precise representations, with great details to explore, keep nothing hidden. Hidden deep within these fantastic aesthetics lie tales and messages that inspire the eyes as well as the mind.
His world is the world of fantasy – his own as well as the viewer’s.