Creating Berg en Dal - 19 12 23

Available as original (if not sold), prints & printable. Check my website for more info:

Website link: https://corneakkers.com/2023/12/20/berg-en-dal-19-12-23/
Printable: https://corneakkers.com/product/printable-berg-en-dal-19-12-23/

Berg en Dal – 19-12-23

Another Go in Pastel

This pastel drawing ‘Berg en Dal – 19-12-23’ is an elaboration of a graphite pencil drawing from May this year. After Golden 13-12-23 I wanted to do something different. Maybe altogether doing landscapes in pastel is on my mind again for quite a while now. My Series under the same name I sold out long ago. They are scattered over the whole word: China, America and Europe. Perhaps you remember Dali and Picasso, two great artists who were commercial talents as well. It’s obvious I love Berg en Dal so much and all pastels have been sold. Why combine these two facts and have another go?

Cubism

Back in 2014 when I made these pastels I was only discovering and forging my cubist style into roundism. That is, with regard to the female form. Later I started to apply cubism to cityscapes and landscapes as well. An example is the Schiedam Series. Well, preliminary work has been done already in this particular case. I liked the concept that much I decided this to be the kick-off for additions to the series.

Approach

Setting out proportions and forms was easy. Colors aren’t, obviously due to their relative character. That is why I decided for a save bet: pink and purples, orange, blue and green. So two cool and two profound warm colors. The trick is to not explode into colour saturation too much right away. Softening those later is quite a drag. Soft pastels like Schmincke simply don’t allow much of a second coat on top of a first. So, walking on the brink for me. Got that right, then I found some colored patches in the background too protruding. Contour delineations were to harsh. I soften them by rubbed them together. Finally I topped it off by enforcing some linear structures in the trees in the front. Surely I don’t think I can improve it now so I stopped.

Pastel drawing on Clairfontaine Pastel Mat paper (69.4 x 49.8 x 0.1 cm)
Artist: Corné Akkers