Neo Deco – 20-09-23

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Homage to Erin Olaf

This graphite pencil drawing ‘Neo Deco – 20-09-23’ is a continuation of my recent quest. More than before I long for uniting all styles I invented or employed in the past. I feel my last one of Nina is a clear example of this, even though it also incorporated a homage. To Erwin Olaf that was and unfortunately yesterday he suddenly died at age 64. So, writing this art statement I feel a bit sad. At the same time I am glad I payed tribute to him while he was still alive. He surely invented his own specific style. I hope I will be recognized for my own in the long run. I’ll keep him in mind, striving for perfecting my art.

More Realism

Back to my regular model. I haven’t planned new live drawing sessions yet so I picked one reference picture out of the box. I kept this one in my ‘to do’ folder because I found the light and dark distribution attractive. A bit unsettled surface distribution maybe but that’s alright now. In my strive for harmonizing styles a more detailly planary approach is something that works for the moment. In earlier drawings in the roundism series I abstracted more. However, lately I feel more attracted to realism and impressionism again. I felt the well simply dried up. Abstracting the female form even more only would have pushed me straight into the abyss of minimalism.

Off-Guard, Yes!

Perhaps it’s also due to painting ‘Psyche & Amor – 23-05-23’ I fell in love with the anecdotal. Did Alma Tadema influence me too much? Perhaps but Erwin Olaf showed us a narrative can be sound and edgy; not as sweet as Lourens’. Both great artists in mind I keep on looking for new things, I guess. As stated before, combining cubism, roundism, impressionism, realism and surrealism catches many people off-guard I noticed. In the drawing at hand I did my best to give it a realistic feel. However, not much to do with a narrative, only complex forms. The body is abstracted more than meets the eye though. Does that bother you?

Graphite pencil (Faber Castell Pitt Graphite Matt pencil 14B) drawing on Talens Bristol paper (21 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm)

Artist: Corné Akkers