Submission Drawing

My coloured pencils are my compass

My name is Ena Johanna Rathgeb, and I am an artist and illustrator based in Bergen, Norway. Having grown up between Germany and England, surrounded by five siblings, countless pets, and houses full of chaos and art, I developed a fascination with the people and spaces that shape our sense of belonging.

My practice centres on large-scale, detailed coloured-pencil drawings of everyday life. I depict people lying on beds, getting dressed, cutting their hair, or simply sitting in a room.
Returning to the coloured pencils I used as a child, I rediscovered a medium that allows me to slow down and pay closer attention. I am drawn to gestures and postures that feel strange, funny, tender, or unmistakably human.


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My coloured pencils are my compass

My name is Ena Johanna Rathgeb, and I am an artist and illustrator based in Bergen, Norway. Having grown up between Germany and England, surrounded by five siblings, countless pets, and houses full of chaos and art, I developed a fascination with the people and spaces that shape our sense of belonging.

My practice centres on large-scale, detailed coloured-pencil drawings of everyday life. I depict people lying on beds, getting dressed, cutting their hair, or simply sitting in a room.
Returning to the coloured pencils I used as a child, I rediscovered a medium that allows me to slow down and pay closer attention. I am drawn to gestures and postures that feel strange, funny, tender, or unmistakably human.