Kris

Quick sketch with wax pastel. Portrait for Julia Kay's Portrait Party on Flickr. Snelle schets met Neocolor II waspastels. Portret voor Julia Kay's Portrait Party op Flickr.

Workshop landscape painting

Workshop landscape painting in Eys, focused on achieving depth or accentuation through colour (cold-warm contrast). I started out with a series of quick and rough watercolour studies and then did a few pastel drawings. My watercolour studies became increasingly abstract. Not particularly satisfied with the result, but still, here they are. Watercolour and soft pastel. Workshop landschap schilderen te Eys, gericht op diepte- of accentwerking door middel van kleur (koud-warm contrast).

In the style of Matisse, "Leadbelly à la Matisse" (2)

Slowly progressing with my painting of Leadbelly in the style of Matisse as described in a previous post. Lots to finish and lots I want to change. Acrylic on canvas (100 x 100 cm).

In the style of Matisse, "Leadbelly à la Matisse"

Colour studies for "Leadbelly a la Matisse"

 

Composition studies for "Leadbelly a la Matisse"


The final portrait & model class sessions of this season are focused on painting in the style of Matisse, this time not based on life drawing and painting, but on a figure/subject of one's own choice from a photo or just from imagination. I chose to do a guitar player as subject and browsing through my cd-collection came across some characteristic photos of "Leadbelly" that suited the idea I had in mind for a painting. See below for a picture of Leadbelly and a short description of his life; I'm planning on including several aspects of his life into the final painting.
During the first two sessions the task was to make several composition studies of the chosen subject based on Matisse's style and after deciding on the composition, to expand on this with several colour studies, again based on Matisse's style. During the final sessions the task will be to bring it all to the canvas.
Portret & model-tekenen/schilderen, de laatste sessies zijn gericht op schilderen a la Matisse van een onderwerp naar eigen keuze. Ik heb gekozen om een gitarist uit te beelden en heb daarvoor een foto van "Leadbelly" als uitgangspunt genomen. Gedurende de eerste twee sessies was de opdracht om van het gekozen onderwerp diverse compositie- en kleurenstudies te maken in de stijl van Matisse.

Leadbelly (Huddie William Ledbetter)

Leadbelly, real name Huddie William Ledbetter, was an iconic American folk and blues musician, notable for his strong vocals, his virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the songbook of folk standards he introduced. He is said to have been the most widely known black rural performer to achieve "cross-over" popularity in the decades preceding the 1950s.
Born in 1888 in Louisiana, he grew in the segregated South. The period of his childhood and youth was one of great change for the African-American. The emancipation that followed the conclusion of the American Civil War had renoved slavery in name but not in reality. African-Americans could not vote. Many found themselves dispossessed of their land as plantation owners evicted all except those willing to resell themselves into a working environment not much different to what preceded the war.
Growing up in a musical family he learned to play guitar, piano, harmonica, accordion and several other instruments while still young. He had several jobs, including picking cotton, but also entertained with his music. He lead a violent life and was sentenced to prison several times. He was pardoned twice, which is remarkable at a time when the opportunity to gain one's freedom, especially as a black man, had to be particularly bleak. It's said that together with good behaviour he sang himself out of jail.
He was "discovered" by folklorists John and Alan Lomax during a visit to the Angola Prison Farm where they made recordings of his songs on portable disc recording equipment leading to "The King of The 12 String Guitar". Lomax later brought Leadbelly to New York, and published a book about him. During the 1940s Leadbelly's home in New York was a centre for folk and blues activity. He also was the first American country blues musician to see success in Europe. In 1949 he began his first European tour with a trip to France but fell ill before its completion and died in the same year.
It's said that Ledbetter's perseverance and power ("he could pick in the cotton fields 1,000 pounds a day") earned him the nickname "Leadbelly".

Storescape

Quick sketch with wax pastel. I did this quick rough and distorted ink pen sketch from a photo that turned out a bit messy. Contemplated on throwing it away, but as I rather liked the figure sketch in it, I decided to keep it and just messed around with adding some colours. Not particularly satisfied with the result, but still, here it is. Landscape ("storescape") for Lots of Landscapes on Flickr. Snelle schets met Neocolor II waspastels. Landschap ("winkelschap") voor Lots of Landscapes op Flickr.

Spring: Bovine Ballet

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First smell of fresh green
Dancers so keen
An early spring day
The stage for a bovine ballet

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I like cows and enjoy seeing them roaming in the pastures near to where I live. Although the local farmers haven't let their cows out of their winter lodgings yet, with spring just around the corner it certainly will not take long before they do. Elsewhere some farmers have already done so and a photo in the local newspaper showed a very happy cow getting its first smell of fresh grass. I used it for a quick and loose sketch. Wax pastel on paper. Lente: Dansende koe. Snelle schets gebaseerd op een foto in de krant van een uitgelaten koe die van opwinding vreugdesprongen maakt als ze voor het eerst weer vers gras ruikt. Neocolor II waspastels.

Arturo

Quick sketch with wax pastel. I did this double portrait a while ago and it's been lying around ever since as I rather liked the sketch in this part, it had the effect I was trying to achieve, but I completely messed up the sketch of the other person. I tried to repair it but it just didn't work out. In stead of throwing it away, I decided to keep this part and post it. Portrait for Julia Kay's Portrait Party on Flickr. Snelle schets met Neocolor II waspastels. Portret voor Julia Kay's Portrait Party op Flickr.

St Paul's

Sketch with wax pastel. It didn't really turn out in the style I wanted to achieve, so in that sense I'm not particularly satisfied with the result. The quick scrap paper sketch I did of the same subject earlier rather appealed to me, so I decided to keep it and post it as well. Landscape for Lots of Landscapes on Flickr, a group in which members paint and draw landscapes from photos posted for that purpose. Schets met Neocolor II waspastels. Ben niet bepaald tevreden met het resultaat. De snelle kladschets die ik eerder van hetzelfde onderwerp maakte sprak me wel aan en besloot het te houden en ook te posten. Landschap voor Lots of Landscapes op Flickr, een groep waarin de leden landschappen tekenen en schilderen van foto's die voor dat doel gepost zijn.

Self-Portrait Sketch

Quick self-portrait sketch from a photo. Markers on postcard format. Snelle zelfportret schets met viltstiften op postkaartformaat.

Painting with palette knife, underpainting in warm colour (2)

Life drawing and painting, focused on painting with a palette knife on an underpainting in one single warm colour. Not particularly satisfied with the result, but still, here it is. Acrylic on paper. Portret & model-tekenen/schilderen, gericht op schilderen met een paletmes op een onderschildering in een enkele warme kleur.