Beek – 18-05-23, Drawing, Pencil/Colored Pencil on Paper, 2023

Corné Akkers  

This graphite pencil drawing "Beek - 18-05-23" follows my previous one from The Hague. I wanted to make this one for a long time. It is because I remember the exact location of a visit at the age of 10. There is that pleasant hiking trail in the hills near Nijmegen, called the "N70". I have walked on it several times or parts of it, but the first time is engraved in my memory. You encounter the Kastanjedal (Chestnut Valley) on the trail and a small stream flows downhill. They say you could drink from it, so I tried. In fact, because I am writing this artistic statement, you can assume that it did not harm me much. There is also that wooden bridge which has a somewhat homemade look. It is probably built with branches from the immediate area. I assume the water is still drinkable even though I have not tried it this time. Another wooded landscape, I felt the desire to represent leafy structures in cubist planes once again. The light structures of the railings only add to the taste. However, the challenge was to clearly depict the main theme, namely the bridge and the path that stretches upwards. Next to that, the leafy patterns run everywhere on it. They almost seem to disturb the landscape, even tearing it. So it was a question of balancing the planes of light and shadow but also of preserving the structure of the path. In this way, I hope to offer a certain orientation through the landscape but also beautiful abstract tonal qualities. My Ambition My initial ambition was to make another wooded landscape in the same style as my drawing "Berg en Dal - 02-05-23". "Gent - 08-05-23" was also a cubist drawing. Looking at these last works, I see that this is the direction I want to evolve in. For me, it is the perfect symbiosis of impressionism, art deco, and cubism. I think my art will always be figurative of nature, touched by an impressionist and/or cubist style. I will always let myself be guided by the light. To conclude this story, I repeat what Monet once said. "I paint the light on things, not the things themselves"