Beek-Ubbergen | The Elysian Canopy Tree – 2026-08-11

An Impressive Tree

This pastel pencil drawing ‘Beek-Ubbergen | The Elysian Canopy Tree – 2026-08-11’ shows my birth ground in greens, violets and blues. Just like the last drawing of Clingendael I focused on these particular set of colors. Luckily, I had the perfect reference photo for it. Some time ago I took it on one of my Saturday afternoon trips, wandering about Berg en Dal. The actual spot at hand is on the outer skirts of the Elysian Fields. The latter consist of a couple of meadows between the Boterberg and the Ravenberg. There is this impressive tree dominating the corner of the path to the Ravenberg and the Natte Beek. Even my father knew it from his youth. The first time I saw it was when he took me on a trip in 1980, walking the famous N70-route. The tree stuck with me and sometimes I pay it a visit.

The Second Time Around

The drawing didn’t come easy, I must confess. In fact, I made it twice: today and last weekend. Starting last Wednesday, August 5^th I set out to render the folioage in cubist swirls. Looking at the curved and even crooked tree branches I thought those swirls could match those branches quite well. However, it turned into a big disappointment. It seems that I took the job a bit too lightly, perhaps having my last drawing in mind. That one came easy and I was expecting this one flowing out of my pastels pencils too. Nothing but hubris, because the tree branches were way more complex than initially expected. Those foliage curves looked ridiculous because they lacked the necessary depth. How about that for a change? Lots of good drawings, one after another and then, it feels like a rookie mistake.

Open Structures

My second attempt I took extra effort to get those branches right, keeping a certain feeling of airiness. Open structures that feel light like whipped cream. I kept the part to the left and the treeline in the back simple and unelaborated. Therefor, the focus lies on the play of light and darkness in the tree. Strangely, it’s almost boxy of appearance. Now I think it’s okay, even though it’s not easy to beef up those tonal values with my current pastel pencil collection. Perhaps there are better, producing darker tones. In the back you can see the wooden bench, from where I took a photo a long time ago. This is the vista in Elysian Fields (2008), overlooking the fields themselves and the Ooijpolder in the back. A nice counterbalance to that nocturnal one and the tan paper gives a nice summer feeling to this drawing.

Technical Details

Pastel pencil drawing on Ami Sketching paper (‘KBB’) – 29.7 x 21 cm

Artist: Corné Akkers

Sales info: info@corneakkers.com

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