Beek-Ubbergen | De Ravenberg – 2026-08-16

A Search Shaped by Pastel Pencils

This pastel pencil drawing ‘Beek-Ubbergen | De Ravenberg – 2026-08-16’ shows an atypical Dutch landscape: a hillside in expressive colors. You see, I felt so motivated, yet irritated by my last pastel drawing of the Elysian Canopy Tree. Always a treat to find new paper and discover its qualities. However, working with materials you haven’t used before on such paper can be a drag. To date, I think the Clingendael Canals in violet and green I like best. It’s bold and elementary. Then again, the canopy tree made me fail for the longest time. If not for my long-standing experience, it might even have led me off the trail for a moment. Strangely, it didn’t. Eventually, I got it right but man, pure sweat and fortunately no blood or tears!

Raven’s Mountain

This having off my chest and forewarned is forearmed, I continued my pastel quest. See what I could do to the neighbouring hill, called ‘De Ravenberg’ (Raven’s Mountain). Situated to the left of the Elysian Fields, it’s equally beautiful. Some steeps path running up hill and in the beginning, you can see some meadows and groups of solitary trees. This was the scenery before me, and I have often walked past it, photographing it for future works.

Another Failure

What do you know, then! Another attempt and failure. Last Wednesday I set out with utter precaution, making sure I got the tree trunk and branch proportions right. Friday arrived and I was not yet satisfied. I even made it worse. The composition felt stiff and moreover, the color scheme was ‘off’. A bit boring even. Perhaps the lighting was partially to blame but it made me realize one, most important thing. I’m a tonal kind of artist and first and foremost, I’m the king of light and dark. At least in my paintings I am. The use of color is a trade I only came to master later on in life. Even now, sometimes I feel like walking on the brink. The artistic colorful soufflé might collapse all of a sudden, leaving you without a clue.

Dust Myself Off and Try Again

So, there it was. Dust myself off and try again. That was Saturday night and I think I got it right this time. The solution lies in using color in combination of a sound and clear lighting source. Purples and darker tones to the left and warmer colors and lighter tones to the right. My secret? Saturday, after art class, I went to Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar. There was this lovely exhibition of Leo Gestel’s and Gustave de Smet’s paintings. How could someone not be impressed by their bold use of color? After this exhibition I also visited their permanent collection of the ‘Bergense School’. Equally nice and this was enough to kickstart me and make bolder moves. Was I motivated to become an expressionist artist? Not really, because I like my atmospheric perspective and sense of depth, so I combined styles – again!

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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