Jenever Town

This graphite pencil drawing ‘Schiedam – 11–08-16 (Sold)’ is made after a first trip I made to the city. it’s a neat little town near Rotterdam and used to be famous and grand for its jenever distilleries. Nowadays the old centre still oozes out a former grandeur even though it feels a bit squidgy around the edges. Many shops are closed down. There is a great museum though (Stedelijk Museum Schiedam). That was my very aim one day.

De Kameel

So it came to be that I saw this great windmill not far away from the exit of the highway. Later, when I looked it up, it turned out it was called ‘De Kameel’. In fact, a modern reconstruction rebuilt in 2009 because the old one collapsed. A malt mill I read online. They tower over the city together with some other remaining mills. The reason is they had to catch enough wind above the cityscape.

1st of the Schiedam Series

This one was a great start to kick off my Schiedam Series with. However, it also confronted me with some challenges with regard to composition as well. Depicting the mill in full would deliver me nothing but a lame look. Always a risk to avoid. Therefor, I cut off the top. Subsequently I decided to focus on the lower part and its reflection in the canal below. The barque and the church serve as a ‘couleur locale’. More a patina of an era gone by if you ask me. They do their job though, offering more of a romantic feeling to foreigners rather than to inhabitants of Schiedam. The latter struggle to get by on a daily basis only.

Atmospheric Impressionist Cubism

Anyway, I decided to render them in my Roundism style I am developing throughout the years. Actually, there are not many roundish forms included. I didn’t find them necessary. Instead, I was attracted to the blocks of reflections in the water caused by the ripples. Conclusion: rather an atmopsheric impressionist cubism than roundism. What do you say? 

Click here to read about the sale of this art work through artfinder.com.

Click here to read about the sale of a print (t-shirt) to a dutch collector through redbubble.com. 

Graphite pencil drawing (Pentel 0.5 mm, 3B) on Canson Bristol paper (21 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm – A4 format)

Artist: Corné Akkers