Dominant Yellow

This oil painting ‘Chinese Nude (2012) is a tribute to old colonial post cards of exotic nudes. The yellow in this oil serves as the dominant factor. Yellow always have proven itself to be bothersome. In relation to other colors it’s always the dominant one. So the goal was to have it look almost monocromous. Therefor the blue and green are mere accents and don’t play structural roles. Frankly, I was only curious whether this would actually work or not. Since I sold it quickly I’m inclined to say I did.

A Kind of Sgraffito

In the body you can see the undercoat shimmer through. That is because I wiped away considerable amounts of yellow ocre and burn sienna once applied. You can consider it a kind of sgraffito, even though that word traditionally relates to other things like pottery. As to painters, I know a couple of famous example who applied this technique. Rembrandt with his self-portrait of 1628.

Websites

There are websites who offer a full array of pictures of nudes. Some are artistic of nature, many are not unfortunately. Once in a while I come across these photographs of old. Mostly taken 100+ years ago.I simply love them. Based on such a card but with the addition of extreme colours.

Some Kind of Expressionism

The result is expressionistic yet realistic as well. It’s not the first time. My oil ‘Peggy (2011)’ is bears the same qualities, even though executed in rougher touches. In general expressionism implies also deviation of right proportions. However, I love the latter too much because I consider myself to be a hopeless aesthetic. Besides that, wouldn’t you just fall in love with such a model right away? She must be 140 years of age now.

Click here to read about the sale of a print (postcard) through redbubble.com.

Oil on linen (60 x 80 x 2 cm)

Artist: Corné Akkers