Original artwork description:

Fragile Beauty

Following my last drawing of her this one of Geesje kwak was next in line. I must confess I get the hang of it or should I admit to an obsession? Well, maybe not that hefty but her appearance keeps intriguing me. It is not the tragic story of her untimely death at age 22. It is equally impressive as Vincent van Gogh’s end though. No, it is more in her fragile beauty covered by garments and big kimono’s. In my study after folds of late she is the perfect match for me and luckily Breitner took smashing pictures.

Portrait in Situ

In this particular I love the way Geesje’s portrait rests in situ: within the context of the lush textures. Her face deserves a place but only tucked away in the tapestries and kimono who play equal important roles. Surely Breitner and Gustav Klimt would have noticed that as well. Upon further study I saw she holds the kimono with her fingers like pulling a blanket over her. It almost seems a bit to big for her slender body but that only adds to the flavor. All-in all the scenery is endearing and all fabrics big only underlign her youthful looks even more.

Hatched Strokes

The drawing challenge was to capture the essence of the floral designs and patterns in the tapestry and screen. That was the main reason to employ my hatched strokes technique to tackle this one. Through this I managed to get contour delineations squidgy around the edges. Consequently forms easily will get an impressionistic look and the necessity to depict a lot of details diminished. Basically I erased a lot back with my Derwent electric eraser and Koh-I-Noor Hardtmuth eraser pencil. Although it seems there is a lot going it is less detailed than the drawing lets on. The hardest part was hatching up the paper to the right tonal values, especially in the dark regions. Next to this, I kept the kimono slightly angular, a vague hint of my love for cubist styling.

Graphite pencil (Sakura 0.5 mm, Pentel 4B) drawing Talens Bristol paper (21 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm)
Artist: Corné Akkers

Materials used:

Graphite pencil drawing (Sakura, Pentel 0.5 mm, 4B) on Talens Bristol paper (21 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm – A4 format)

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