A Portrait of Geesje

A day ago I experimented with Art Graf. I was quite surprized and therefor I thought it would be nice to do a portrait of Geesje Kwak. There are only some odd 15 pictures of her taken by Breitner. Well, there could be more lingering about in archives. There were only a couple of them that were not related to his kimono series and one of them was ‘en profile’. Quite grainly and damaged but still usable, I guess. I must say, I just love those updo hair styles because they come in angles. That automatically opens a door to cubism, my favourite realm to dwell in.

New Goodies

At Brugman Art where I also teach, I bought myself a nice thick exquisite Kolinsky sabre brush and a white Art Graf chalk to broaden my range. I must say I am starting to get the hang of it. The principles of watercolor I am beginning to understand more and more. Moreover I came to the conclusion it is a perfect crossover from drawing to watercolor techniques. Perhaps the latter apply more than the actual art of drawing. Next thing I know I will be hooked on watercolor. Who knows?

Diagonals

In the painting and/or drawing – I am not sure how to describe it – I set out to find diagonals. I found the head to be a bit squarish due to her hairdo. The direction of her hair is purely diagonal though. Consequently I also put some triangular plains in her chin and around her mouth pointing diagonally upwards as well. The same goes for the eye socket and nostril. The scarf obviously runs in the same direction and angle, ending up in a powerful and commanding posture. Evidentially she can look vulnerable and a bit fierceful at the same time. The first quality is conveyed by her glance. The latter is my doing.

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Art Graf soft carbon pencil and Viarco drawing (wash) on Strathmore Mixed Media (22.9 x 30.5 cm).

Artist: Corné Akkers

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