Cubism in Recline – 2026-07-20

Dynamic Contrast between Straight and Curved Structures

This pastel pencil drawing ‘Cubism in Recline – 2026‑07‑20’ explores the dynamic contrast between straight and curved structures. This is already my fourth on this Ami sketching paper and I am getting more enthusiastic by the day. A true color supporting black and white is something that I didn’t quite miss to date. Doing all these graphite pencil drawing for years delivered me so many insights and skills. I could mention the ability to create sound compositions and even my own idiom. A simple pencil gave me fortune and recognition. However, this charcoal and pastel pencils attract me for the moment, more than pencil. The A4-size paper also is nice. A bit of a mini-version of a bigger Canson Mi-Teintes paper which is 50 x 65 cm. An advantage is that I can scan it in high resolution.

Keeping Structures open

All in all, this paper is allround and it enables me to capture an artistic motif very quickly. See if I can create a bigger oil out of it. Now I come to think of that, I made one (Neo Deco 2024-03-05) based on an earlier pastel, called ‘Cubist Nude – 2014-03-28’. The latter reminded of the Ami paper at hand. I remember how fun it was to lay down these cubist fragments on tan paper. There you have it, the initial driving force behind this pastel pencil drawing. Most important was to keep structures open, so the reclining model could breathe right into the paper. The straight linear structures came first and basically I set off all things curved against them. The forms of dark and light fragmented forms throughout simply were a matter of detecting them by squinting my eyes.

How Blue Can You Get?

Last but not least, I introduced a block of subtle light in the middle. More or less out of fear of not having enough forms counterbalancing those in the upper right corner. The lower part already was on the heavy side. Obviously, my monogram and title had to be placed in the upper left corner. A final remark to round things up. Somehow and for no particular reason another color comes popping up in my head. That’s the color blue. What if I would introduce in an oil of this one? Will keep you updated!

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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