Creating Neo Deco – 12-01-25

Website link: https://corneakkers.com/neo-deco-12-01-25/
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Trude Fleischmann

This pastel drawing ‘Neo Deco – 12-01-25’ pays tribute to Austrian photographer Trude Fleischmann. Last 26th December 2024 I had the pleasure to meet her in Museum Arnhem. That is, to see her photographs in an exhibition called ‘Radical – Female Artists and Modernism 1910-1950’. Simply astonishing it was: the creativity they spawned in spite of deprivation. Modern women hundred years ago were in the process of overcoming male and perhaps also female prejudices. Thanks for them because we can enjoy their heavenly gems still. Tucked away in a corner there were a couple of pictures that caught my eye instantly. Since I am in a pastel mood I was stimulated one of those pictures. See what a bit of my particular cubism can do.

Tonal Training

Last pastel was drawn on colored paper. This time I had it in me to use black paper. Perhaps inspired by a conversation I had with a student during art class. Yesterday I once again emphasized the importance of tonal training. Doing live model workshops I take a pleasure in supplying students with white paper and charcoal for the first sessions. However, last lession I give them black paper and white chalks only to see them fall down like toy soldiers. Even though painful for many, it forces them to think tonal values only. Many keep on drawing what’s in their minds and that’s the meaning (of a body). This is a false concept of course. The result is viewers can experience body forms but they are nothing more but the play of light and darkness.

Cubist Styling

The drawing itself didn’t use much nifty creative innovations from my part, only a bit of cubist styling. Somehow I didn’t want to have the cubistic planes delineate without linear structures, so I incorporated some. All in all I tried to keep the scenery maximally airy without closing contours of planes too much. Thus the elegance of a slender model and the artistic views of both photograper Trude and artist Corné are preserved.

Pastel drawing on Clairfontaine Paint On Mix Media noir paper (21 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm)
Artist: Corné Akkers