finishing (not so old) work

grief and comfort (own work, 2012-2013, 34 x 50 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)

sometimes, a work takes more stages before it is finished than i expected. this is mostly the case when i'm really experimenting with style. one inner debate which almost always takes place is simplicity vs. subtility/sophistication. and a very related question: how much imperfection is called for in this work?

so after starting this drawing in the beginning of 2012, i thought it finished at the end of last year. but i always study finished works for some time in my studio, before storing them, and its imperfections kept consistently nagging at me. i know that imperfection has its own quality and necessity, but when it keeps nagging me i usually feel that i have to improve on the work. i this case i chose to work more on detail, colour and expression. effectively this changed the entire drawing. the three pictures of details below should show you the expressivity of hands, faces and last but certainly not least: the expressivity of abstract elements.


hands in grief and comfort, detail i (click on the image for an enlargement)


faces in grief and comfort, detail ii (click on the image for an enlargement)


abstract elements in grief and comfort, detail iii (click on the image for an enlargement)

again drawings (5): experiment, new worlds

grief and comfort (own work, 2012-2013, 40 x 55 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)[updated sept 2013]


dance together, dance alone (own work, 2010, 20 x 30 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)


child abuse (own work, 2010, 40 x 50 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)

like i wrote in this earlier post on digital photopgraphy, i feel artists should explore new worlds. for this, i need constant experimenting. that doesn't only mean technical experimenting, but also a lot of emotional and psychological experimenting.

what is it that my `inner' artist self wants to show? how can i, the holder of pen, brush, pencil,...help this inner source to express itself in a poignant, perhaps sometimes disturbing but hopefully moving way?

life is not about superficial esthetics, and so for me neither is art.

of human relations 4: drawings from my sketchbooks

[repeated: `as i said, i'm looking for new ways to visualize human relations, feelings, real-life struggle as well as uplifting moments. looking back on centuries of art, i find myself surprised that there is so little art which addresses this in a way that i find provoking, uplifting, inspiring.

this gives new motivation to continue my investigation. i feel sure enough of the emotive strength of the drawings which come up in this sense. and this translates into paintings as well. but enough words, the images themselves should be stronger.']


sleeping woman (own work, 2010, 10 x 15 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)


fighting in the street (own work, 2010, 10 x 15 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)


compassion (own work, 2010, 10 x 15 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)


grief and comfort iv (own work, 2012, 20 x 25 cm, click on the image for an enlargement)

entombment series inspired by rembrandt 10, 11 (end)

entombment 10 (own work, 2006, 70 x 50 cm, inspired by a rembrandt drawing)




entombment 11 (own work, 2006, 70 x 50 cm, inspired by a rembrandt drawing)

above are the last two drawings in the series, no further comment on them. i hope to have brought readers some insight in how works develop over time, and how old masters inspire. now it's time for other subjects.

entombment series inspired by rembrandt 8, 9

entombment 8 (own work, 2006, inspired by a rembrandt drawing)

continuing from the previous post. from here on i feel the theme has reached the level that i'm looking for. detail below:



entombment 8 (detail, own work, 2006, inspired by a rembrandt drawing)

the next drawing really comes from the subconscious levels, i honestly have no idea how this type of drawing comes into existence, it just happens.



entombment 9 (own work, 2006, 50 x 35 cm, inspired by a rembrandt drawing)

and a detail:



entombment 9 (detail, own work, 2006, inspired by a rembrandt drawing)

entombment series inspired by rembrandt 5, 6, 7

entombment 5 (own work, 2006, inspired by a rembrandt drawing)

continuing from the previous post. it is probably more prudent from the marketing perspective to not show less-than-perfect studies, but so what. i thought it might be interesting to show a bit how themes develop, and in all my themes there are a fair percentage of works that don't `work' enough on the levels in which i'm interested.

from this point on the format in the series is no longer only a4 (21 x 30 cm).



entombment 6 (own work, 2006, 45 x 35 cm, inspired by a rembrandt drawing)



entombment 7 (own work, 2006, 40 x 50 cm, inspired by a rembrandt drawing)

entombment 2, 3 & 4

entombment 2 (own work, 2006, inspired by a rembrandt drawing)

the second drawing. somehow things are more charged, i feel. but it's hard to analyze for me. the third and fourth drawing:



entombment 3 (own work, 2006, inspired by a rembrandt drawing)



entombment 4 (own work, 2006, inspired by a rembrandt drawing)

to be honest, i considered and still consider these drawings as first steps. i seldom work consecutively on a theme fixed beforehand. somehow i had to get `into it'. for this i needed some spatiality, some light/dark, but also some real emotionality, the feeling of saying final goodbye. not an easy undertaking.

entombment series 1

entombment 1 (own work, 2006, inspired by a rembrandt drawing)

this is the first drawing i started with. no further comment.

entombment series rembrandt 2: the starting point

rembrandt van rijn, entombment (photoshop alteration)

the famous-artist-or-not question: i wrote about it earlier, in the context of quality and art. to illustrate some points regarding this question, i made the above photoshop alteration of the rembrandt drawing `entombment' (see previous post for the unaltered version) and posted it on a dutch art forum in the category `own work'. by posting it there (without text) i silently suggested it was my own drawing. for this the photoshop alteration was necessary, otherwise the age of the drawing would have given everything away immediately. i changed the colour of the ink to blue, and with some work managed to edit away the browning and spots from old age.

after posting, i received a lot of comments by fellow artists who were not so impressed with either composition, or clarity, or drawing ability. to be fair, there were two who said: not bad, it reminds me of old masters, rembrandt even.

after some time i decided to give up the deception. and most were very amused.

then, since i dislike real deception, i felt i owed it to the forum to try and create some really own work depicting entombment. because of recent passing away in my direct vicinity, i was very much reminded of this series. and i thought to give some of them a place on this blog.

so if i find time and energy we will see a series around death of beloved ones, final goodbye, grief, and comfort...

entombment series inspired by rembrandt

entombment ix (own work, 2006, 30 x 40 cm, mixed media on paper)

a drawing by rembrandt, titled entombment, provided the starting point for a modest series of drawings around the theme of death of a beloved.

i will give more details on this starting point and subsequent genesis later. first the original drawing by rembrandt:



rembrandt van rijn, entombment